The Lost Plates of Jack and Leiana

 We finally made it to land after a week at sea. Funny how excited we were. Maui greeted us in true Seattle style, soft warm rain. We got off the ship and walked along the beach for a bit.  We finally replaced Jack's snorkel mask that took a beating, literally, in my suitcase and the glass broke on it.  We contemplated snorkeling but the water was not only cold but murky. I did my posing on dry land, where we found the snorkel mask. We saw a lot of birds. We tried to get pictures of them for Lauren. I loved the red capped chickadee. We saw a white crane as well. He was camera shy and took off whenever Jack got near to him with a camera.  There were also lots of chickens. We found a mom with 5 chicks, lots of roosters, and a chicken with her chick that decided to walk through the luau pit. Small serving for a feast. It was just a nice day to put our feet in the water, breathe in the moist scented air, feel the rain on our face and the warm breeze float by.

 Due to waves crashing on the shore making it difficult and dangerous to use the tenders, our port in Kona was cancelled. Instead of floating on, we got to sit in the bay and watch Kona for half a day as we had custom officials onboard clearing the ship for stopping in the US. They didn't head back until around 2 pm. We got to watch the waves crash on the beach we were going to snorkel on. I couldn't get a good picture of the waves shooting up like Old Faithful as they crashed onto the rocks. Take my word for it, they were impressive. We also spotted the spire of the Kona temple we were going to take a picture in front of. It hasn't opened yet. It was supposed to reopen late 2025. They are on Hawaiian time. You can barely see the Moroni popping up above the trees. It's not the white building above the town that looks like a temple. Go to the left a bit and you'll see a spire sticking into the treeline. That's the temple. It was easy walking distance from the por...

General conference occurred over Easter weekend. We had left French Polynesia and were floating in the middle of nowhere. We were at least 400 miles from the nearest landmass. Because it was sea days, there were no room available for us to watch conference in. Jack pulled it up on his computer. We finally found a semi-quiet spot in the corner of a bar. The bartender, Abigail, was very helpful, turning the music down as much as possible. We had to take a picture of us watching conference in a bar. Never thought I would ever say that. It was a little noisy at the bar and very distracting. So the next day we watched from the pool deck. We found a small corner to watch in. For some reason, the tables near us stayed empty. We did get some spectacular sunsets.  

 We stopped today at a little atoll. It was about 26 miles long and 13 miles wide. However, I couldn't see how they got their calculations as a non-marine could cross the island in an hour. A marine could do it in about 3 strides. The pyramid looking structure on the left is actually a lighthouse. There were only 800 residents on the island. We walked down the road a bit to the beach to snorkel. As we put our stuff down, I looked across the street and saw this: On closer inspection, you saw that the chapel was open to the breeze. I actually walked across the island. It took me just over 5 minutes. On the other side, the water was very different. On the side the boat was on, it was a protected harbor with very gentle waves. The other side has coral reefs but the waves are much more relentless. I didn't dare step in more than a foot. IF it had been lava rocks, we could have had blow holes like a previous island. You can see the waves crashing on the outer reef. And the sun sets o...

 Jack was up early to watch the sun rise. He got a fabulous picture. Not sure what is rising from the clouds, but it has my respect. Everything said this was the place to get into the water to snorkel. We didn't have an excursion booked but was able to get one off the pier. They took us to a small island and let us snorkel. Some empty huts 9that are part of a hotel that is closed currently for renovations and repairs--come back next year and you can stay in one of these!) we passed. Beautiful mountains in the background. This picture is actually of us leaving the island. The person in front of us was Filipina so she offered to take our picture and shared a snack with us. Jack found lots of things to take pictures of- fish, coral, sting rays, black tipped reef sharks, turtles We got some pictures of our ship in front of the beautiful scenery.  

Tahiti was another island with a temple on it. We had to sign up for a French session, but they had headphones. It was about a half hour walk from the port, all on flat land which was amazing as the whole island seemed to be hills. On our way there, we saw a group of pigeons with just one bird that looked kind of suspicious. We also saw another car similar to my Smart car. So cute but didn't quite fit in my suitcase. The temple was gorgeous but small. Because Tahiti is famous for its pearls, and my birthstone is pearl, we had to go to the Pearl Museum. That plus it was free and air-conditioned; win all the way around. Plus we walked through 2 beautiful parks going and coming.  The only way I will ever be draped in Pearls. I think Mike has traced their family line back to Charlemagne. It was nice to see the family's crown jewels, literally, on display. We took some pictures of the port. The temple is in this picture. Above the big green square is a smaller backwards L in green. ...