ALOOOOOHA ADVENTURE-ERS

9/15/11 - Hilo, Hawaii

Memories were heightened as we docked in the same port and position as the MV Explorer did in our first port on Semester at Sea.  A grey day in Hilo…when the sun finally tried to pop through the dark clouds, other ominous clouds appeared, hiding the sun for the entire day.  We were met with continuous showers, and were smart to spend our day indoors Skyping with our families.  I remembered Hilo being an uneventful port, and it was even drearier in the rain.  Never miss an opportunity to go to Wal-Mart on a rainy day, a tip I picked up at Bucknell.  With a few necessities in hand, the remaining time in Hilo was spent on the ship.  Our final and hopeful attempt to walk into town had failed as we quickly turned into drowned rats in a downpour.  Tommy brightened the gloomy day by presenting me with the most beautiful plastic rainbow lei, which he cleverly obtained from the dining room display as he passed by on the way back to the room.  I think I've got a keeper!

9/16/11 – Honolulu, Hawaii

Clad in our matching Outrigger Canoe Club shirts, we watched the sunrise to start a gorgeous day.  One important lesson I learned from my dad is to always watch the sunrise and sunset.  As we sailed into Honolulu, the sun highlighted Waikiki beach, and I spotted the Royal Hawaiian (my mom and dad’s honeymoon destination) and the Outrigger Canoe Club.  

I used to LOVE snorkeling, and Tommy still does, but after a very traumatic experience, in which my dad was almost eaten by a 12-foot tiger shark off shore at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, I am cautious and honestly a bit terrified when it comes to snorkeling!  I have snorkeled following that distressing event a few years ago, but very tentatively.  So, I was thrilled to do some land snorkeling today instead of the real deal!  By land snorkeling, I mean we walked off the ship and made it two blocks before stopping to watch tons of sergeant major fish, huge puffer fish, enormous tangs, a cowfish, a trumpet fish, and a variety of other fish swimming over a reef right in the harbor!  Who needs to snorkel when we can watch the beautiful fish from the safety of land! 
Finally moving on from land snorkeling, we arrived at Waikiki Beach ready to get our surf on.  We spent our first hour on our rented surfboards riding in some great waves.  After a great day on Waikiki beach, we topped it off with a Mai Tai and local Long Board beer to toast our great surfing skills.  Hang loose!

9/17/11 – Kona, Hawaii

Today we anchored, therefore it was a tender day, yuck.  Although it is a beautiful view from the water looking in at Kona, it provides a bit of a hassle getting on and off the ship.  Our original plan was to spend our day at my favorite beach in the world at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, but it was just too far from where the tenders drop us off to be reasonable.  I was definitely bummed out, but we turned it into a good day of exploring Kona.  A taste of fresh ground Kona Coffee in a local outdoor market turned the day around immediately, so much so that we could not resist buying a pound of Kona coffee to bring with us to Australia.  The highlight of our day was visiting the Kona Brewing Co. Brewery and Brew Pub for a taste of some of our favorite beers, which were even better straight from the source.

After our sampling of some yummy beers I could not miss the opportunity to have a world famous Mai Tai at my parents favorite Mai Tai spot on the Big Island while watching the surfers roll in with the swells.  Our first visit to the Kona Brewing Co. was so great that we opted for one more visit before heading back to the ship so we hiked up the hill for round two.  This time we took a tour of the facilities and learned the entire process of how their beer is made with the perk of a free tasting of four of their beers following the tour.  What a great day at our last stop in Hawaii and the U.S.  Bon Voyage America!