Photos from Hawaii

Want to share some of the photos from the beautiful Hawaiian islands, post-haste - so here goes:

Once we cleared security we were greeted by these folks in native Hawaiian dress

Hawaiian Dancers in the Entrance Hallway of the ship, the Norwegian Pride of America

Singers on the Aft (back) deck eleven preparing us for sail away

Spectacular Honolulu sunset - the photo does not really capture how the mountain edges were gold-rimmed as the sun passed under the cloud layer.  

Sculpture of two characters from Hawaiian children's storybook

Feeding the birds, Honolulu Style

Friends surfing together

This surfer had just dropped his surfboard off a dock and was diving in after it...

Flowers spotted on my early morning walk along the Waikiki strip

This shot was taken from our 17th floor balcony using a telephoto lens.

View of the pool deck from the very highest deck.  I got up early to watch our approach into Maui's Kahului port.

The ship at dock in Kahului

Little video demonstrating the wind ruffling the petals on this hibiscus

Reflections of Honolulu skyline at sunset

Buddha and Protea bouquet, at the Lavender Farm Upcountry Maui

Lavender Scone - awesome snack, yeah

View from the deck of the Lavender Farm

our lunch spot - this is on a ranch where their general store serves burgers from their homegrown cattle, grilled outdoors. 

beautiful Hibiscus flower

Rich with some of the wonderful "Maui Gold" pineapple provided by Marilyn, our guide for the day

the previously mentioned burgers

yes those are turtles...HUGE sea turtles

Ever wonder what a pineapple looks like when it's growing?

stopped here for a quick tasting.  They have a sparkling rose that's quite delicious!  Available to order online

Our fun guide, Marilyn, serenaded us during lunch with her ukelele (pronounced OOkuhlaylay

Compare the size of those sea turtles to that Rottweiler!!!

Statue of Fr. Damien at Holy Rosary Church. 

this is a fruit tree trained to have the branches bent low to the ground for ease of harvest!

Protea bouquet.  The petals feel like smooth plastic...

protea bud

French Lavender blossom - identifiable by the two "rabbit ear" petals at the top

Little pergola with bench at the lavender farm, looking out over the valley for which Maui is called "the Valley Isle"

this was our view while sampling the lavender scones

these ladies get to run around in the morning before the farm is open to the public

Protea

Nice Harley outside of the ranch general store

Maui Gold pineapples, perfectly ripe.  Our guide, Marilyn, told us that pineapples "fly free" - airlines cannot charge for checked pineapples!

the dining room where we've been enjoying breakfast.  My travel tip - seek out the sit-down restaurants (vs. the buffets which are a madhouse!) when sailing on these big ships.