Hawaii
December 2008/January 2009

Aloha! This was the third trip to the Pacific islands. It was a spontaneous idea and it startet at the large fireworks on New Year 2007/2008. I congratulated to Gary as one of the first to the new year by telephone. Briefly after this, we had the idea to spend the next New Year together.

Our travel's group was completed in the middle of January and we booked a flight to Honolulu. We left Bad Salzuflen with frosty 0°C. And a few minutes before landing the pilot spoke to us. Nearly we would have arrived on the wrong island, because Oahu lay completely in the dark and had an electricity break-down for some hours. We were one of the last planes, which received a landing permission. The remaining airplanes were rerouted to Maui. After approximatly 23 hours of travelling, we arrived in Honolulu. On the airport was an easy chaos, but finally we got the bags and also the car.

Hale Kai Ewa becomes a kind of second home after the third time. It changed not much. Only the grill was stolen meantime. Now, you can barbecue with gas again and we did it nearly every eveing. The two weeks on the island were relaxation purely. Already we opened regularly a can of beer and enjoyed the sun and the beach. However the winter on Hawaii is somewhat weather-inconsistant. If it rains, then it drizzles frequently and for hours. That was the reason, why we drove to teh Waikele Outlet the second day and shopped a lot. Too much for my credit card. After the last shop, they deactivated it, cause of a random check. What a pitty, that I didn't notice it. A few days lateer, it worked again. The weather improved and in the second week the discussions in the morning started, if it isn't too hot to have breakfast outside!

It was the first time on Hawaii for Marcus. So we did all teh sightseeings you have to do. So there was a trip to Hanauma Bay as well as a visit of Pearl Harbour. At this time we had also a prominent guest on the island. The designated president Barrack Obama stayed on Hawaii's Windward Side in Kailua. So we looked for his home on the island and succeeded. Anyway, we only made the way to the road block. And the president was already gone. We arrived there at 5pm, and he left at 1pm ... Only 4 hours too late.

Sascha and I said good-bye to the year 2008 with a skydive. That was incredible. At Oahus north coast on the Dillingham Airfield we entered a small propeller-driven aircraft and climbed to approximately 3.000m. In the transparent sea you could see whales and a shark. Then theyopened the airplane's door and we jumped off. I had to admit, that you should keep the moment, standing at the door as short as you can :-) I remember not much, only the beach. With a speed of 200 km/h we fell. Looks into the video down.

December to March is whale season on Hawaii. You can see them  from the beach, absolutely fascinating. In my opinion it you could see them better from the beach than from the boat.  The Whale Watching tour was fcompletely disappointing. But we saw seven whales. With some tears I said good-bye to Oahu. When we left the house at 5am in the morning, I stood a last time on the beach and looked in the sky. Then a meteor fell down and told me: „come again soon “ - Yes, I will. A warm thank-you once again to Karen and Gary, which made this vacation again a great experience. You cared wonderful for us!

On the flight back home, we did a stop-over in San Francisco. My city… With 20°C and lovely blue sky we enjoyed the city. Certainly we visited Alcatraz. At this time, we also did a bike tour in San Francisco. It was great! I had to admit, that it wasn't easy to bike all the hills. But a special experience and the chance to see the city in a different way. We biked the Presidio to Haight/Ashburry, further on to the Golden Gate Park and up to Cliff House, then over Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and back to city with the ferry. I also met Rebecca again, which I hadn't seen for more than 6 years… That was a nice end for San Francisco!

Mahalo for reading this: -)

The Schwichtenberg's family: Gary Schwichtenberg, Jörg and Karen Luke Thanks for everything!
Departing Hanover		Hale Kai Ewa
Lanai Beach	Our group	Haleiwa
Jörg	Kukulinoko Birthstones	Skydive Hawaii
Sunset Point	Mokuleia Beach	Whales
Halona Blow Hole	Hanauma Bay	Pearl Harbour
Fisherman's Wharf	Hyde Street Hill	Cliff House
Alcatraz	"Broadway" of Alcatraz	Palace of Fine Arts
Union Square	My first skydive	Golden Gate Bride

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