Exploring Lahaina, Hawai’i

On Friday and Saturday, we were in Lahaina, Maui. I had a 5-hour scuba charter booked for Saturday morning, but other than that we had no plans. Seeing the sun rise from the top of Haleakala is one of the must-sees on Maui, but even with our overnight stay,...
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Exploring Kona, Hawaii

On Thursday, we were scheduled to be docked at Kailua-Kona (Kailua Village) from 11:00 am until 8:00 pm, and our plan was to rent a car and just explore Kona district, with a coffee plantation and a historic site being the must-sees. Sunrise off the west coast of the...
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Exploring Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

For our stop in Hilo on Wednesday, Cathy and I hired a private guide to take us on an all-day tour of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. This is a lengthy post, but it was an amazing day, and it took 40 of the 250 photos I shot to share...
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A circle tour of Oahu by car

We overnighted aboard the Celebrity Solstice in Honolulu Harbor Monday night, and had a car booked from Enterprise for Tuesday morning. The general plan was simply to circle Oahu, or at least the eastern half of it, with stops at whatever spots attracted any of us at the moment....
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Arriving at Honolulu by cruise ship

We’re now about half-way to Hawaii, “the Big Island”, having sailed from Honolulu last night at 8:00 pm. We arrived at Honolulu at noon on Monday after having the islands in sight for several hours. Sailing in is a perspective that not many get, which is a shame, because...
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Crossing the Pacific Ocean on Celebrity Solstice

As I start writing this, it’s 05:20, about 90 minutes before sunrise. I’m on the back deck of the Celebrity Solstice, 8½ hours out of Honolulu, and it’s about 82°F. As usual, only a handful of other passengers are up and about, but crew members are seen often, cleaning...
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How to fill 5 sea days on Celebrity Solstice

One of the first questions asked by people who haven’t been on a cruise is often “what do you do on the ship?”. That’s particularly true on an itinerary such as we’re on, which starts with 5 days at sea between Vancouver and Honolulu. The short answer is that...
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The cruise on the Celebrity Solstice begins

When I closed the blog on Tuesday morning, a glorious sunrise had just started the day. As I write this, we’re out in the Pacific Ocean a few hours southwest of Vancouver Island. It’s dark (06:00) and the seas are heavy – there will certainly be some sick people...
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48 hours in Vancouver, the cruise port

Cathy and I are in Vancouver for 48 hours before boarding the cruise ship Celebrity Solstice. We’ll be on her for 12 nights as she sails to Hawaii and around the islands, and Vancouver is a marvellous city to get into the vacation spirit. We took the afternoon Air...
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Fall colours & the Yukon Suspension Bridge

I had to make a quick trip to Skagway yesterday to pick up some stuff for the motorhome at the post office and Wings, but with Fall colours at their peak, a great lunch at the Yukon Suspension Bridge and some other fun, it turned out to be a...
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