This Week in Hawai'i

Alo-o-o-o-ha-a-a! This week in Hawai'i we saw a lot of things - except for the sun! We got here just in time for an unusual stretch of rainy weather. Great! We still had fun, though, looking for a surfboard for Shane, shopping at an outdoor mall, visiting Pearl Harbor and taking the bus (for an hour and a half - yawn!) to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Here are a couple of pictures from Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday the sun showed up so we longboarded at Waikiki and I got a little too much sun. I can't show those pictures, though!Shane and Bernhard playing G.I. Joe at Pearl Harbor on Wednesday afternoon.

This anchor is the actual anchor pulled from the wreckage of the U.S.S. Arizona. It weighs something crazy like 19,000 lbs!

This memorial sits on top of the U.S.S. Arizona and you can look down into the wreckage from inside of it. The names of the 1,177 men that died on the ship are inside the memorial and a lot of the men are still inside of the wreck.
Shane was asked to be the chief of the visiting tribe during a presentation at the Polynesian Cultural Center on Thursday. Shane had to speak on behalf of his tribe and share a ceremonial drink with the chief of the other tribe who is sitting across from him. Shane had to speak in public! Ha Ha!
Shane and I are wearing fresh orchid leis from the Ali'i Luau. There was dancing, singing and lots of eating!
We took a canoe tour of the Polynesian Cultural Center. Very cool!
Just hangin' with the chief and his kids!
A Marquesas hut lined with tikis.Each village represented in the PCC participated in a canoe pageant on the river in traditional garb. Very interesting to hear the different styles of music of each place!

Well, we arrive in Auckland on Wednesday, so I'll write again then! Take care! And don't forget to type a quick hello!

Hawai'i Pics

First days in Honolulu

We got to Honolulu safe and sound and we are thoroughly enjoying the first days of our trip! It is so beautiful here that every picture you take is amazing! On the first day we went to Waikiki beach just down the road from Tony's condo (the guy we're staying with) in downtown Honolulu then I cooked for the guys (Shane, Tony and Bernhard - the crazy Austrian). Yesterday we drove up to North Shore and, since the waves weren't going off, we took the scenic route home past Waimea Bay where we saw humpback whales playing just off the coast and the guys went for a late afternoon bodysurf. In the evening, we watched the sunset at Waikiki, got cleaned up, then went for a late dinner. Today we walked for an hour to Waikiki, periodically getting caught in torrential downpours, and shopping along the way. We cooled off in the ocean, swung on these crazy vines, then went to the Honolulu Zoo where we saw the most hilarious chimpanzees! Oh, man...I love monkeys! Although misinformed busdrivers gave us awful directions, we finally made it back to Tony's where we are now relaxing and laughing at the pictures we took today. Well, until next time, hugs and kisses to you all! Candi and Caroline...send me your addresses! Check out the pictures under Hawai'i Pics.

I can't believe that I started this blog 3 weeks ago, and now our trip is only 6 days away! Yesterday was my last day at work, today was Andrew and Sarah's beautiful wedding and tomorrow is our last day at church. There are so many people that we will miss, but this is the opportunity of a lifetime! It's getting harder to fall asleep, but here I go...