Honolulu-somehow we managed to land here for 12 hours. We went on a city tour and saw the Arizona Memorial and King Mehameha's two palaces.

Maui-an invigorating hike to the summit of Haleakala volcano at over 10,000 feet elevation got the heart pumping in the early morning. A beautiful view from the top. Forget about the road to Hanna, we decided to go for a more adventursome route. After a brief stop at an open air market under a one acre Banyon tree and a trip to the whaling museum in LaLahaina (sorry, no photos allowed) we took off to explore the less travelled route along the west coast and found out what the dotted line on the map meant. The road went from two lanes to one to a 12 foot wide path cut out of the side of a cliff with no guard rails. The 5 mph speed limit seemed excessive as we struggled to complete the harrowing trip while darkness settled in. Great, rugged beaches.

Kauai-Arrivng by ship to Kalaheo harbor, we were treated to an impromptu yacht race in the harbor at dawn. A trip by ship along the west and northern shores concluding in a beautiful sunset was augmented by a less peaceful trip by Zodiac along the stormy and rough Na Pali coast line which is accessible only by small boat or helicopter. A trip up the winding roads of Waimea Canyon made us glad that we had upgraded to a Mustang convertible. Continuing our exploration of the island, we headed out to the north shore by car and explored the beaches, light houses and the taro fields of the rainey side of the island. Here we saw the endangered Nene birds, the descendents of Canadian geese who stranded on the Hawaiian islands centuries ago have lost their ability to fly or swim.

Hawaii (the "big" Island) This was a great island to explore. A drive from Hilo to the volcanos (no lava, just sulfur fumes) and to the black sand beach where we saw breaching whales from the shore. The east coast had lush forests, beautiful flowers and cascading waterfalls. A catamaran ride from Kona and a catamaran ride with snorkeling rounded out the island. We went to the botanical garden as well. Photographs of the flowers are in the flora section.

Whales-We did a day trip on a small catamaran to watch the whales off the south shore of Maui. We were fortunate to see most of the know behaviors of these magnificant marine mammals from pectoral and tail slaps to spy hops and magnificant breeches. At one point the a mother and calf with an attendant male approached the boat and entertained us at close quarters for nearly an hour.

Susie's Flowers-Susie and I have very different approachs to macro photography. I tend to be equipment intensive using everything in the bag. Susie is more of a purist using only one prime lens with natural lighting only. Visit her site to see her style. I like it.

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