Canonbie Walk

The first of what we hope to be a regular Monday walk in 2008 when Tom, John, and i did the Canonbie 9 mile walk today.

An Interesting Meeting

On our regular Monday walk John, Tom, and i met this group having a meeting in a muddy field.

A Sunday Walk in Newcastle

Lunch at Wagamamas

We had nice meal out in Newcastle today with Paul and Lesley Nichols and their lovely daughter Abigail.

Hannah was very well behaved, although she did have a slight accident with a glass of juice.

She was delighted to get her reward of an ice cream for sighting a Red Squirrel last weekend.

Easton's Walk

This walk was opened up as an "All Abilities Footpath" 5 years ago and unfortunately it has now slipped into the river and will probably not open again. The cost of repairs will be in excess of 30K and it could just as easily slip again as the whole enbankment along Easton's walk is slipping.

Old Lahaina Luau

This Traditional Hula and Feast was held in a lovely setting beside the beach in Lahaina.

It was an open air setting with about 500 people present. Everybody was presented with a garland of flowers and the food was a buffet served from 8 different places on the site. The entertainment after the meal was very colourful and spectacular with some beautiful girls in national costumes.

Pearl Harbour

On Monday 7th January we flew to Honolulu for a day visiting Pearl Harbour. I was amazed at how small Pearl Harbour was and it was no wonder the American Fleet was almost destroyed as they were all moored far too close together in shallow water. Compared with Scapa Flow in Orkney Pearl Harbour is just a pond. We also visited a submarine moored in the harbour and took a trip to the sunken Battleship Arizona which is a war grave and a memorial to all who died in the attack on 7th December 1941

Mount Haleakala

We travelled to this mountain on Sunday 6th January and this was the first time we had been able to see the mountain as it had been covered by clouds. The mountain is 10,023 ft high and is an extinct volcano. It is one of the steepest roads in the world going from sea level to 10,000ft in just 22 miles. The view from the top was fantastic and you could see the 2 snow top covered mountains of the Big Island 80 miles away in the distance.

Whale Watching

We were all a bit aprehensive about this trip as the sea had been fairly rough earlier in the week but it proved to be an excellent trip and nobody was seasick. Within 20 minutes of leaving harbour we had spotted our first whale and from then on it was all action. The skipper had received a message from another boat that there were several whales and a school of dolphins about 2 miles away so off we went and soon were surrounded by dozens of Spinner Dolphins. These are only found in Hawaii and they love to perform near the boats. They leap out of the water and spin as much as 6 times in the air. They also like to keep the company of the Whales so soon there were 3 Whales and all the Dolphins round the boat. Just as we were about to leave another huge Whale breached within 100 yards of the boat. This was a tremendous site as it did this 3 times in quick succession, but unfortunately none of us managed to get a photograph of it.

Beaches on Maui

We were spoiled for choice as there were loads of beautiful beaches on the island, but these are perhaps the nicest and were only a few minutes drive from our Condo.

Maui

We arrived on the beautiful island of Maui on 2nd January 2008 and were delighted with the Condo Leslie & Fraser had found on the Internet. It was situated in a lovely area of Kanapali and was adjoining a lovely Golf Course.

Fraser and Leslie

Almond and Gaye

We have just been for a long walk with Almond in the Avenues area of Salt Lake City. It is the nicest day for weather we have had since we arrived and we were able to sit on the veranda in the bright sun despite the fact it was still below freezing.