The Kilauea Lighthouse…A popular site for tourists…

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A special thanks to my sister Julie for her contribution to today’s photos.

View of the drive to the Kilauea Lighthouse when it was closed.

On several occasions we’ve made our way to the Kilauea Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuse only to be put off by the crowds.  The scenery surrounding the area is beautiful with birds of many species making this area their home, including the Laysan Albatross, Red-Footed Booby, and the Hawaiian State Bird, the Nene Bird, often found on golf courses.

Although we weren’t certain that we spotted the Red Footed Booby, we’ve included a photo of one here:

These may be a family of the Red Footed Booby sleeping in their nests.  

The ocean cliff in this area provides a safe habitat and breeding ground for many other species of Hawaiian seabirds.

The Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1885 by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and is noted by its towering lighthouse. We never had an opportunity to enter the lighthouse due to the size of the crowds and now as time winds down, it doesn’t look promising that we will.

The fact that there’s only a $5 admission fee per person with children under 15 free, this low-cost attraction is a huge draw for families traveling with children. Where in Hawaii can a couple with two children enjoy such a venue for $10? 

Many birds flock to the cliffs in this area. 

For us, having the opportunity to see the lighthouse, take photos and enjoy the wildlife refuse was all we needed for a pleasant experience. Entering the lighthouse itself, wasn’t as important to us as seeing the surrounding area. We’d have enjoyed hearing about the tour, especially with our friend Alice who conducts tours on Wednesdays.

The Kilauea Lighthouse.

Instead, wandering the grounds taking photos, hearing the sounds of the surf slamming into the ocean cliffs along with the myriad of calls from the many birds, was all we needed.

The top of the lighthouse.

As for the geography of the area, Kilauea Point is a narrow lava formed peninsula which protrudes from the northern shore of Kauai, a short 15-minute drive from Princeville.

It’s obvious that the lighthouse has been well maintained.

The land was purchased from the Kilauea Sugar Plantation Company (tomorrow, we’ll be writing about sugar plantations in Kauai)in 1909 for $1. Construction plans went into play with decisions made to deliver supplies to the point by boat when there was a serious lack of roads in the from the Nawiliwili Harbor. 

View from the railing at the entrance to the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuse.

The Nawiliwili Harbor is 1.9 miles south of Lihue, where the airport is located and the cruise ship, Norwegian Pride of America, docks for tours every Friday. Every Friday evening around 6:00 pm we can see this particular ship sail away from Kauai after the day tours have ended.

After four years of planning, construction began in July 1912 and the lighthouse was dedicated on May 1, 1913.  The tower is approximately 52 feet high and built in the Classical Revival architecture style of reinforced concrete.

Distant view of the lighthouse.

“The upper portion has a steel circular walkway with handrail. The lens one of only seven second-order Fresnel lenses remaining in a lighthouse in the US. Barbier, Bernard, and Turenne manufactured the lens in Paris, France. The 9,000-pound (4,100 kg) lens floated on mercury and compressed air. The lens was rotated by a system of pulleys powered by weights that needed to be reset by an operator every 3.5 hours.

A radio beacon was added in 1930, and with the added generator the light was changed to be powered by electricity. Originally 250,000 candle power, the light reached 2,500,000 candle power in 1958. The station was manned until 1974 when it was automated. In February 1976 the light was moved to a nearby smaller tower and the tower was sealed. It was one of the last lights converted to automation by the United States Coast Guard in the Hawaiian Islands. The radio beacon was replaced in 1956, and then in the 1980s converted to a visitor center. On October 18, 1979, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaii as site 79000759. The historic district included 31 acres.

The oceanview from the grounds.

“In 1985 the Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, starting with the original Coast Guard Station, and then expanding to preserve the surrounding habitat. A new visitor center was built in 1988. The buildings were damaged by Hurricane Iniki in September 1992 but repaired. The visitors center is operated by the Kilauea Point Natural History Association. Starting in late 2008, the group raised funds for the restoration of the lighthouse.”

The lighthouse tickets were sold out.  Waiting for the next tour would have required a 90-minute wait.

The lighthouse and wildlife refuse will surely continue to be a great source of interest for tourists to Kauai for years to come. The love, pride and care the citizens of the state of Hawaii provide for all of their national treasures is evidenced in the preservation of the beauty and nature bestowed upon these magical islands.

Although tickets were sold out to enter the main area of the lighthouse, this museum area was open to the public.

Have a fabulous Friday and Mother’s Day weekend. Make it special! You’ll never regret any effort exercised in honoring moms.

                                               Photo from one year ago today, May 8, 2014:

A display area at a restaurant, Le Jardin, which we frequented in Marrakech. On this date last year we were leaving Morocco in one week. For details, please click here.

You’re cancelling on us?…How can that be?…

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We never tire of this amazing view of Hideaways Beach and Hanalei Bay.

We knew the possibility existed that a vacation rental, a flight, or a cruise could be canceled over which we’d have no control. If it were a flight, in most cases that would be remedied within 24 hours. If it were a vacation rental, especially if we’d booked it for weeks or months, it would be a difficult scenario to resolve the above three possibilities. 

If it was a cruise, leaving two weeks or more of our lives with a hole in our schedule, this could be costly in trying to fill the period of time. Besides, we often use cruises as a means of getting us to one location or another resulting in added airfare expenses. 

The combination of colors of the sea and the vegetation is always breathtaking.

The worst-case scenario would be the necessity of paying for a hotel, airfare, and meals for two weeks, which if planned carefully, we could accomplish for a cost similar to the cost of the cruise. Inconvenient? Yes. Costly? To a degree (see below).

Yesterday, we discovered that our booked cruise was canceled, scheduled from Sydney to Perth from April 12, 2016, to April 28, 2016, for a total of 16 nights. 

Tom had been reading comments online at cruisecritic.com about this possibility. We were never notified directly nor were our online friends, Staci and Glenn, who were also scheduled on this cruise, whom we were looking forward to meeting in person. 

Beautiful orchids.

Yesterday, Tom called our rep at Vacationstogo.com to inquire as to the status of the cruise. They weren’t notified either. Or perhaps with the thousands of cruises in their system, it could easily have been missed.

In any case, it was canceled, as we’ve discovered due to it being booked in its entirety for a private charter. If a wealthy individual or company chose to book an entire ship for an event, someone would be inconvenienced. They often begin to book as soon as they posted at a time two years out. In this case, the inconvenience lies with us.  Good thing we didn’t wait any longer to find out. 

Remote Hideaways Beach, accessible only by a steep partially paved path.

Yesterday, after speaking with our rep about alternatives, Tom went ahead instructing her to book us on a similar cruise that Royal Caribbean was offering as one of three options for replacement, all different dates, all different itineraries. Should we choose one of these three options, we’d been given a $200 onboard credit.

In reviewing the three options, only one offered dates similar to the canceled cruise, the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas, sailing from April 16, 2016, to April 30, 2016, for a total of 14 nights, the price slightly less for the shorter by two-night cruise. 

Another portion of Hideaways Beach.

Originally, we paid $4714.20 for a balcony cabin with taxes and gratuities included. The new cruise at $4510.36 for the same type of cabin, is not an appreciable difference although shorter by two days. The $200 credit will be sucked up in the first 30 minutes on a cruise when we order the $800 Internet package.

Sure, we could call RC and make some noise. Then again, what’s the point? Plus, that’s just not our style. In reality, we’re being compensated and for most of us, kinking a cruise a few days, a year in advance for $200 may not seem to be such a big deal. Although, we wonder how long they’d have waited before telling the passengers?

Zooming in, we spotted these sunbathers on the beach.  Looks like the guy standing is adjusting his snorkel.

For us, it presents a few issues, none of which we can’t manage with relative ease. One, we need to stay in New Zealand at the alpaca farm for four more nights or, if not available, a hotel in Sydney. On the other end, we’ll be two days late in arriving for our booked rental in Bali. They will either accept our change of dates or we’ll have to pay for two nights that we won’t be there. 

In all, this could cost us for six nights somewhere at an average cost of $200 per night, including housing and meals. It’s the nature of the beast. We budgeted for scenarios such as this and have seldom had to tap into that. Who’s to complain? Instead, it becomes a matter of figuring it out on both ends and biting the bullet for the added costs.

Future lily pods. They almost look like apples and are almost as large.

So far, we’re waiting to hear back from the property owners to see what transpires. We’ll post updates as to how it is resolved. In the meanwhile, here is the itinerary for the canceled cruise and then, the new cruise:

Canceled cruise itinerary:
Royal Caribbean – Explorer of the Seas, departs 4/12/16, 16 nights
Tue Apr 12 Sydney, Australia 9:00 pm 
Wed Apr 13 At Sea 
Thu Apr 14 At Sea 
Fri Apr 15 Wellington, New Zealand 3:00pm 10:00pm
Sat Apr 16 Picton, New Zealand 8:00 am 6:00 pm 
Sun Apr 17 At Sea 
Mon Apr 18 Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand 7:00 am 5:00 pm 
Tue Apr 19 Dusky Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) 9:00 am 10:00 am
Tue Apr 19 Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) Noon 1:00 pm
Tue Apr 19 Milford Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) 4:30 pm 5:30 pm
Wed Apr 20 At Sea 
Thu Apr 21 At Sea 
Fri Apr 22 Melbourne, Australia 8:00am 7:00pm
Sat Apr 23 At Sea 
Sun Apr 24 Adelaide, Australia 8:00am 7:00pm
Mon Apr 25 At Sea 
Tue Apr 26 At Sea 
Wed Apr 27 At Sea 
Thu Apr 28 Perth (Fremantle), Australia 6:00 am

New cruise itinerary:
Royal Caribbean – Voyager of the Seas, departs 4/16/16, 14 nights
Sat Apr 16 Sydney, Australia 5:00 pm 
Sun Apr 17 At Sea 
Mon Apr 18 Brisbane, Australia 7:00am 4:00pm
Tue Apr 19 At Sea 
Wed Apr 20 At Sea 
Thu Apr 21 At Sea 
Fri Apr 22 At Sea 
Sat Apr 23 Darwin, Australia 9:00am 5:00pm
Sun Apr 24 At Sea 
Mon Apr 25 At Sea 
Tue Apr 26 At Sea
Wed Apr 27 At Sea 
Thu Apr 28 Kuala Lumpur (Port Kelang), Malaysia 8:00am 5:00pm
Fri Apr 29 Singapore 10:00am Sat Apr 30 Singapore Disembark

As shown, this second cruise is by no means as exciting as the first with considerably fewer ports of call and yet the price is comparable. Based on visa restrictions we must proceed with this new cruise or we’ll end up staying too long in either location. 

Pools refilled each day from the surf at high tide.

We booked it. Our previously paid $900 deposit transferred over, the $200 cabin credit is listed in our new cruise documents and the balance is due on the same date, January 16, 2016.  Yesterday, I entered all the changes in our spreadsheet in several locations: itinerary, Deposits Paid, and Balances Due, Cruises.

There it is, folks, the realities of the possible inconveniences of living a life in motion. We both took this in our stride. I suppose if this was our only vacation for a year or more, we may have felt differently. But, in this life, it goes with the territory. Literally.

Happy day!

                                               Photo from one year ago today, May 1, 2014:

In between the enclosed area of the souks were outdoor areas where more products are offered for sale. For details from that date, please click here.

Tom loves cruising…I like cruising…Is that a problem for us? My food list…Homemade mayo recipe…

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A view of the Hanalei Wildlife Refuse from a hard to find overlook in Princeville. 

The tiny cabin is not an issue. Balcony cabins they’re often as small as 171 square feet (15.89 square meters) or as big as 194 square feet (18.02 square meters). Oddly, we adapt to it very well. The fact that we’re both tidy by not leaving out our clothing, shoes, and miscellaneous lying about, definitely helps.

Maneuvering around each other while dressing isn’t an issue either. After 10 cruises in the past 30 months, we’ve got it figured out. I go first in the morning, showering and dressing for the day and he goes first in the afternoon, doing the same, allowing me time to get ready to go out for the evening. 

Another view from the obscure overlook.

With few clothing options dressing for dinner is easy for us on cruises. Wear this. Wear that. That’s it. Since recently disposing of many worn out clothing, soon I’ll head to a women’s clothing store in the Princeville Mall to buy a few items for the upcoming cruise. They seem to have affordable and useful items that may work for me. 

Tom has a white dress shirt waiting to be mailed soon with our other supplies accumulating at our mailing service in Nevada. He’ll wear the shirt with black pants on dress up nights. We’ll post photos at the time.

Its relatively easy to find excellent scenic spots from most areas of Kauai.

With the size of the cabin being acceptable to me, what is my hesitation keeping me from loving it as opposed to my current “liking it?” Here are two reasons:

1.  The poor wifi connection makes it difficult for me to write and upload each day causing me considerable time and frustration.
2.  The food is challenging in both selection and taste. Our cruise representative at Vacations to Go has forwarded my food list to the upcoming cruise line, Royal Caribbean, to let them know what I can and can’t have. 

Crossing the one lane bridge over the Hanalei River.

I don’t believe I’ve ever posted this list. For those interested here it is:

No to the following in any form:

  • Wheat or any type of flour, bread, buns, crepes, pancakes, pastries, bagels, 
  • Grains:  rice, corn, quinoa, lentils, oatmeal
  • Fruit or fruit juice 
  • Starch: potatoes, potato starch, winter squash, beans (green beans ok), pasta 
  • Sugar, honey, agave, or sugar alternatives 
  • Chemicals:  MSG, food starch, additives 
  • Vegetable oils of any type except olive oil and nut oils
  • Soy sauce or any soy products
  • Gluten in any form 
  • Pre-made egg mix 
  • Yogurt, milk, or milk products (cheese OK) 
  • Dessert, even if gluten and sugar-free 
  • No foods labeled LOW FAT 
  • Bottled salad dressing or mayonnaise

Yes to these:

  • Beef, pork, poultry, wild caught fish and shellfish, nitrate free bacon or sausages made without gluten, starch or sugar
  • Escargot, made without gluten, starch or sugar 
  • Fois gras, made without gluten, starch or sugar   
  • Non starchy vegetables: such as aubergine (eggplant), peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, asparagus, lettuce, kale, spinach, cabbage, carrots (in moderation) cauliflower, etc. 
  • Fresh eggs 
  • Cheeses – non processed (good as a dessert without fruit or crackers on plate) 
  • Full fat cream 
  • Full fat sour cream
  • Full fat cream cheese
  • Homemade mayonnaise 
  • Full fat cream and butter reduction sauce made without thickener 
  • Olive oil, coconut oil, butter, homemade GF hollandaise sauce

When cooking at home, I tighten up this list, using only grass-fed meat, organic free range poultry and eggs, organic dairy, organic grass fed butter and organic produce.  On a cruise, I’m unable to get this buttoned-up list. For the upcoming 18 day cruise, I’ll manage.

View from an obscure overlook we found in Princeville.

On past cruises, I suffered no ill effects, eating in moderation; bacon, eggs and veggies for breakfast; protein source, veggies and salad (salad dressing is an issue) for dinner. Some chefs would make homemade mayo or hollandaise sauce for me which has worked well. All bottled mayo is made with soybean oil which I won’t eat, along with any other soy foods.

At home, I make mayonnaise using the following recipe:

Walnut Oil Mayonnaise
2 large egg yolks (I use pasteurized eggs for safety)
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoons powdered mustard powder
1 teaspoon Himalayan salt
1 1/2 cup toasted walnut oil or other nut oil (other oils such as olive oil or coconut oil impart a strong taste whereby walnut oil or macadamia nut oil impart a subtle taste)

In a medium bowl combine egg yolk, lemon juice, mustard powder, and sale. Whisk until well combined for 30 seconds. Whisking constantly, add walnut oil a few drops at a time using a 1/4 teaspoon measure. Keep whisking and adding slowly until you’ve added about 1/4 cup of the walnut oil and mixture is noticeably lighter in color. Very slowly, add the remaining 1/2 cup oil in a thin stream until mayonnaise is thick and a creamy light yellow. If available, a blender may be used following the slow adding of the oil while blending at a low speed. Cover and keep chilled using within 2 weeks. Shake or stir before using. I store it in a glass jar with a lid.
Adding a few drops of sweetener or seasonings of your choice when serving adds a nice touch to the flavor when used as a salad dressing. Makes
approximately 2 cups. 

It’s highly unlikely the cruise line chef will make this recipe for me nor do I expect them to prepare any special dressings or sauces. At times, they bring me the list of ingredients on a bottled item to see if it works for me.  It’s seldom acceptable.

A  gnarly old tree on a secluded beach at Anini Beach.

Otherwise, a meal of plain seasoned protein, non-starchy vegetables, and a few slices of hard cheese will fill me for a meal. To ensure I get enough fat, I can easily add butter and/or olive oil.

Overlook view on a cloudy day.

As for Tom’s dietary habits on a cruise, he eats whatever appeals to him, often gaining two or three pounds on each cruise. Surprisingly, he doesn’t load up on a lot of sweets during the day, other than a few small cinnamon rolls at breakfast and a small dessert at dinner. 

Fences such as this are often used by property owners in an attempt to keep the wild pigs out. 
His taste buds control what he eats and often he finds pastries and desserts generally unappetizing after years of eating homemade desserts that I’d made in our old lives. Overall, we both enjoy cruising, baring these few issues. Ultimately, we have a fabulous time especially meeting other cruisers, often making new friends, and gaining many more new readers.
We never tire of this view, continuing to take new photos each time we’re nearby.

Recently, a cruise ship heading to Sydney ran into a bad storm at sea and was unable to dock at the port.  Here’s the story. This news doesn’t concern us a bit. We’ve already experienced 50-foot swells at sea. Anything less than that, we can handle.

We continue to visit the Laysan Albatross chicks every few days. At this point, this chick is almost as large as the parents. When she lifts a wing we can see pure white feathers beginning to fill in. Notice her feet as she settles her butt into the ground. We continue to share photos as they grow.

Have a fabulous spring weekend preparing your homes and yards for the upcoming summer. For those in the southern hemisphere where it’s currently the fall season, we’ll see you soon!

                                              Photo from one year ago today, April 24, 2014:

A view of the souk from an upper level. For details of that date, please click here.

Flight and rental car booked for Australia…Great deals! Sharing the best prices we’ve found for car rentals…

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Taro root, growing in this field, is a popular item used in Hawaiian cooking.

As many of our long term readers are well aware, often our photos don’t match our stories. We continue to search for new and hopefully interesting photo ops in our explorations of any area in which we’re living at any given time. This is the case today, as is often the case, with the exception of the car photo listed below.

The Hawaiian Coot, most often found near water. It was our first sighting of this bird.

We commence with today’s story:

We booked all of our airfare through the Expedia link on our website. As a listed advertiser for us, we get a tiny commission for using it although the pricing is no better or worse than through Expedia directly. 

If our readers click on any of our advertiser links, we receive more tiny commissions, none of which will make us rich but help offset some of the costs of maintaining our site. Please feel free to use them as needed. 

The Hanalei Wildlife Refuse provides a lush habitat for a considerable number of birds in Kauai.

There’s no pressure from us to use these links. Our site is “free” to our worldwide readers. But, if you’re going to shop at any of these sites, please consider doing so through us. We appreciate it!

However, when shopping for flights and car rentals, the best pricing is always our first consideration. For airline tickets, we’ve had considerable luck with Expedia. 

We were surprised it had taken us so long to travel this particular road.  We were glad we did.

However, with car rentals, especially for our extended periods, we’ve had to perform extended searches for the best possible pricing. Over these past 30 months, we’ve spent hundreds of hours researching off and on as to where to get the best pricing on car rentals.

So far, for us, the best bet has been at this link for rentalcars.com. Once we enter dates and times, their site searches all providers allowing us to choose the best cars for the best prices. Here’s what we locked up a few days ago:

The Okolehao Trail begins here, leading up a steep incline using ropes to assist experienced hikers only up a two to three-hour hike up the mountains. Not quite suitable for us. Click here for details.

Car Group: Hyundai i20 or similar
Supplier: Europcar

Pick-up details:
Country: Australia
City: Cairns
Location: Cairns Airport
Date: 11 Jun 2015 10:00

Drop-off details:
Location: Cairns Airport
Date: 8 Sep 2015 10:00

Total Cost: US$1709.50
Flight number:

That’s US $1709.50 for 89 days! That total at $19.21 per day, not too bad or an average of $576 24 per month.  Here in Kauai, we paid a little more at $677 per month, still an excellent deal.

Sure, a Hyundai 120 is a small car. See photo below:

This Hyundai i20 is ideal for our needs with excellent gas mileage and, we can easily fit all of our luggage between the hatchback and back seat, our first consideration when renting a car.

Often, once we arrive at the desk of the provider at the airport, they often try to up-sell us a larger car. We rarely consider an upgrade. What’s the purpose? However, when we lived in Madeira almost a year ago, we chose a larger car with a more powerful engine in order to navigate the many steep hills. 

The difference, if I recall correctly, was about $50 more a month and well worth the expense under those special circumstances. Those steep winding hills with Tom driving a stick shift were tough enough in our upgrade.

It’s good to know that cattle are no longer branded, instead, wearing tags (in this case orange tags) on their ears as shown in this photo.

Our next expenditure a few days ago was to purchase airline tickets from Sydney, Australia to Cairns, Australia when we arrive by ship on June 11th. Careful planning, considering the time of day the ship reaches the dock, the time it will take to disembark 2000 passengers, and how long it will take to get a taxi to the airport in Sydney.

The ship will dock in Sydney at 6:00 am and be ready for passengers to disembark by 8:00 am. However, based on past experience it can take several hours to get our luggage, go through customs and immigration, and to wait in line for a taxi.

A lone horse, tied to a rope looked our way as we stopped for this photo.

With only a few nonstop flights to Cairns each day (pronounced Cannes, like the French city), we chose the afternoon flight, leaving us almost about five hours to run through the entire process. 

We often set up our transportation from cruises in this same manner, leaving lots of time for the process. We lay back on getting off the ship, staying in our cabin until they kick us out. It’s either, wait on the ship or wait at the airport, neither of which makes any difference to us.

The Hanalei River continues for 15 miles.

Why didn’t we chose an earlier flight?  As it says in our tag line or motto: “Wafting Through Our World Wide Travels with Ease, Joy and Simplicity,” we always attempt to take the less stress-invoking means of arriving at our next location.

What if there were a customs or immigration delay at the ship?  We don’t want to be rushing and worrying. A day of travel is a day of travel. The things we control we plan to be easy and hopefully seamless. The things we have no control over…we plan for extra time to accommodate them.

Driving down a road we hadn’t traveled, we followed the shore of the Hanalei River.

The cost of this nonstop one-way flight for both of us, from Sydney to Cairns, is as follows:

Qantas Price Summary

  •     $235.40
    • Flight          $218.00
    • Taxes & Fees $17.40
  •     $235.40
    • Flight           $218.00
    • Taxes & Fees  $17.40
    • Total:          $470.80
Based on the fact we’re able to fly Qantas Airline, one of the highest-rated airlines in the world, we’re pleased with this booking.
We’ll pick up the rental car and be on our way on the relatively short drive from the airport to Trinity Beach, the location of our next 89-day rental. The estimated drive time is 22 minutes or 12.18 miles, 19.6 kilometers.
Nene birds, the Hawaiian state bird are often found near water as in this case as we drove along the Hanalei River.

Hopefully, by 6 pm, we’ll arrive at our new home, get settled, and head out to dinner. These days, unpacking only requires about 30 minutes. The following day we’ll find a grocery store and familiarize ourselves with the area. 

With these two bookings out of the way, we have peace of mind, a valued commodity in our lifestyle. Low stress…good for health…good for life. 

Have a wild and wonderful Wednesday!

                                              Photo from one year ago today, April 22, 2014:

Our photo from this January while we visited the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre in Hoedspruit, South Africa, a day we’ll always remember. For more photos, from this date, one year ago, please click here.

Coffee, tea and me…Tom’s worries about cruising…What about Norovirus in today’s news?

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Beach view.

In this morning’s news its reported that two ships, Royal Caribbean’s owned Celebrity Infinity and also our upcoming ship, Legend of the Seas, have been stricken with hundreds of cases of the dreaded Norovirus. 

Here’s a portion of the article with the full article here:

“Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has two ships at sea along the west coast of California and Mexico, where passengers are experiencing gastrointestinal ailments that include vomiting and diarrhea.

An outbreak on the Legend of the Seas, on a two-week cruise ending tomorrow, sickened 114 passengers, about 7 percent of the total, and two crew members said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Infinity, part of the company’s Celebrity line, reported 106 sick passengers, or about 5 percent of the total, on a cruise ending Monday.

Outbreaks of norovirus on cruise ships aren’t uncommon during the winter season. Cruise line operators are required to report the total number of gastrointestinal cases, with online updates posted when they account for more than 3 percent of passengers and crew.”

Tattoo shop in Kapaa.

By the time I sat down to start my computer, Tom had already sent me the article. However, while I was getting ready to begin my day, Tom mentioned the following to me, “When we’re on the ship, take extra teabags each time you make a cup of tea. On this long cruise, they’ll probably run out of your favorite tea.”

I giggled aloud. That had never occurred to me. Once, a few cruises ago when they ran out of Earl Grey, my choice over their other options, a tea I never purchase when we’re “landed.” It was no big deal. 

Café along the Kuhio Highway, the main highway in Kauai from the north where we’re located to the south past Lihue where the airport is located.

A few days later, Earl Grey tea bags magically appeared. Either the ship picked it up at a port or someone bothered to go into the storage area to finally open an awaiting supply. 

My dear husband remembers these three days that I didn’t have Earl Gray tea. I drank Lipton. It was no big deal. But, for him, he was concerned that I didn’t have what I wanted. (I only consume tea with a jolt of caffeine so those fruity flavored herbal teas have never appealed to me).

Clothing store in Kapaa.

Drinking hot tea is only important to me a few times a day while on a cruise, once in the morning, two mugs full, and the same around 4:00 pm each day. The remainder of the time I drink iced tea or water.

My first choice of morning beverage is always coffee which we now have every morning using real cream. My way of eating prevents me from using half and half which contains too much milk sugar. Rarely do the ships have real cream available. On a few occasions, I’ve been able to get it. Instead, in the mornings on the ships, I drink plain tea. It’s no big deal.

Rainy day, sandy beach view.

Tom’s suggestion to take extra tea bags to save in the event they run out is pointless to me. Why would I always want my small pockets filled with tea bags, which are always full anyway with business cards, my phone, a tube of lipstick, and a cruise ID card?

Plus, it drives me nuts to see others loading up on supplies that they want to save to take home. We don’t do that. We can buy our own tea bags and stir sticks when we get to our next location. 

Mountain view with a fire nearby.

Of course, Tom worries about the norovirus. Based on the small percentages that actually become ill and the zillions of times per day we wash our hands and avoid touching anything, we’ve never had norovirus on these past 10 cruises. 

On three prior cruises, we did come down with the “cruise cough.” It’s hard to avoid someone coughing on the elevator or even in one’s face. On the last ship, on our way to Hawaii, while I was getting my breakfast (using a cloth napkin wrapped around my hand which I tossed in the bin before eating), I saw a man sneeze on a bunch of clean white plates and then walk away.

Views out to sea.

I stood at the plates to prevent anyone from taking one until a staff member walked past me so I could report it. I watched as they cleared every plate and washed the general area. How much of this actually occurs that we don’t know about?

Based on this, why would anyone choose to cruise? For us, it’s plain and simple. We have a blast doing our thing each day and basically attending a party each night when we meet six or eight new people at our dinner table from all over the world with whom we engage with considerable laughter and animated conversation. It’s so much fun! 

A trip to Kapaa on a sunny day.

Plus, stopping at various ports of call either on small group tours or on our own, is an enriching and rewarding experience. How else can one possibly see so much of the world in a relatively short period of time?

Worry? Yes, he’ll worry. But, not me. Until I’m eating onion sandwiches and sewage is running through the halls, I’m not about to worry.

                                              Photo from one year ago today, April 14, 2014:

The winding roads and fast driving by our driver made me car sick for the first time in decades. I was grateful when we finally returned back to the riad after cutting the trip short by a few days. For details, please click here.

Cloudy days, rainy nights and roosters crowing in the morning…Our Panama Canal expedition, 26 months ago…

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We always feel fortunate to have the opportunity to embrace these special scenes.

The roosters start crowing around 4:00 am and continue throughout the day. Whoever said roosters just crow in the mornings didn’t know what they were talking about. 

It isn’t that they crow more in the mornings. It’s just that they, like us, sleep a few hours during the night and happen to be early risers, and then the fun begins. They no longer awaken either of us. During the day, we hear them and more often, giggle to ourselves at how prevalent it is here in Kauai.

The clouds often gather close to the mountains.

It’s a wonderful place, rain or shine. We’ve met travelers renting the unit next door (the same owner as our unit) coming and going these past few weeks and it rained the entire time they were here. Many have managed to have a great time, hiking, and exploring even in the wet weather.

And yet, here we are with plenty of time to wait it out to again see the sun in this magical place with exquisite greenery, outstanding views, and friendly people, of course with chickens clucking and roosters crowing in the background.

This Cattle Egret stopped by for a peek.  “Got any worms?”  Sorry, none today.

Then, there are the other birds, endless birds, many of whom come to call, sitting atop the railing on our lanai checking us out wondering what morsels we might toss their way. The chickens, roosters, and birds on this island are used to people leaving crumbs for them. On occasion, we leave a few bits of raw walnuts for the same visiting cardinals that visit each day.

Life is simple here in many ways. We’ve already seen so much of the island and we’ll see more when my dear sister Julie comes to visit us soon. The last time I saw her was in January 2013 when we boarded the Celebrity Century in San Diego, California for a 15-day cruise that would eventually traverse the Panama Canal.

A shoreline view from the cliffs above.

Julie and son Richard had come to see us off. What a day it was!  Here’s the link to our post on the day we left and also the link and the photos from the day we traversed the Panama Canal.

The Panama Canal was Tom’s dream. When planning our travels during Tom’s last 10 months of work before retirement, we booked the cruise through the canal right out of the chute. Why not start with his dream when mine was yet to come many months later when we’d arrive in Africa?

Neither of us ever dreamed about traveling the world. Nor did we ever mention it to one another in all of our years together. Never, did either of us say, “Oh, I’d like to travel the world someday.”

The colors of the ocean never cease to amaze us.

On a few rare occasions, I may have mentioned how much I’ve wanted to visit Africa since I was a child, longing to see the wildlife. When Tom was in grade school with history and geography as his favorite topics, he longed to see the Panama Canal. 

In early 2012, during our early planning stages, we decided to take the Panama Canal cruise when Tom was excited about the building of the new larger locks being built in order to accommodate larger ships. He wanted to traverse the old locks before the new locks were completed. Someday, we’ll return for the opportunity to traverse the new locks.

These peculiar above-ground tree roots are found in many areas on the Hawaiian Islands.

It was surprising to both of us how much I also loved seeing the Panama Canal. At that point, 26 months ago, it was the most extraordinary thing I’d ever seen, soon to outdone by other extraordinary places that came along the way. 

But, each event has been unique in its own way and who’s to say that Petra was more amazing than the Panama Canal. Here are the links to see our journey to Petra, Jordan, Part 1, and Part 2, a day emblazoned in our hearts and minds forever.

Cloudy days continue.

Ah, the memories we’ve built along the way and above all, having the ability to look back at our posts to see what we’ve done, where we’ve been and the unexpected adventures along the way. Wow!

If in fact we didn’t have several hundred thousand worldwide readers, only having this site for our own reference and as a legacy for our grandchildren and their children in generations to come, it all would have been worthwhile. 

There’s a forest-like area behind the Foodland grocery store in Princeville. a habitat for hundreds of chickens and roosters. Notice, how the female’s colors blend into the background. I suppose its nature’s way of protecting her young. Of course, whenever we see a female, there’s a rooster lurking nearby.

Adding the absolutely exquisite knowledge that readers from all over the world are traveling along with us, means so much. With our reader’s daily perusal and comments on our posts, we’ll never feel alone. 

Thank you, dear readers, for your loyalty, for your acceptance of our mundane days, for our boring recipes, and discussions of food (for the non-foodie types). You stay with us day after day, as we always stay with you…

                                               Photo from one year ago today, March 4, 2014:

The riad, (a house with a central courtyard open to the sky), located in the Medina in Marrakech, steps out the door to the souks was a beautiful well-built property with a full staff of four (included in the rent) a cook, Madame Zahra and her assistant, Ouimama, Adil and Samir, both housemen attending to our needs.  For details and more photos of the riad, please click here.

Lump sums due this week…The Kauai Path…more tomorrow…A year ago, a cart and a cart pusher in Marrakech…

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Although we haven’t had a sunny day in almost a week, we’d saved these photos to share as a reminder that soon the sun will shine again.

We knew the month of March would require a few good-sized lump sum payments for vacation rentals and cruises. These big payments are a part of our life and try as we may, we still cringe a little when they come due.

Kealia Beach as we walked along the Kauai Path on a sunny day. When the weather clears we’ll return another day to walk the opposite end of the path we’ve yet to explore.

Then again, we don’t have utility bills, cable bills, yard service, and household repairs and maintenance. Instead, we prepay rent for two to three months, in full, well in advance of occupying the premises. 

The jetty at the beach in Kapaa.

When most travelers pay for a vacation rental or hotel, most likely they are paying for one or two weeks. For us, the month’s long rentals often require amounts due close to $10,000. For cruises, there’s often a balance owing after a deposit of $5000 or $6000.

This week, we’ll pay the second payment for the Trinity Beach, Australia house of $3115, paying the balance one month before our move-in date of June 11, 2015. The cruise we’re taking from Honolulu to Sydney on May 24th has a balance owing this week of $5110. 

A map of the Kauai Path on display when we began the long walk to the right from the center.

Therefore, this week we’ll shell out $8225. The upside of this is that our rent will be paid up through September 8, 2015. In May, we’ll pay for the next rental in Fiji and so on. Although we’re always paid well in advance we continue to have future rental balances payable in advance. 

Keeping careful documentation is a vital portion of our travels. At any given time, we can reference our Excel workbook for up-to-the-minute records of all of our current and future expenses, travel dates, reservations, itinerary, and so on, copies of which we store in two separate clouds, an external hard drive, and two laptops.  That’s backup for you!

We’ve yet had to leave a beach unable to find a parking spot, even on the most perfect days.

Of course, I cringe a little when these sums are due and sigh with relief when the payments are processed, putting it all behind me. How do we pay for these? The balance of the rental is usually paid via PayPal which charges fees for processing. 

In some cases, the owner will pay the PayPal fees and in other cases, after we’ve negotiated a good rental rate, we may agree to pay the fees. If an owner is providing us with a good discount for our extended stay, you bet we’ll agree to pay the fees.

The shore wasn’t sandy at varying points on the Kauai path yet a few sunbathers’s found a more private spot.

As for the cruises, as we continue to work with Vacationstogo.com for the best fares, they automatically charge our credit card on file on the date the balance of the full fare is due usually 75 to 90 days before sailing depending on the cruise line. Once paid, we receive a paid in full receipt by email. 

The cruise lines have varying schedules as to when and how much one may recovery if they cancel after the payment is made. The policies are clearly defined in the cruise documents with a rare exception for an alternate option in case of emergency. 

At certain points, the shore was filled with lava rock.

It’s always sad to read about passengers with a need to cancel a cruise when illness strikes and their frustration when they can’t get a refund. Sadly, it’s the nature of the beast. 

Speaking of cruising, last night we watched the new TV show, “Escape.” This first two-hour episode in the series was the sinking of the Costa Concordia in January 2012. We both watched in silence, our mouths agape over the horrifying events of this tragic situation and loss of life.

Had a pair of lovers recently made this heart?

When the show was over, Tom asked me if it had an effect on me regarding our five upcoming booked cruises. The biggest effect on us both was from the loss of lives and their family member’s grief and sorrow and, the trauma suffered by the survivors. We’d originally heard about this a year before we took our first cruise.

Of course, we’ll think about it next time we go on a muster drill and pay even more attention than in the past and again from time to time when we hear unusual noises aboard a ship. Human error. Its rampant and at times the cause of tragic events. 

A determined fisherman stood on the rocks hoping for the “catch of the day.”

As much as we’d all like to have a guaranty of safety in our lives and a guaranty of good health, these simply aren’t available. But, we can choose not to worry over those situations over which we have no control and which, most likely, will never occur.

As for any angst over lump-sum payments, once they are done, I always let it go. We’ve budgeted for these expenses, we’ve made them affordable and they are a part of the amazing life we’ve chosen to live.

We’d just missed a photo of a whale’s full body breach. Darn it!

Happy Monday to those who still work. Find peace in knowing that someday, you’ll have the time to live your dreams, whether it’s reading a good book on the veranda, planting flowers in the garden, or stretching yourself to do that which you never imagined you’d do.

As for retirees…why do you care that it’s Monday? We don’t.

                                             Photo from one year ago today, March 2, 2015:

Once our driver delivered us from the airport in Marrakech to the Medina we were met by Adile, one of the four staff members of our “riad” located in the heart of the souks and, the cart handler who wheeled our luggage to the property. It was quite a walk through the Medina and the souk. We were exhausted from the long flight and layovers but, the excitement energized us as we took in the unbelievable sights before our eyes. For more details and photos, please click here.

Upcoming cruises with visits to many locations…A year ago…interesting new visitors…

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Another of Tom’s exquisite sunrise photos.

Yesterday, as we sat in the lawn chairs whale watching with fervor, we realized that in only a few days, we’ll no longer be this close to the ocean, able to watch for the gentle giants when we see signs of life whether we’re peering out the window or sitting outside.

In our new home, a condo in Princeville, Kauai, it will require we walk across the street, carrying lawn chairs in order to get close enough to take photos of the whales.  We’ll have views of the sea from the condo but it will just be too far to see from what we can determine from the photos.

We’ve been spoiled these past months since we arrived in Maui on October 16th when our close proximity to the ocean made every view exquisite.  Now, three months later, we move along to live on the last of four Hawaiian Islands arriving in Honolulu on October 5th, off the Celebrity Solstice after a 12 day cruise from Vancouver.


Its winter in Hawaii and yet the hearty Hibiscus flowers continue to bloom.

And again, as we mentioned in the past two posts, we’ve now booked two more cruises on this same ship, one we’ve found ideal for our liking.

Today, as promised we’re listing the five upcoming cruises we’ve booked, each of which offers its own unique ports with only a few repeats here and there.

Let’s face it, the major cruise lines only take so many routes worldwide.  Although it may appear they travel all over the world, they do not.  They have specific routes, repeated over and over again.  Frequent cruisers are aware of this fact, often experiencing similar cruises several times, including visiting the same ports of call.

At this point, we’re satisfied if a new cruise takes us to two or three new ports of call.  When we visit ports we’ve previously experienced, we usually stay behind, enjoying the quiet on the ship, choice of chairs by the pool and the good WiFi signal for posting using the rented MiFi.  In any case, we enjoy it all.

As promised, here is the information on our five upcoming cruises including the cost:














































Honolulu
to Sydney		 18 days 5/24/2015 6/11/2015   $  6,010.64
Sydney to
Auckland		 14 days 1/5/2016 1/19/2016   $  4,771.32
Sydney to Perth 16 days 4/12/2016 4/28/2016   $  4,714.20
Singapore to Sydney 14 days 10/31/2016  11/14/2016 $  4,143.81
Sydney to
Sydney		 12 days 3/1/2017 3/13/2017 $  4,820.36


Total for five above cruises:          $24,460.33
Average cost per day for 74 days: $     330.55 (for both of us)

Our usual average cost per day while living in vacation rentals is approximately $200 per day including meals, dining out and rental cars.  In this case, cruising is $130.55 more per day plus additional charges for WiFi and beverages at an average of $78 per day for an additional total of $209.55 per day x 74 days, equals an additional $15,506.70. 

As a result of the added expenses of cruising, we’ve managed to find vacation homes, buying groceries and rental cars at reasonable enough prices to bring down the average daily costs around the $200 each.  The magic of diligent planning enables us to cruise and to live comfortably all over the world.


A palm tree, a Hibiscus plant and a blue sky.  Many days are cloudy on this island, as much as 60% from what we’ve seen over these past six weeks.  A sunny day is glorious!

As I write this, Tom suggested we list the ports of call for all of these cruises to illustrate how much of the world we have an opportunity to see while cruising, adding considerable value to the process.

Here’s the complete list some of which may include more than one stop at a specific location as mentioned above, that ports of call may be repeat visit on various cruises:

  1. Moorea, Society Islands
  2. Papeete, Tahiti, Society Island
  3. Bora Bora, Society Islands
  4. Savu, Fiji
  5. Ill des Pins, New Caledonia
  6. Sydney, Australia
  7. Melbourne, Australia
  8. Hobart, Tazmania, Australia
  9. Milford Sound, New Zealand (cruising only)
  10. Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (cruising only)
  11. Dusky Sound, New Zealand (cruising only)
  12. Dunedin (port Chalmers), New Zealand
  13. Akaroa, New Zealand
  14. Wellington, New Zealand
  15. Tauranga, New Zealand
  16. Bay of Islands, New Zealand
  17. Auckland, New Zealand
  18. Picton, New Zealand
  19. Adelaide, Australia
  20. Perth, Australia (Fremantle, Australia)
  21. Singapore, Indonesia
  22. Benoa, Bali, Indonesia
  23. Darwin, Australia
  24. Cairns, Australia
  25. Airlie Beach, Australia
  26. Brisbane, Australia
  27. Nounea, New Caledonia
  28. Lifou, New Caledonia
  29. Mystery Island, Vanuatu
  30. Lautoka, Fiji

Only approximately six of these are repeats for us.  How in the world would we have every been able to visit these 30 locations without cruising?  The time, the cost and the effort would far exceed the glorious 74 days of cruising which we so thoroughly enjoy?

Add the facts that cruising enables us to meet so many fabulous people, many of whom we’ve stayed in touch with over these past two plus years, enhances the experience beyond our wildest dreams.  These are the reasons we choose to cruise.

The tiny cabin, often around 194 square feet, the risks of rough waters, the difficulty of managing my way of eating, the constant WiFi issues and the lack of dressy clothing for the formal nights, the crowds at certain venues, all are manageable for us.  We don’t complain.  When weighing the pros and cons of cruises, the pros win for us.  We love every moment, rough seas included.


We’ve noticed this peculiar drooping plant on the past three islands we’ve visited.

Today, perhaps a little organizing, a little tossing of worn clothing and a little time in the lawn chair whale watching.  Tonight and tomorrow night, we’ll fire up the charcoal grill to make the last of the frozen hamburger patties we’d made and we’d stored in Ziplock bags in the freezer.

We’re happily using most of the perishable food, leaving some non-perishable foods for the next occupants of this house and sending the remainder to ourselves in Kauai.

It’s all good.  Good as it can be.

Happy Monday to all!
_______________________________________

Photo from one year ago today, January 12, 2014:

It was exciting one year ago, for the visit of hundreds of these grasshopper visitors in our driveway in Marloth Park.  Everyday provided an exciting new experience.  We spent the day watching and videotaping the activity of this “family” of grasshoppers including their babies.  To see the videos from that date, please click here.

Exciting future bookings…He just can’t wait! A year ago, a terrifying visitor! See photo…

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Low lying clouds over the ocean at 5:00 pm.

When a cruise line has special pricing, Tom starts chomping at the bit. He can’t help it. He loves cruising. That’s not to say I don’t love it. But, he loves it more. 

Not only does he love the cruise itself but he absolutely is fascinated with the planning and booking process. He researches cruisecritic.com for comments from recent cruise passengers on past cruises as to the best cabins for the particular ship, the appropriate side of the ship, port (left) or starboard (right) for the best views during the cruise based on the locations, and the best promotions and packages to choose.

View across the side yard on yet another cloudy day.

As he’s gathering all the information, he writes down all the particulars, (in this case he wrote on a brown grocery bag when we couldn’t find a pad of paper), performing financial analysis as to the best options, average daily rates, and benefits to taking the cruise.

Oh, good grief.  I stay out of the cruise planning.  He need only tell me where, when, and how much and I’m happy. Once we’ve booked a cruise, he reads me the data from the “cruise confirmation” documents that arrive in my email upon booking and paying a deposit, enabling me to enter the pertinent data into various sheets in our Excel workbook: Itinerary, Deposits Paid, Cruises Booked.

A nice feature of booking cruises is the fact that one can cancel with a 100% return of the deposit up to 90 days before sailing. If not canceled, at that 90-day point, the balance is automatically charged to the credit card on file. Partial deposits may be refunded as a sail date approaches based on the number of days of the cruise and the dates the cancellation is requested. 

A lone tree survives the strong trade winds.

To date, we’ve canceled only one cruise which was well before the 90 day period, receiving a 100% deposit.  After sailing on the Norwegian Epic, we decided to cancel a future cruise, we’d booked on the Epic a second time. We hadn’t liked the ship, although it survived the 50-foot swells at sea for three days. 

The Epic was poorly designed to our liking, too large and difficult to maneuver from area to area.  In addition, the design of walking through the bathroom to get into the cabin was particularly unappealing, leaving no privacy when showering and dressing. Gee, a girl (or guy) has to have a few private moments now and then!

Yesterday, after Tom spent time-off and on over the past several months, researching possible future cruises and after spending considerable time since the family departed, he was ready to book two cruises. 

Usually, when booking cruises we’ve had to pay a $450 deposit per person, resulting in tying up $900 of our money for as long as two years into the future. 

When we’d booked several cruises, we disliked the idea of a cruise line having that much of our money for such an extended period. It made no sense at all. But, waiting to book a cruise could result in a lack of availability of preferred sailing dates and cabin selection.

A single shrub against the backdrop of the roaring sea.

While on our last cruise from Vancouver to Honolulu on the Celebrity Solstice, we prepaid two cruise deposits in advance for $200 each, a promo-only offered onboard the ship. It wasn’t necessary to choose which cruises we wanted at that point. The deposits would remain in place indefinitely until we chose cruises.

Yesterday, our prepaid $200 deposits came into play when we booked the two cruises, three and a half months apart, on the Celebrity Solstice, the same ship that brought us to Hawaii in October 2014.

Today, we’ll share the details of the first of these two cruises and tomorrow, the second, leaving us with a total of five cruises booked in the future, all of which we’ll list collectively in tomorrow’s post.

Budding lilies in the yard.

Here are the details of this cruise we booked yesterday, oddly sailing on the day of our four year anniversary of leaving on our journey to travel the world. We booked an upgraded cabin resulting in a total cost for a balcony cabin on the starboard side for an unobstructed view (of lifeboats) for a total of $4143.81 including tax and gratuities for both of us. Here are the details, including the itinerary.

FastDeal 11541
14 nights departing October 31, 2016 on
Celebrity’s Celebrity Solstice
Brochure Inside $2,598
Our Inside $1,249
You Save 52%
Brochure Oceanview $3,198
Our Oceanview $1,599
You Save 50%
Brochure Balcony $3,598
Our Balcony $1,699
You Save 53%
Brochure Suite $7,198
Our Suite $3,599
You Save 50%
The prices shown are US dollars per person, based on double occupancy, and subject to availability. They include port charges but do not include airfare or (where applicable) airport or government taxes or fees.
Important Note: Visas are required for this itinerary.
ITINERARY
DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART
Mon Oct 31 Singapore 5:00pm
Tue Nov 1 At Sea
Wed Nov 2 At Sea
Thu Nov 3 Benoa, Bali 8:00am 5:00pm
Fri Nov 4 At Sea
Sat Nov 5 At Sea
Sun Nov 6 Darwin, Australia 8:00am 4:00pm
Mon Nov 7 At Sea
Tue Nov 8 At Sea
Wed Nov 9 Cairns, Australia 9:00am 5:00pm
Thu Nov 10 Airlie Beach, Australia 9:00am 5:00pm
Fri Nov 11 At Sea
Sat Nov 12 Brisbane, Australia 8:00am 5:00pm
Sun Nov 13 At Sea
Mon Nov 14 Sydney, Australia 6:00am

On some of our cruises, we return to the cities and countries we’ve already visited.  We never mind this fact.  For this cruise, we’ll have already been to Sydney, Cairns, and Bali. However, we don’t mind the redundancy at all. Seeing an area from a cruise ship is an interesting part of the experience that we never fail to enjoy.

Actually, many ports of call in our upcoming cruises may be repeats at some point. But, the fact that we have an opportunity to see new locations as well only adds to the experience. For both of us, being on the ship itself is delightful giving us an opportunity to interact with other travelers, making new friends along the way.

Booking these two cruises leaves a few holes in our itinerary. During the upcoming four months in Kauai, we’ll be busy filling those gaps and considering the last booking we have scheduled to date, the end of the second cruise, March 13, 2017. Our goal is to always be booked for the upcoming two years. 

As a result, we’ll soon begin booking beyond March 13, 2017. How exciting, that will be!

Photo from one year ago today, January 10, 2014:

It’s hard to believe it was a year ago that Tom spotted the Mozambique Spitting Cobra next to his bare foot as we sat on the veranda in Marloth Park.  He jumped away while I ran for the camera.  This jittery photo was a result of my hands shaking a bit as I shot this through the clothes line rack when the snake tried to get into the house.  Tom moved it with the mop as shown in the right side of the photo.  For more details on this story, please click here.

Another new beginning…Hello, Waikiki for 11 nights!…Final cruise bill!…Interesting financial facts…A year ago today, first day on safari…Check out the photos!

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A Bottle Nosed Dolphin we spotted from the ship!

As we hear the grumbles of frustration from many passengers that are disappointed that the cruise ends today, we keep our mouths shut, shaking our heads in understanding.

Nothing ends here for us today by way of leaving the Celebrity Solstice. We have 11 nights in Waikiki in an oceanview condo with a washer and dryer in the building! Yippee! What more could we ask for?

Shops and restaurants in Kona.

No, it doesn’t feel like a vacation spending almost eight months in Hawaii. It now feels like a good life, leaving little time or circumstance resulting in boredom or a sense of the mundane. 

How will we ever settle down when we so love this life of constant change and challenge? We intend to continue on until we can’t, old age being the unavoidable obstacle and eventuality. 

As the tender approached the pier in Hilo, there were swimmers at the beach.

Today, we’ll play our usual role of “cattle” herded off the ship with assigned numbers and times, making our way down the ramps to the street where hopefully, we’ll quickly find a taxi to take us to our resort hotel in Waikiki Beach. 

Check-in time isn’t until 2:00 pm. We’ll wait in the lobby, more easily entertaining ourselves with a stronger (hopefully) WiFi signal while we commence preparing Monday’s post with photos galore.

Restaurants lined the shore in Kona.

We have no delusions about the crowds, the traffic, the noise and the smells of fried foods (as mentioned by daughter Tammy about Waikiki). None whatsoever. After all, since July 31st, we’ve been in Paris, London and Vancouver for 16 nights, 15 nights and 6 nights, respectively. We know and accept the annoyances of big cities.

But, we always find ways to entertain ourselves, seeing the sites we prefer to see, taking photos, writing here each day, eating the local foods (that which I can eat and which Tom will like) until 11 days later, we’ll head to the blissful quiet of Maui, away from the usual tourist locations.

Afternoon sun in Maui, from our veranda.

Our final bill for this cruise excluding the fare was $805.88.  The fare for this 12 day Hawaiian cruise, Vancouver to Honolulu was $4116.02 which included tax, $288 tips, $175 on board credit for a grand total of $4921.90.  The average cost per day including all costs was $410.16. 

Had we lived in a vacation rental for 12 days with a rental car, groceries, dining out and other miscellaneous expenses, our cost would have been roughly at $200 per day for a total of $2400.  

Adding the cost of airfare to reach Hawaii from any location could easily have been another $2000 for a total of $4400 for an average daily cost of $366.67. In essence, the cruise cost us an additional $521.90. The benefit we enjoy is the fact that we don’t have to pay for home sitting empty with all of its expenses, while we’re on “vacation.”

Kaanapali Beach, Maui, the famous strip of hotels and resorts along the coveted popular tourist attraction. Years ago, BT, I visited this location on several occasions when long hours in the sun and late-night fun were on the agenda. Not so much of that now.

Here we begin, dear readers, another leg of our journey with no end, only two months from seeing our family at long last which ultimately was our primary motivation for visiting Hawaii at this time in our travels.

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with photos of our new temporary home, basically, a hotel room with a tiny kitchen which will easily fulfill our needs during this short 11-day stay and of course, our first photos of Waikiki Beach, as we breathe in the smell of the ocean air, flowers, and fried foods.

Aloha.

                                               Photo from one year ago today, October 5, 2013:

Our first day on safari in the Maasai Mara, Kenya, one year ago today.

This scene was our first while we waited nearby the airport for other safari participants to arrive to drive to the camp with us. Anderson, our tour guide throughout the adventure, decided to take us for a quick peek while we waited the 45 minutes. We couldn’t believe our eyes but, it was only a taste of what was yet to come!  For details and many more exciting photos, please click here.