Cliff and Diana's Latest Great AdventureOur family Hawaii vacation.
Some background:-
I worked in Honolulu for Canadian Pacific Airlines from 1964 to 1966. During
that time, I met my wife, who was also posted there. We made a number of
friends during that time and have been fortunate enough to have visited many
times since. Since retiring from the airline business, we have been fortunate to
have very valuable travel priviledges which extend to being able to have our
family members travel with us.
This trip involved Diana and I, our daughter, her husband and 2 sons, our son,
his wife and daughter – 9 in total. Planning began in early summer.
Through our good friend, Evelyn, in Honolulu we learned of a private rental
house on the east side of Oahu, a few miles from Waikiki and Honolulu proper.
This turned out to be an excellent choice, with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, large
living and dining rooms and a large kitchen. The house was built in the 1920’s
but was in excellent condition. It is right on Waimanalo Beach, where we enjoyed
playing in the surf and sand.
http://www.halepohaku.com/
Leah and family live on Markham, Ontario, northeast of Toronto. Graham and family
live in Tsawwassen, B. C., south of Vancouver. Both groups met at Vancouver Airport
on November 1st. for the flight to Honolulu. On arrival at 10pm,
we proceeded to Alamo and Budget to pick up the reserved mini-vans and drove
to Waimanalo through several rain showers.
At certain times of the year, Hawaii experiences what is called Kona weather.
This occurs when systems to the southwest dominate the normally steady
northeast tradewinds, bringing clouds, rain and winds. This was the pattern
for most of the week but the temperatures remained high and we enjoyed
sunshine for most of the time at the beaches. On 2 nights, we had thunder and
lightning and one night was quite windy, knocking down some nearby trees.
In addition to enjoying the beach in front of the house, we visited Haunama Bay,
a well known snorkelling area, Ala Moana beach near Waikiki, The Honolulu Zoo,
the Aquarium, Pearl Harbor, the Dole Pineapple Plantation and, of course, the
Ala Moana Shopping Centre. Evelyn, her son and daughter-in-law
joined us at the house for dinner one evening and, in return, treated us to a chinese dinner
the evening of our return flight.
Feeding the group for 8 days was interesting, with several trips to the nearby
Costco store and Foodland market.
Our return flight to Vancouver left at 10:20pm and arrived at 5:55am. Graham
and family went directly home while Diana and I and Leah and family went to
the Pan Pacific Hotel for 2 nights. Grahams wife, Krista is a manager there and
was able to get us very favouable rates for our stay. Diana had brought our
car over on the ferry so we had transporattion for these days. The weather was
typical for November – cloudy and a bit wet – but we did get some clear breaks.
The 2 boys enjoyed the Vancouver Aquarium visit.
On Monday, Leah and family returned to Toronto and home to Markham. Diana
and I made it safely back to Vancouver Island, despite strong winds delaying the
ferry sailings for several hours.
All in all, it was a great trip where the cousins got to know and play with each other
while the adults reconnected.
Pictures at:
http://www.sendpix.com/albums/07111411/5949ohxurz/
(available for 30 days from posting)