Jim & Alie

I’ve went through a majority of the Hawaii photos and put them up here for viewing:

http://www.jimsnodgrass.com/photoviewer/hawaii/

Some of them have been posted here already, though they may look slightly different, and many of them are new.  Feel free to leave any comments in this blog post.

A quick shot of the hotel pool from our room.  The only place I can get Alie to snorkel. 

As most of you know, Jim and I really are neither one night owls.  Now, with the time change, we have been getting up around 4 or 5 am and getting started with our day around 7 or 8 when everything opens.  That means that by 6 or 7 we are exhausted from the sun and water activiities.  Keep in mind that is 12 or 1 am Ohio time.

Most nights we have been back to the hotel by 5.  On Saturday evening, I came back and took a nap and then we got ready to go out on the town, have some dinner and hang out.

A self portrait of ourselves on the balcony…

Me in my new Hawaiian sun dress…

Jim and I went to the pool in our hotel and I practiced snorkeling.  I just needed to practice breathing under water, clearing my mask, and going deeper and holding my breath with the gear on.  Jim seemed to catch on really quickly, but I needed the extra practice.

I have tried in the ocean and the waves are pretty fierce and it scares me because I was not confident with the equipment.

Feel much better now…we are headed to Hanauma Bay tomorrow for me to try try again.

No goat tee!  I had never seen Jimmy without a goat tee.  Since he had been scuba and snorkeling and the goat tee was getting in the way, he decided to shave.  I can see his face.  He is so cute!

One of the food recommendations from our friend Matt (who we met on the plan trip here), was Keneke’s Plate Lunch and BBQ.  We were driving east of Wikiki to explore more of the island and stopped and ordered lunch.  Keneke’s offers up an inexpensive, Hawaiian lunch.  Jim and I both ordered the Kalua Pig sandwiches.  Basically, it was a pulled pork sandwich that was very good.  It was good food, quick and inexpensive.  We were back on the road in no time and exploring more of the island.

When we first arrived in Hawaii, we got a very warm welcome with the Hawaiian greeting–”Aloha”.  Aloha means Greetings!, Hello!, Good-by!, or love. Just being here a week, it is amazing how much the language becomes a part of every day activities.  Another common word we learned the first day here was “Mahalo” or Thank you.  We have used these 2 words the most.

All of the street signs are in Hawaiian and for someone like me who doesn’t know the language very well all the streets start to sound the same.  The street our hotel is located on is Kalakaua, pronounced (Ka-la-kawa).

During our time here…various people mentioned that there are only 12-16 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet.  That’s why all the words are very closely related and sound very similar.  Of course, I wanted to know, so I looked it up.  You can learn more here.

The Hawaiian alphabet uses 12 Roman letters ( a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, w), five (5) Roman letters (a, e, i, o, u) with a diacritical mark called a kahakô, and a diacritical mark called `okina.

So there are 18 letters total with 10 vowels and 8 consonants.

So try to pronounce the Hawaiian state fish.  Good luck!  Humuhumukununukuapua’a

After the scuba diving trip, i decided it was something I’d like to do more of in the future and I’d like to have some of my own equipment that fit well.  I figured I’d get a snorkeling setup – mask, snorkel, and fins – that would allow me to have these pieces that I’m comfortable with whether it be snorkeling or more scuba in the future.

When I told David I was going to Hawaii, one of the first thing he mentioned was that I needed to go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.  For those that don’t know, David lived here for a few years while he was in the Marines.

Hanauma Bay is known as one of the best places in the world to snorkel and it was obvious why as soon as I got out there.  Most of the area had corral so close to the surface that I worried about hitting it with my chest sometimes when the water level dropped in between waves.  There were tons of fish swimming all around the reef that didn’t seem to care about you being there.  It was like being in a huge aquarium that had purposely been filled with lots of different kinds of fish.

We’re going to try to make it back there again before we leave and I’ll bring a waterproof camera this time.

We walked over and picked up our rental car and headed out on another road trip.  The plan today was to hit the east side.  Once we got on the road, we decided we should stop by Diamond Head on our way.

Once you get into the park, there is a paved path that leads you up to the main hike.  Once on the main path, it gets much more uneven and steep.  Alie started having a little trouble at this point.  With some of the physical activities we’ve been doing, Alie is coming to the realization that the elliptical machine she uses for most of her exercise at home doesn’t always translate to being in shape in the real world.

About halfway up, there was a small area where you could look out and rest.

From this point, the trail turned into stairs and tunnels.

But, eventually, we made it to the top.  From here, we could see a lot of the island and relax a little.  Off to our right, there was a good view of Waikiki and that whole area.  To our left, we could see all the way to Koko Head.

Directly in front of us was crystal clear water and there were surfers out enjoying the waves.

Once rested up, it was back to the tunnels and stairs before getting back to the main trail.  It was a much easier trek going back down.