Here are some of the photos we look as we winded our way down the mountain and back to the coast.

High above the clouds

Looking north from the summit

A little more northeast

Here I am at the top. This was not enough protection for the cold winds that morning.

Looking the west, you can see the shadow of the mountain over the island. For those in that area, it is not yet daybreak. The ship is in the port on the north side of the island (on the right).

Lahaina is on the other side of that cloud shrouded mountain.

Silversword. Don't get too close. It's a delicate flower.

Another example of an endemic flora whose name I never learned.

Still can't get over those cloud topped mountains.

Looking at the observation desk from the parking lot. The east is to the left. How much did we spend for those flashlights so we could get up that hill?

View from the vistors center near the summit. This is the crater.

Birdie num num!

Notice the farm land in the flat areas.

A little closer to the rough part (crater) of the volcano.

This is partway down the mountain, but you have to walk a bit to get there.

A bit closer view of the clouds.

Another example of silversword.

If you don't want to visit Haleakala to see the sunrise, you can also visit to see this interesting phenomenon.

If only I could have taken a panoramic photo of this spot. I did take some video so I will share it with you.

Again, turn the sound down a bit. Very windy.

And here is Chuk standing behind the garden next to the visitors center near the entrance. This is a silversword when it is in bloom. Unfortunately, it only blooms once and then it dies.

No more photos from Maui. After we got to sea level, we did a bit of shopping and then returned the car. We had brunch on the ship and while Chuk took a nap, I participated in a kukui lei making class.

We woke up at 2, so we could leave at 3, to arrive at the summit by 5, to see the sunrise scheduled at 5:52 am HST. Lots of other people had the same idea, but everyone was very civil.

This should give you an idea of how dark and cold and windy it was when we got to the observation area on the summit.

Stars were still out but already dawn was starting to break.

Reds give way to yellow orange and blue.

And now there are purples and a thin band of green.

You can begin to see the shapes of the clouds.

The yellow orange is getting stronger. Somethings coming.

Here comes the sun!

A new day has dawned!

Just so you know we tried to take photos of the lava going into the ocean on the south east coast of the big island of Hawaii, here is the best one.

The following morning, I woke up early so I could see the sun rise. This was also to prepare myself for the next day when I had to wake up extra early for going to Mt. Haleakala to see the sun rise. Captions are below the photos.

Predawn from the stern of the ship.

View of Maui from the port side of the ship. It looks like two islands but they are really connected together. Mt. Haleakala is on the left.

Mt. Haleakala. Notice the clouds on the left coming off of the mountain.

The sun is above the horizon but the clouds are hiding it.

The heat of the sun appears to be getting rid of the clouds on the mountain. Or are they slipping away to the left?

The sun is certainly above the horizon now, but still shielded from us by the clouds. It is trying to peek through.

And the clouds are much thinner on the mountain. I think that is a rain cloud raining on the left side of the mountain and the coast.

Finally, the sun is breaking through. Notice the reflection on the water.

Just so you have a feel for what it is like to be on deck in the morning, here is a short video of the sunrise. It was very windy so turn your sound down a bit.

So, what's happening on the other side of the island as we approach Maui? This side is still blanketed in clouds!

Please click on the picture so you can see the details of the mountains.

I like this one too.

We didn't take any pictures for the rest of the day. Since we planned to snorkel, we took the underwater cameras, but as I related before, the sea was too rough for us to do any good snorkeling. But we still had a good time tooling around the south coast of Maui. I got to visit a Hawaiian quilting store, with much more reasonable prices than the shop near Waikiki beach. We also went to Lahaina which had some interesting historical buildings, as well as a lot of shops and galleries. Chuk said it reminded him of Sausalito. We got back to the ship before sundown, had an early dinner and prepared for our very early excursion the next day.

Workout length: 45 minutes (first time to try this length)
Workout focus:  Cardio
Workout music:  iTunes / Podrunner
Workout location: Island Paradise
Maximum bpm:  168
Average bpm:  150

Exercise of the day:  Less of an exercise and more of a method.  With the longer workout time, there was more time to devote to the focus.  It started with about 5 minutes of warm ups then went into the cardio for 27 minutes with two water breaks and two short rests.  Then when there was less than 15 minutes, it had me do some upper body and core strength exercises for about 12 minutes.  That's about the time that is allotted if I choose the 15 minute option.  Finally, there is one minute of stretching before it ends.

Yesterday, I watched Half Nelson.  It was a good movie, but I didn't enjoy the subject matter.  It was a little depressing and the end wasn't enough of an upturn to make me feel hopeful for any of the characters.  Other movies we have watched this weekend are Secret of Nimh and Happy, Texas.  I enjoyed both of those very much.

 

Today was another fitness challenge.

Weight: 217 lbs.
Resting heart rate: 91 bpm
Active heart rate: 165 bpm
Squats: 50
Pushups: 25
Crunches: 40

I decided not to blog in the morning on weekdays about my workout because it ate into my getting ready for work time. If I have free time during the day or after work, I will try to blog about it, but no promises. However, I do intend to workout every weekday morning except Monday.

Anyway, here is a bit from Byodo-in on Oahu. Enjoy.

April 24. Our first port of call was Hilo, Hawaii. Two main destinations were Rainbow Falls and Volcano National Park. We also stopped by Volcano Winery but didn't take pictures.

Rainbow Falls, just outside of Hilo, Hawaii

A steam vent inside Volcano National Park on Mauna Loa

The caldera of Mauna Loa from the Jagger Museum

Chuk in front of the caldera

Me with my hair under control

Close up of the wall of the caldera. The ligher parts on the wall are sulphur.

The floor of the caldera

Steam rising from the ground

More venting

View across Mauna Loa to see Mauna Kea in the distance

Chuk at the mouth of the lava tube.

Me at the mouth of the lava tube.

So 4/23/07 was our fourth day in Oahu.  After breakfast at the scary restaurant, we packed up everything or put it into bags to be shipped to all points across the globe.

The scary restaurant is the one where you not only have to worry about seeds falling from the trees into your food, but there are birds that will clean up your leftovers even if you leave to get a cuppa coffee.

But we still had time before returning the car, so we stopped off for shave ice one more time and then went up to the Nuuanu Pali lookout.  It was very beautiful, but also incredibly windy.  This was the site where King Kamehaha's forces completely defeated those of O'ahu.  Many warriors were pushed or fell off this very cliff.  Also when the road was being built that goes here from Honolulu, back in the late 1800's, they kept finding lots of human skulls and other bones.

Then we returned the car and the agency put us on a van to the Pier 2 or 3, near the Aloha Tower, where we boarded the ship.  After settling into our cabin -- sorry, "stateroom" we went to the party on Deck 12 where we were presented with welcome leis and we got to see more Hawaiian hula. 

We got to see the sun set.  It was very romantic.

 

 

Workout length: 15 minutes
Workout focus:  Flexibility
Workout music:  "House"
Workout location: Urban Oasis
Maximum bpm:  138
Average bpm:  119

Exercise of the day:  Double Crunch

When I saw this coming up, I thought it meant doing crunches double time.  Instead, in addition to pulling your upper body (well shoulder blades) off of the floor, your legs are held in the air with your knees bent to your chest.  At first it is easy but gets progressively more difficult to maintain form.

I was feeling out of sorts over the weekend so I didn't exercise and I didn't have any time on Monday morning, so it feels good to move my body again.

We didn't take pictures on the 21st of April since that was our "shopping day."  We visited the Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium and Hilo Hatties and a few other places.

We woke up early on the 22nd to go to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.  Even though we arrived before it opened there was still a long line wrapped around the front lawn to get in.

After we paid admission fee and got the audio tour headset (highly recommended), we roamed the visitors center and museum until it was our turn to watch the 30 documentary.  Afterwards we silently boarded a water taxi which took us to the Arizona Memorial, pictured below.  It is the white building on the right.  The ship on the left is the Missouri, which has its own history, including being the site of the official Japanese surrender in WWII.

Here you can see part of the ship sticking up from the water.  As the tide goes out, more becomes visible.  The round bouy in the distance is where the end of the battleship is.

Here we are facing the other direction and the other round buoy is where the other end of the ship is.  The Missouri is in the background. 

I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of either of us while inside the memorial or of the hundred of names listed on the wall in the sanctuary.  However, notice that even today, more than 60 years later, there is still oil coming up from this sunken ship.  Some call it the tears of those who are here in their final resting place.

I was glad I was able to go to the Arizona Memorial, but also humbled.

Sorry, no Exercise update yesterday or today (yet). 

But here are some pictures from our trip.

We are still on the first full day on Oahu.  After we left Byodoin, we traveled the north east coast of the island to get to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It opened at 12 noon but we got there just after 2:00 pm.  However, we stood in line to get our tickets for such a long time that we actually entered the park in time to see the Canoe Pageant, which started at 2:30 pm.

Dancers representing the Hawaiian Isles

Dancers representing Tonga

The male Tonga dancers are seated as the females perform.

After getting a quick bite to eat, we got to ride one of the canoes and passed through the villages of the Center.

This represents a Fijian holy building.  The higher, the more holy.  Only the chief and the high priest were allowed to enter.

This represents the large stone heads of Rapa Nui (a.k.a. Easter Island).

Pretty waterfall near the entrance of the cultural center.

Then we meandered a bit until it was time for the Imax film about the reefs of the world.  This was included in the admission price. 

When we exited, it was about time for the Luau.  We received a lei greeting before we entered the dining area where we were seated with 6 other people.  2 were a married couple from Philadelphia.  The others were a young married couple and the wife's parents, also from the East coast.

We enjoyed talking with them about Hawaii and how things were back home.  If you remember, there was a big cold snap in early April.  I thought the uncomfortable 5 hour flight was bad from SF, but to hear what they had to endure just to get to the airport for their 12 (16?) hour flight gave me some perspective.

The Luau included entertainment.  The Master of Ceremonies was a very good singer and part comedian.  In addition to introducing the players who represented the king and queen of the luau, he also led the audience in a rendition of Pearly Shells, complete with hand gestures.

Two representatives of Hawaii presenting the roast pig to the hungry audience.  Don't think that one pig would have fed the hundreds of poeple in the audience / dining room.

Actors portraying the King (perhaps Kamehaha) flanked by his wife and first in command, welcoming we guests to the luau.

We got to drink passion fruit and/or Sprite while we watched different performers present hulas and other Hawaiian dances from different parts of history.

Finally it was time for our table to go to the buffet and get our food.  It was a very good selection of Hawaiian and American food.  We got to try:

 poi -- processed taro root
 poke -- (pronounced po-kay)spicy raw tuna fish with onions
 pipi kaula -- pork jerky, which was also a little spicy
 haupia -- a mildly sweet dessert made from coconuts, with the texture of a very firm pudding, or a soft jello.
 taro buns -- purple dinner rolls, slightly sweeter and softer than a regular dinner roll
 sweet potato salad -- think of thanksgiving sweet potatoes with marshmallows but its purple and slightly chilled.  Mmmm.  Tasty.
 chicken long rice --  not long pig, but chicken cooked with silvery rice noodles.
 kalua pork -- the main part of almost any luau,  a whole pig cooked in an underground oven called an imu  (pronounced ee-mu)
 boiled taro leaves -- like spinach but a little more resilient.

The entertainment continued throughout the meal.  At one point, the MC asked everyone whose birthday was that month to stand up.  Since it was still April, I stood up and everyone sang Happy Birthday to people who were standing.  At another point, all the married couples who were celebrating an anniversary were asked to the stage to slow dance for a song. 

Finally things wound down to a close.  It was getting dark but the evening was still young.  Everyone made their way to the auditorium, past several shops, each one devoted to different nation in Polynesia.  I was very taken with the Hawaiian Quilting shop but didn't buy anything since I wanted to see a bigger selection.

We got to the auditorium and while we waited for the show to start, people tried to sell us various things like popcorn, lighted bracelets, DVDs of the show we were about to watch, ice cream etc.  The show started and it was very impressive.  Since they didn't allow flashes and we were too far away, we didn't attempt to take any photos, so I will try to explain the general idea.   

The name of the show was "Horizons: Where the Sea Meets the Sky."  The opening showcased dances & music from each of the Polynesian nations: Hawaii, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Tahiti, Marquesas, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga.  Then there was a separate act for each of the nation.  The one for Hawaii was a little more fleshed out than the others, with more professional versions of the dances we saw at the luau.  Another other one that stuck out in my memory was the fire dancing from Samoa. And then it ended with a big spectacular finale with everyone all together.

We were worried about the drive home, in the dark, from one side of the island to another, but looking back, that was the easy part.  The hard part was finding parking once we got to the hotel, but eventually we got that taken care of and retired to our room. 

All in all, I highly recommend the Polynesian Cultural Center for families with children who will appreciate learning things from other cultures.  There is not enough time to see everything in one so they do make it possible for you to use the same ticket to visit again within 3 days.  That said, I don't think I would have driven all the way back just to participate in some of the demonstrations I missed.  Perhaps I would have considered that an option if we had been staying on that side of island.  So, if you do go, make sure you get there when it opens, so you can get your full money's worth, or get a package where you leave the driving to a tour bus.  Considering that no caffeniated beverages are served inside the park, you will be pretty wiped by the end of the day after all the activity, so it might be nice to snooze on the way home in the bus.