The Grande Tour (Bucket list-2017)

Lahaina, Maui We spent 2 days & one night in Lahaina which is on the 2 nd largest Hawaiian island, Maui. It is a beautiful island but surprisingly dry. It is ranked as one of the top resort islands in the world due to pristine beaches, quality hotels and restaurants & shopping. We reached Lahaina by tender from the ship The Banyan tree is the symbol of Lahaina and located in the main square. View from the main road along the shoreline.   Lahaina was very relaxed and offers an enjoyable experience with shops and outlets that are frequented by both tourists and locals. It has only 125 thousand locals and boast 2.5 million tourists, but the shops are spread along the shoreline road and no overcrowding was apparent when we were there. Life is a box of chocolates: The main street:    -The Hawaiian sate flag has a union Jack in the top left quadrant. Fleetwood Mac's Bar Wise s...

 After departing Vancouver and 4 days at sea....Land We sailed into the harbour and anchored - tenders were required to go ashore. Kailua Kona, Hawaii Kona attractions include Hawaiian Royalty, Christian missionaries and Captain James Cook -we joined the Kona Highlights tour. The first stop was the Royal Kona coffee outlet where we tasted a number of coffees that have been grown & locally roasted for almost half a century and the Hawaiians claim it to be one of the world’s best tasting coffees. Our next stop was St Benedict’s painted church. The church was the first of Hawaii’s historic painted churches and was built in 1899-1902 at a place called Captain Cook in Kona, by Sacred Hearts Father John Veighe.   He painted colourful murals of biblical stories on its walls and ceilings and also incorporated other themes to life on a tropical island. Our final destination was Pu’uhonua O Honanau national Historic Park. ...