Wo Hing Museum

Lahaina on the island of Maui was the capital of the old Kingdom of Hawaii. It has many historical sites. We visited several of these including the Wo Hing Museum.

This building and the adjcent cook house were built in 1912. This building served as a meeting place for the local Chinese community until the 1940s. It was used for weddings, birthday parties, funerals and other celebrations. The second story was a temple area. The building was restored by the Lahaina Restoration Society and opened to the public in 1984.

The Lahaina Restoration Society has published a brochere for a self-guided walking tour of the historic and cultural sites of Lahaina. We heard about this from a tour guide, but it was difficult to find one. We finally got a copy of this at the Wo Hing Museum.

The walking tour includes 25 sites. The map shows two options: a short tour of 30 to 45 minutes and a long tour of 1 1/2 hours. My wife and I has already been wondering around town for some time when we got the map, so we did not follow either of these tours. There is also a web site (http://www.lahainarestoration.org/) that shows several of these historic sites.

Maui Ocean Center

We visited the Maui Ocean Center. The photo is from one of their exhibits. The Center features marine life from around the Hawaiian islands. I would suggest that you plan at least a couple hours for visiting here.

The exhibits include many aquariums. One includes live coral. Another is a walk through aquarium. The tunnel through the aquarium is 54 feet (16.6 m) long. There is also a pool containing Hammerhead Sharks, a lagoon with sea turtles and a discovery area featuring information about seals, dolphins and whales.

We really enjoyed our visit here. For more information their website is http://www.mauioceancenter.com/.

Haleakala

I took this picture of the Haleakala Crater from the Visitor Center. We were 9740 ft (2969 m) above sea level. The summit, which was near by, is 10023 ft (3055 m) above sea level.

Although Haleakala's last eruption was in 1790, it is still considered an active volcano. Its crater is the largest in the world. It is 7 1/2 miles (12 km) long and 2 1/2 miles (4 km) wide. This mountain makes up the southern part of the island of Maui.

As you travel up the winding road to the top of this mountain, you eventually find yourself above the clouds. You also pass many cyclists going down the mountain. Several tour groups provide the opportunity to travel down the mountain on bicycle. They drive you to the top, put you on your bike, and away you go. My wife and I took the bus up and down.

Buffets

There is no reason to go hungry on board a cruise. The regular meals are good quality. You seat at your table, order what you want, the servers bring it to you, and when you are finished you leave. You can order two starters, two entrees, two deserts.

On our cruise, the Sports Bar had a buffet for every meal. If you were in a hurry, you could eat there. The Pizzeria has snacks until 10:30 PM, and pizza until 5:30 AM! 24 hour room service is available.

On top of the regular meals, there are special buffets during the cruise. The picture is of the chocolate buffet. We also enjoyed a couple on deck BBQs and a fruit buffet. Did I mention the Ice Cream Parlor?

Atlantis Submarines

This is a picture of the top of the submarine that we rode. Eight feet (2.5 m) of it's height is under water.

Atlantis Submarines launched, in 1985, the world's first battery-powered passenger submarine in Caymon Islands. They now have 14 submarines in 13 sites. For my engineering friends, here are some of the specifications.

They have two sizes. My wife and I were in a 48 passenger sub. They also have a 64 passenger version. They are both certified for a maximum depth of 150 feet (46 m). They both have a top speed of 2.5 knots.

The Atlantis 48 is 65 ft (20 m) long, 17.5 ft high (5.4 m) and has a beam of 13 ft (4 m). It has a displacement of 160,000 lbs (73,000 kg). The 26 viewports are 2.5 inches (64 mm) thick. The height includes the conning tower.

The Atlantis 64 is 100 ft (31 m) long, 19.8 ft high (6.1 m) and has a beam of 17.5 ft (5.4 m). It has a displacement of 320,000 lbs (146,000 kg). The 32 viewports are 4.4 inches (112 mm) thick.

The website for Atlantis Submarines is http://www2.atlantisadventures.com.

Under Water

My wife and I are officially submariners! This is a picture that I took from inside the submarine. I believe we were around 80 ft (about 25 m) under water at this time. You can see the coral reef at the bottom.

We were on the submarine Atlantis VII. It is stationed in Kona on the big Island of Hawaii. (This is the city closest to the recent earthquake. We were there ten days after the quake. We did not see any damage from it.)

I really enjoyed the trip. I have always been fascinated by submarines. It was great to be inside one and go under water. During the trip, the deepest we went was 103 ft (just over 31 m) below the surface. We toured a coral reef. There were a lot of fish. We did not see any larger sea creatures. At one point, the sub came to a large sandy area on the ocean floor, and the captain set the sub down on the sand.

It was our most expensive shore excursion. For me, it was worth it. I know for many people, it would not be too exciting. It is not extreme, or scary, or physically demanding. It is an unique experience, and an unusual way to see a coral reef.

(P.S. I made it home safely from Finland.)

Hula Graduation

In an earlier posting, I mentioned a lady named Iuneu'imaumahealani Teruya. (She said to call her, June.) In that posting, I mentioned that she taught us to make leis. If you want to read about that, look for my posting last month (November 2006), entitled "Making Leis."

I wrote that she taught another class as well. She taught Hula lessons. Each of the four sea days, she taught a class. The last sea day, in the afternoon, there was a Hula Graduation Ceremony, which included the students showing what they had learned.

This is a picture of the graduating class. As you can see, it was a large class. My wife is on the right just in front of the bottom of the stairs. I did not attend the class. However, my wife really enjoyed it. She purchased from June a CD of the music and a DVD of the lessons. All of the students received a Hula Master Diploma. I told my wife that she should add this to her resume.

Personal Note

It has been a few days since I have done a posting. I had a rather busy weekend. There was a personal matter that kept me busy from Friday Night to Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday evening I caught a flight to Finland. I am in Tempere, Finland now. Hopefully I can add some more pictures of our trip to Hawaii while I am here. Sometime in the future, I will post some pictures from my trips to Finland. This is my third time here.
Please keep checking back for my pictures and postings.

Vegetable Carvings

We had two sea days on the way to Fanning Island, and two days at sea on the way back to Hawaii. During these four days, there were many activities on board the ship. I have already mentioned some of them in my postings.

There were Lei making classes, hula classes, lectures on Hawaii and Fanning Island, an ice carving demonstration and a food show. Part of the food show was vegetable carvings. Two of the many carvings that were made while we watched are pictured here. The food show also had chefs making sushi, displaying different cuts of meat, and showing some of the types of fish served on board.

Besides the special events during the cruise days, there were many other things to do. I spent some time on the internet e-mailing our son back home. We used the walking track that goes around the ship on Deck 7. We enjoyed a nap. We talked with other guests. There is always food to eat. There are shows every night. During sea days, you can experience what the ship has to offer.