June 22, 2025

KAHULUI, MAUI, HAWAII

Four of us ( Bob, Sarah, Sherrie & I ) rented a car today to explore Maui quickly, as we only have seven hours in this port of Kahului. It would be to rushed to do the iconic Road to Hana and all of us but Sarah has done it already. Instead we set out to see 'IOA Valley, Twin Falls and Pa'ia town, a cute historical plantation town. Above is the 'Ian Needle,

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Next we were off to see the Twin falls - which are not side by side, but rather up stream from each other. It was a nice enough walk and stretch of the legs, but the heights of the falls are far from impressive.

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    Second Waterfall

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    First waterfall

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Our final stop, was the town of Pa'ia that had some great local artist and dress shops, bars, ice cream vendors and our favorite a wood fired pizza oven at the Flatbread Company. We were hungry, it smelled amazing and I personally have not had pizza in nine months since the trip started. So yummy - I had homemade fennel sausage & mushrooms on 1/2 and feta and veggies on the other half.

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    Wood fired oven at Flatbread Company

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    Yummy goodness!!


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WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 4, 2026
We had a beautiful sunny day to explore Wellington ! Was a very nice change from the stormy, big swells weather we have had the last two days! Wellington is the Capital city of New Zealand and the CBD is nice and big with lots of shops and museums. We didn't make it to the LOTR studios due to the time crunch but we took the cable car up to the top, for a scenic overlook of the port and then leisurley walk down through the Botantical Gardens, parks and historical cemetary.

ROTORUA CITY HIGHLIGHTS - NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
Rotorua became a bonus city for us. Our Port stay in Tauranga got cut down to one day, due to NZ biosecurity regulations and since we really wanted to do Hobbiton, we decided to get off the ship and stay in hotels and get back on the ship, in a few days. Due to a variety of factors, the Ship ended up doing a quick pick up of us in Tauranga, three days later. The Kiwi's we encountered along the way, who helped with all our last minute details, were amazingly kind, hospitable and generous. Below is our tired, chilly group huddled at the security shed, outside the Port in the wee hours (1:30 am) Monday morning, awaiting our final hurdle of getting back on our Home. Home sweet home! What an adventure!

ROTORUA, NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
Rotorua, New Zealand is known for it's geothermal activity ( geysers, mud pools, hot springs) and rich Maori culture . I saw lots of that last time I was here in 2016, so this time I wanted to see their Redwoods in Whakarewarewa Forest. John and Colleen joined me in exploring. Their redwoods are smaller than the ones in Muir Woods California, but still impressive. Both are planted forest dating back to around 1908.