Ah ...... experience Waikiki

We came for the food....

What?

More fish?

We'll be growing fins soon!

Well, we just can't get enough Ahi tuna. It is one of the big reasons we come to Hawaii.

Along with some fabulous grilled Opah fish. OPAH!! no, wait, that's Greek!

When in Hawaii eat fish - it is fresh, fresh, fresh and it is what the Hawaiians do best.

Trust me - do not order beef on this island.

Okay, the drinks are pretty darn good too and sooo pretty to look at.

No, Murray we didn't order the back scratcher, but almost!

And you and Cherl along with Jan and Larry should have been there with us!!

But the dessert....

It is about 6 spin classes worth of calories....

Do you know how good this tastes on a hot day on Waikiki beach???

I knew you would want to see it from a few different angles.

...and we ate it all!

Besides great food and drink, the surf and the sun, Waikiki is about people watching!

I love to people watch and at Waikiki you see it all - they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and they are NOT afraid to show you.

Yes Waikiki is all about people - scads of them lining the beach soaking up the sun's rays before they have to head back to shovelling snow and their cold dark homes somewhere up north.

..and there are over a mile of them... all ages, all sizes, all colours, all shapes....just hanging, relaxin, soaking up the sun and doin NOTHIN! Some of them are wearing the craziest things - and they DON"T care. This is THEIR vacation!

This guy is feeling no pain!

They come to get the tan and pay big bucks to say they surfed Waikiki.

The sensible ones take lessons because it just might not be as easy as it looks!

Some of them surf well into retirement.

And then there are the "normal" people who just come for more Ahi tuna!

and volcanic ice cream cake.....

Have you been to Waikiki Beach?

Share your experience with us!

Manoa Falls

I had googled Manoa Falls before we left home in hopes of getting some good waterfall pics. I had my new polarizing filter, my lenses and my tripod and between David and myself, we hauled it the mile in on this steep, wet and root filled trail.

And after about 35 minutes of steady upward hiking we came to the falls......

That is wet rock you see there with a little "trickle " of water running down it.

Should have called it the Manoa Trickle!!

I took this 6 second shutter speed shot at the bottom of the falls in the steady rain - this was the only place you could actually SEE any water on this falls.

Apparently the Big Island has some spectacular falls - perhaps another time.

All was not lost though. The hike in (and out) was refreshing (and a little slippery at times) and it was good exercise. We met some very interesting people from Canada - B.C. on the way up and hiked down with a young couple from Utah.

Back at the bottom we loaded the gear and headed on to Honolulu and Waikiki for lunch at a favorite spot - Dukes! Lunch was fabulous and wait until you see the pics of the dessert!! mmmm

I wasn't disappointed with the fun pictures on Waikiki beach either - the best place in the world to people watch. They come in all shapes and sizes and they aren't afraid to show it... some people should NOT wear a bikini!!!

Stay tuned for some fun candid photos!

A fabulous day!!!

Wow what a great day we had yesterday. The weather was a perfect 27C with a light breeze.

...if you were shovelling snow you may not want to hear about it and can stop reading right now if this is going to put a damper on your minus 24C day.....sorry!

We started the day with nine holes of golf...because I DON"T golf so the nine holes was a compromise. My sweetheart LOVES golf. I thought I would just tag along in the motorized cart and take pictures, but he wanted me to actually golf. So I did and you know what? I actually did quite well. I birdied a hole! That means I did it in one under par. Only the pros do that!!! You know, Tiger Woods and those guys. But this is me - once a year keep the husband happy golfer.

Yup! That is me in complete shock. A seven iron at 100 yards out, landed on the green and promptly rolled into the hole. See the little red flag in the top rt corner? Yup 100 yards my sweetheart tells me. Am I good or what!!!???

"HOW did you do that!!!"

Nothing to it dear, just a good seven iron well aimed!

There it is - third hole of the Makaha Golf Resort. I think I could get to like this game if I never had to putt.

Dear husband is always wowed by my drives. I tell him it is all those push ups and power lifting classes I have been taking! What dya think?

I think he is just trying to convince me that I should be a golfer.

Yesterday I was almost (that's almost) out driving him and hitting em pretty straight. I was also connecting nicely with the irons - especially that seven iron!! But PUTTING???

It is a tad frustrating to be on the green in two and then six putt - thus - this game is NOT for me. I am WAY too impatient. Now floor hockey has a little more action!

I figure though if I can sink em all from 100 yards out I may take up golf. You know, avoid the putting all together.

Lunch and a tropical drink by the pool - a little reading, a little snoozing.

Hanging out on the beach. A little reading, a little snoozing and other tropical drink...

And then get all dressed up for supper at our very favorite Hawaii restaurant - Roy's

Check my post on Roy's at my Fine Dining Saskatoon site. Okay it is not Saskatoon and surrounding area, but it is definitely Fine Dining!

ALOHA!!

Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins

I did a little googling at 5 am this morning...because my inner clock is clinging to Saskatoon time. I am feeling rather certain that the dolphins we saw Monday morning were Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins.




They do fit the description of these playful dolphins with longer noses that love to jump way out of the water ad spin before splashing down.

This was also a mighty fine time to put in a plug for a telephoto lens and with my birthday less than a month away......


On other items of Hawaiian interest, I had a request from a commenter to let you know how I found this condo. I found it on VBRO which I have found to be the best site for locating good accommodations anywhere.

We are staying at the Hawaiian Princess condos and they are for the most part privately owned by people around the world who rent them out at very reasonable prices. I have come across a few Canadians who own one or two of these condos and wish one of them was ME.

Wouldn't you love a warm ocean front place to escape to whenever!

We rented from the Maxwell's and are staying in their condo called Princess 4 - they own about six condos in here. Very nice people to rent from and if you ever book with them tell them I sent you! :)

There are mostly boring middle age couples here - like us - so other then the constant lull of the waves and the wind whistling through the condo to cool it, it is VERY quiet here. We are 40 min out of Honolulu unless you attempt it in morning rush hour, which we did yesterday. It took an hour and a half. But the views along the ocean made is a rather nice drive.

A condo like this is Waikiki on the 10th floor on the ocean with a nice pool would likely cost $350-$450 a night USD. The princess condo's one bedroom are all $130 to $140/night USD.

I you come to Hawaii, you have to experience Waikiki and Honolulu ....but you don't have to live there. Just drive in and spend the day. There are wonderful places and experiences all over the island of Oahu that you can visit, so a car rental should always be in the budget. Where you lay your head at night does not have to be exhorbitantly expensive.

Okay - time to put the coffee on...and the bathing suit. Just checked the Saskatoon temps for today - MINUS 20 is the HIGH!! Yikes!! and it's minus 33 right now.

I do wish you could all be here with us. It would be serious fun to have all our friends and family book in the same condo bldg and have huge BBQ's on the beach every night and hang out by the pool during the day.

Global warming! Bring it on!!

More pictures

Late afternoon sun from our lanai...

The opening photos for my Hawaii 2009 scrap book?

Or perhaps this one?

I think this is one of my favorite shots of the morning yesterday.

And my favorite shot from yesterday afternoon. I almost lost my sandals on this one. They were on the ground behind me when the water came in on this wave and picked them up rather swiftly. I grabbed them at the very last second before the ocean claimed them forever.

A pod of dolphins.

...or maybe porpoises? What do I know? What do YOU know?

A local said dolphins but as I see these photos and those pointy noses I am thinking porpoises. Any experts out there that can let me know? Please leave a comment.

Dinner on the lanai. The most wonderful Butter Fish! No flash. I made him sit there perfectly still for about four seconds smelling his supper. Three tries. What a patient guy.

Thoughts on the Hawaiian music?

Which Hawaii beach photo for the opening page? I think I am partial to the vertical.

Dolphins? or porpoises?

Ocean!

I do love the ocean - the smell of the humid salty air refreshes me and I enjoy falling asleep to the rhythm of the waves coming shore. I am not particular though about being tossed to and fro in the salty water. I prefer to swim in a nice clear and slightly heated pool - city girl that I am.

But the relentless power of the ocean mesmerizes me and I can watch it for hours. Perhaps because it reminds me that there is a power in control of this world that is far beyond my comprehension. A power that I can trust and rest in.

so on to some of today's photos....

which BTW were taken by my sweetheart with our daughters camera.


Thank you Allison!



This Canon PowerShot SD850 with 8.0 pixels is a sweet little point and shoot that takes wonderful outdoor pictures.



...of me, taking pictures of the waves crashing on the rocks...

at the end of our beach is a coral/lava jut out and the waves smash up against it; very powerful!

we are in the condo on the right - 10th floor

These big kids were having a great time getting thrown about in the ocean. This is right out front of our condo. I couldn't help but think what a blast it would be to have our adult kids with us. They would spend hours out here no doubt on boogie boards. I would spend hours taking pictures of them. The sand is beautiful and the water actually fairly warm.

This final picture below, is my favorite of the day. This morning David and I headed north up the Ferrington hwy until it ends (only about 5 minutes). We parked and then walked further. We saw whales way out there. Well, actually we saw the water spurting up into the air but never saw the whales. We also saw a few pods of dolphins and they were having fun jumping out of the water. I have a few good shots of that I will upload tomorrow.

But on to this shot David took this morning. I am looking forward to scrapbooking this one.

He has a good eye for a great shot. And this was taken with the Canon point and shoot.

I will know my sweetheart is hooked when he trades in his golf clubs for a DSLR.

On the beach

Out for breakfast, some grocery shopping, lounging by the pool and a walk on the beach. That's my idea of holidays. Tender Poke tuna for lunch. We have found a local grocery store and the locals are very helpful in pointing us to the authentic stuff that they eat. We will cook up some butter fish for supper tonight.

It is cloudy here so not too hot but certainly warm enough to wander down the beach in our bathing suits. The sun came out now and then and oh how warm it felt. I just couldn't soak up enough of it's wonderful warmth after being barricaded in the great white north for the past four months.

I have been reading articles on Digital Photography School about the cool effects one can achieve by overexposing. I have also been reading up on negative space. David and the ocean were my subjects today. I have a link on the blog to the Digital Photography School. Do check it out if you own a DSLR.

I love the effect. Tonight I am going to try a very long exposure of the waves, lit only by the light from the condo and the stars if they are out. Also hoping for an interesting sunset photo tonight.

I wish I could capture for you the waves crashing outside the lanai right now. I wish I could send you some of the warmth of the sun. I wish you could all be here. Really! Ifeel so blessed and want to share it with all of you.

So, tell me what you think of my very overexposed pictures of my husband on the beach. He is such a good sport about posing for me! Doubly blessed!