Hawaii shots, part 1. Oahu.

[Roadstergal]

This was quite an amazing Christmas gift - a trip to Hawaii. I had never been there before, so it was all new to me.

I saw more rainbows on that first day in Oahu than I see in a year on the mainland.

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We headed, first, to Hanauma Bay, a nature preserve that teems with coral and coral-dwelling fish. It was quite cool, but the underwater camera we had turned out to be just OK. We found a better solution on Maui...

Back at the hotel - another rainbow.

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Our next stop was Pearl Harbor, to see the USS Arizona memorial. It is erected over the sunken remains of the USS Arizona.

We stopped at the museum, first, which had articles about the history of the base and the political situation that lead to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and also had some interesting displays. The model of the USS Arizona had exquisite detail.

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This is the memorial. We were taken there on a US Navy boat.

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The sunken remains.

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[Roadstergal]

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On the way back - another rainbow.

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We then headed out on a drive around the less touristy places on the island.

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Aloha, brah.

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Our last stop of the evening was a beach, where we watched the surfers do their thing in the light of the setting sun.

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[Roadstergal]

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The next morning, we saw canoers outside of the window before we headed to Maui.

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[CeruleanSkye]

LUCKY!!!

Awesome pictures! Wish I was there! :cry

[Mangoat]

I love Oahu!!!!! My wife and I are planning to take our parents there next year. My parents never took a nice vacation so this will be our gift for putting up with my shit while I was growing up.

[schteve]

Wow..Very cool pics! I so want to go back to Maui and Kauai

[Sane_Man]

Great pics. :thumbup

Never seen Hawaii, except during a layover at 2am.

[bluesboy]

Great pic's, makes me want to go back real soon.

[rdagloria]

damnit, you couldn't have stuffed me in your carry on or something. nice pics.

[gp125racer]

Great pics, looks like you stayed on waikiki beach. Did you make it to the north shore or the west side of the island? Everytime we goto oahu, we have to eat some giovanis garlic shrimp. Best food out of a truck Ive come across yet ;)

gp125racer

[BLU_G.6K]

Where are the bikini pics?

[Rambeezi]

Nice!! I'll be there at the end of the month. :thumbup

[slydrite]

Where are the bikini pics?

:teeth

[LuckyStar387]

This makes me really want to go.

[slydrite]

Nice!! I'll be there at the end of the month. :thumbup

I'll be back in 2 weeks and every month after that for the rest of 08 at least...but for work though :cry


This makes me really want to go.

that's nuthin...you should see the rest of the hundreds of pics...after these pics, we went to Maui...we had a superb time! :shocker

[Roadstergal]

Thanks for the positive comments, y'all! But I don't think it's possible to take a bad pic out there. :)

After a day on Oahu, we headed to Maui. We had a room at a little hotel near a beach. I won't say near the beach, as almost the whole island is beach.

On the way in, Slydrite bought a waterproof case for his Canon. It wasn't cheap, but it's a quality piece - rated to 130 feet, all of the controls accessible with the case on, and it has a built-in flash diffuser. We signed up for a snorkeling trip to Molokini.

We then went to see No Country For Old Men (well done, disturbing, and a different spin from the book).

The next morning, I woke up early and ran down to the beach to take some pictures of the sunrise. Maui is less developed than Oahu, and filled with natural beauty.

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As the snorkeling trip was scheduled for the day after that, we mucked around. Most notably, we went to Little Beach. It is just north (walking distance north) of Big Beach, and is a popular nude beach.

A view of Big Beach as we trudged across the warm sand. It was perfect sand - fine and warm, and it made my feet happy.

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Birds! Much more interesting in color than the dark birds and pigeons I'm used to seeing around the Bay Area. And very well adapted to the terrain.

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Little Beach is a total trip, and a great place to sunbathe and swim. :teeth

[ScorpioVI]

Man, makes me want to go back. Thanks for sharing!

You should go take a whale-watching tour while in Maui. We took one with the Pacific Whale Foundation and we had the humpbacks playing with our tour boat and peeking up at us while we were gawking at them. Quite an experience. This is the right time of the year for it too.

[srsims]

Nice pics!!

[wannabe]

Nice shots! :thumbup

Did you use an Olympus E-500 camera to take the panorama pics? What lenses did you use?