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Hawaiian Islands and Fanning Atoll December 5 - 20, 2002 |
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Hawaiian Islands and Fanning Atoll December 5 - 20, 2002 |
On December 5, 2002 we flew to Hawaii to take a cruise with Elderhostel. The program began in Waikiki, Oahu,where we spent 2 nights. Then we coached to Honolulu Harbor and embarked on the Norwegian Wind for 11 nights.
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Ports of call included Hilo and Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii; Lahaina, Maui; Nawiliwili, Kauai; and Fanning Island in the Republic of Kiribati (pronounced kireebas). We disembarked back in Honolulu Harbor where the program ended. |
Waikiki, Oahu was once the favorite playground of Hawaii's royalty and their distinguished guests. Waikiki was almost entirely wetlands at the turn of the century - fulll of taro patches, rice paddies and fish ponds. Today, it has all the amenities and activities of a major urban center, along with some of Oahu's most beautiful white sand beaches.
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The Norwegian Wind is a graceful ship, built in 1993 and refurbished in 2001. She is 754 feet long by 94 feet wide and has a cruising of up to 21 knots. The Wind has 13 decks and a capacity of 1,748 passengers (of whom 24 were Elderhostel participants). Public areas are linked by elevators and include dining rooms, lounges, library, theater, spa, fitness center, Internet, cafe, pools and sun decks. |
Accommodations aboard ship include inside and outside cabins with portholes on lower decks; double-occupancy bedrooms, private bathrooms with showers and air conditioning.
The educational program includes lectures under the direction of Hawaii Pacific University to introduce Hawaii's history and each island's place in the life cycle of the Hawaiian chain and how geological age and environmental factors affect flora and fauna plus Hawaii's history, from Polynesian settlers to Hawaiian monarchy and the present day and its mixture of people with emphasis on indigenous Hawaiians.
Activities include shipboard events, snorkeling, and beach-combing. There were field trips to Haleakala National Park, Lao Valley State Park, the USS Arizona Memorial, Waimea Canyon, Kokee State Park, a private garden, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Puuhonua o Honaunau (Place of Refuge) National Historic Park. On Fanning Island, which is officially Tabaueran since Kiribati's independence in 1979, we discussed this remote and unspoiled atoll's history and natural environment.
You can see where we went by surfing the menu below. If the pages do not come up, please return later because the site is under construction now: