Coxen Travels Ink ... Hawaii 2015

Coxen Travels Ink .... Hawaii

February 1 - 8 - Kauai

Sunday - Our flight with WestJet is via Vancouver arriving in Lihue around 21:30 hrs.  Well we were 30 minutes late, but no problem.  We bumped into Ben & Trish at the airport, they were waiting to go home.  Had a quick chat with them and then we picked up our luggage and picked up our rental car from Budget.  The drive to Bali Hai

Photo taken from our lanai (deck).

was uneventful and we were in bed by 01:00 hrs. Monday - We are both a bit bagged and not moving to fast.  We headed towards Lihue and visited Costco and Safeway.  We found a bottle of Balvenie Double Wood 12 at Costco and lots of other things to eat.  We stopped at Safeway to finish the list and headed back to Bali Hai.  It was down to the pool for a quick swim and then supper.  Early to bed.  Tuesday - We headed out early feeling much better and went for a walk.  A quick lunch and we were off to Hanalei.  We wandered town and then drove out to the farmers market.  The frozen chocolate covered bananas were delicious!  We next drove to Tunnels Beach

Tunnel Beach our favourite beach on Kauai!

and enjoyed the afternoon walking it and enjoying the surf.  There were two Hawaiian Monk seals

Monk Seal sleeping on the beach.

on the beach with us .... interesting!  Walking back we saw this fellow sitting on a coconut.

Red Crested Cardinal.

It was then back to Bali Hai for a swim in the pool and a relax.  Wednesday - We were up and went for out morning walk.  We headed down the side of the golf course but ran out of sidewalk and so headed home, it was getting rather warm so it was a good thing.  After lunch it was off to Kilauea Lighthouse and National Wildlife Refuge.  It was a great stop! Monk Seals,

Can you see the Monk Seal?

Red Footed Boobies, Frigate Birds and whales 

I got lucky and caught this breach with my camera!

made it all very entertaining!  Thursday - We spent the day in the resort, did not even move the car.  Friday - We decided to drive down to the south side of the island and see Waimea Canyon again.  

A stream in red dirt on the way up to the canyon.

Waimea Canyon, how do you take of picture of something so large.

Na Pali coast from above, we were in cloud!

Along the way we stopped at Opeaka Falls.  

Opeaka Falls

Once up in canyon country the temperature dropped to 13C!  But once down at sea level it was 24C.  We had heard that the pies at McDonalds were great so we stopped at tried a Taro pie.  It was ok.  Saturday - We were up early and drove up to the trailhead for the Na Pali coast trail.  We were disappointed as we could not get a parking spot within miles of the trailhead, so we headed back towards Princeville.  Along the way we stopped in Hanalai and met Patrick Ching a local artist.  We also visited another farmers market.  Then we were back to the resort and got in some pool time!

February 8- 15 - Big Island

Sunday - Our fight arrived late and then the car pickup was slow as well.  We got to the resort after stopping at Safeway to pick up supper.  Louise met us at our resort and we spent the evening eating and catching up.  Monday - We were up and at the welcome meeting first thing, well for 08:45 hrs.  We decided to book a flight over the volcano as there is new activity today and we had a good chance of seeing the flow. We then hooked up with Louise and first visited Kona Joe's for a coffee and then we continued on to 'Place of Refuge'.  It was cool and beautiful.  It was then off to the airport for our flight.  We were not disappointed like we were several years ago.  The Waimea area was clear and beautiful.  Just off the Hilo coast we saw a couple of whales.  

Two whales just off the Hilo coast.

The area around the eruption was also clear and we were able to see the lava flow!

Lava flow.

Tuesday - We decided to drive up to Hawi (the very north end of the island), and we actually went beyond Hawi to the Pololu Valley lookout!  

Pololu Valley

Very cool.  We then came back via Waimea.  Wednesday - We headed out to a a market to start the day and then headed to the Kaloko-Honokohau Natioal Historic Park.  It was a 17 turtle day!  

We saw 17 turtles some in the water

One of those 17 turtles!

Was he looking at me?

some sunning

Sunning turtle.

themselves on the beach.  We then headed back to Kona via yet another market.  We then were off to the Royal Kona Resort and their luau.  It was great food and then entertainment! The sunset was also amazing! 

Luau sunset.

Thursday - We started the day going to Costco, yes even in paradise one needs to eat.  We then had a lazy afternoon after which we drove down to Sea Mountain resort (It is on the southern coast where we stayed with our friend Louise.  Friday - We were up early for P & K and were off to hike into the Green Sands Beach.  Well it was quite the hike, three miles in in very hot (90F) sunny temperatures.  We were prepared and drank lots of water and put towels over our heads to shade us from the sun.  

The coast on the way in to Green Sands Beach.

Along the way we watched the whales playing off the coast.  There was quite a number of them.  After about 90 minutes we arrived above the beach and climbed down.  The water was GREAT!!  

Green Sands Beach, it was about the journey and the destination!

After about and hour it was time to face the hike back.  It seemed shorter on the way back, maybe because we had a breeze in our face most of the way.  We managed 19,000 steps today or 7.75 miles, needless to say we were tired.  But not too tired to stop at a bakery on the way back and try malasadas!  They are a Portuguese donut and tasted sooo good!  Not yet tired enough we decided to go to see the volcano.  We drove up to Kilauea.  It clouded over and started to rain, then it fogged in so we just went to the visitor center and the museum and we headed back.   Saturday - Up early again, that Louise is a task master!  We went straight back to Volcano Park and were rewarded today.  It was a bit cloudy but largely clear and cool.  We saw many great sites: the volcano caldera,

Looking at the heart of Kilauea.

a lava tube cave,

Lava tube, the floor was very easy to walk on.

rainforest,

lava fields, .....  We were then off to Hilo to visit a market and the Hawaii Tropical Botanic Garden .....

Waterfall in paradise!

Who can name this flower?

Wow!


February 15 - 18 - Oahu

Sunday - It is time to leave the Big Island and go to Oahu.  The flight was uneventful and we found our accommodation at Sunset Beach with no hitches.  Monday - We decided since it is Presidents Day in the USA we would not do any driving as the traffic up here on the north shore is nuts!  We therefore wandered down to the beach and spent the morning in the sun.  We then hid from the sun for a few hours and went back to the beach for sunset after all we are staying at Beautiful Sunset Beach!  

Beautiful Sunset Beach at sunset.

All in all a GREAT day!  Tuesday - After the sunburn Pat got yesterday we decided to do a driving tour.  We started driving south down the coast and stopped at the market in Leia right beside the Polynesian Culture Center .... it was a bust.  Off to see Waikiki from Diamond Head and did not want to hike in the sun so we moved on.  The day was wearing on so we started back on a different road and came across the Dole Plantation!  This was pretty cool and we were able to stay out of the sun.  The pineapple sundaes were delicious!  And we finally got to see how a pineapple grows after many a debate with family and friends.  

It is on a small stem up the middle of the plant.

Wednesday - We are flying home tonight, the flight leaves at 23:30 hrs.  We decided to spend the day at Pearl Harbor as there is a new museum and last time we missed some of the attractions.  We first visited the USS Missouri (Mighty Mo).  

It was the last battleship ever build in the world and saw action right from WWII to the Gulf War.  More importantly it was on it's deck that the Japanese signed the unconditional surrender to end the second world war.  We visited the Naval Air Museum and saw lots of great aircraft.  We also went on board the USS Bowfin a survivor of the WWII submarine service.  All in all a great day.

Coxen Travels Ink ... Scotland 2014

Coxen Travels Ink .... Scotland

Scotch

Aberlour – A’Bunadh – 5

Balvenie – DoubleWood 17 – 5

Balvenie – PortWood 21 – 5+

BenRiach – Limited 1996 Release – 5-

BenRiach – Pedro Ximenez Sherry – 5

BenRiach – Septendecim – 2

Cardhu 15 – 4

Dalwhinnie 15 – 4-

GlenDronach – Parliament 21 - 4

Glenglassaugh – Revival – 4

Glenglassaugh – Torfa – 2

Glenglassaugh – Evolution – 3-

Glenlossie –3

Gordon McPhail – Caol Ila 2003 - 3

Lagavulin – Double Mature - 3

Linkwood – 3

Longrow – Red 11 - 5

Mannochmore – 4

Inchgower – 3

Strathmill – 2

Dailuaine - 4

Kilchoman – 1

Monkey’s Shoulder – 3

Oban – Distilers Edition – 4+

Beer

Cairngorm – Trade Winds – 4+

Guinness – West Indies Port – 3+

Houston – The Brute – 3

McEwan’s - 4

Rhymney – Export – 4+

Shepards Neame – Burns Ale - 3

The Orkney Brewery – 1878 Strong Ale - 3

Wellpark Brewery – Caledonia Best – 4

Strathrear – Best Bitter – 3+

Tennents – 3

Wharfe Bank Brewery – Ryestone Cowboy - 4

Windswept Brewing Co. - Windswept APA - 2

November 14 - 23

Friday – We drove to Gretna Green from Devizes.  Gretna Green was known as the place for eloping couples to go to get married.  You see in England you had to go through the process of posting banns for three weeks, etc.  In Scotland you just had to find a blacksmith and you could get married.  Saturday – we continued on our way to Aberlour.  North of Stirling we decided to take the tourist road to Pitlochry.  It was narrow, winding and beautiful. 

Hillsides on the Pitlochry Tourist Road

A stream on the Pitlochry Tourist Road

Wade's Bridge over the River Tay in Aberfeldy

The hills and streams we picturesque …. wow!  For the last leg we took the motorway and the fog moved in.  We arrived at Bogearn Cottage

Bogearn Cottage our Scottish home for a week.

View from the cottage

just outside Aberlour.  On the way we saw at least 12 distilleries!  Sunday – We were all tired so we had a slow start to the day.  Elgin is the big community in our immediate area so off we went.  We found groceries and saw yet more distilleries as well as we wandered downtown Elgin and toured the ruins of the Elgin Cathedral.

Elgin Cathedral

Monday – We decided to go and visit Banff today.  On our way we stopped at the Aberlour Distillery.  We discovered a great single malt there.  We then moved on to Walkers as they make shortbread right here in Aberlour.  What a GREAT stop!  Then it was off to Banff!  The weather was the pits, rain and wind, but Banff, Banffshire, Scotland had a real charm. 

Banff moored boat

Banff marina

We had a good time and then decided to drive back along the coast.  A really interesting town was Portsoy.  It has a 17^th century harbour that was very cool. 

Portsoy harbour moored, grounded (low tide) boat.

Further along the way we came across the Glenglassaugh distillery.  They have a good selection of scotch, but none made our must buy list.  We had heard that there was a great scotch pub in Craigellachie.  The rumour was true!  They will give you a flight of 6 different scotch’s to try.  We did it and it was great!  We met a Brazilian couple doing the same thing and it is strange that with a little help from ‘The Water of Life’ we had a great evening.  Tuesday – Today we decided to pursue Scotch in a bigger way.  We headed first to the BenRiach distillery where we were first treated to a tour and then a tasting.  Then we drove to Elgin once again, but this time we were heading to the Gordon McFail whiskey shop.  Our noses led us straight there.  It has a fabulous collection of scotches, etc. all the way from a bottle from $40 to $32,000.  We had heard of another vendor in town called the Buccaneer Garage.  We found it as well and learned that they have great prices but a limited selection, but they did have a Buccaneer jet sitting out front! 

Buccaneer at the Buccaneer Garage in Elgin.

We then decided to go to Dufftown as they were reputed to have a good store as well.  They were not a disappointment. 

Warehouses full of scotch in Dufftown!

We then went in search of the Balvenie Distillery.  After much frustration we learned they were connected with Glenfidich, it was easy to find.  In the Glenfiddich visitor centre we were able to try Balvenie DoubleWood 17 and Balvenie PortWood 21.  They were both delicious!  Wednesday – We were off to Inverness.  We stopped first at the Culloden battlefield.  The museum is good and the battlefield tour guide was even better. 

Cairn on the Culloden battlefield.

We then headed into Inverness.  We wandered downtown for a while and were completely nonplussed about the community.  We headed home on a different route that the one we took to get there.  Once again we passed by a multitude of distilleries.  We are definitely in the heart of Scotch distillery country.  From our year we can see not less than four distilleries and in the area within a 30 minute drive there must be at least 30 distilleries.  Thursday - Today we had a low travel day, but perhaps one of the best we have had so far.  We started out by going to the Speyside Cooperage in Craigellachie.  

Repaired barrels

It was a great tour and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We were able to watch the production floor and as and amateur carpenter it was great. 

Speyside Cooperage production floor.

The tour finished with a Mead tasting!  We then headed to Aberlour to visit the Aberlour distillery.  The tour guide was fabulous both experienced and informed. 

Stills at the Aberlour distillery.

We tried six different scotches and then I was able to bottle my own! 

Doing my own bottling!

It was an Aberlour 16 done completely in a sherry cask.  Friday – We had reserved today for Aberdeen.  Passing through Craigellachie and saw this GREAT pile of barrels.

Yard full of barrels in Craigellachie.

We were not disappointed,  Aberdeen is a thriving city that we really enjoyed.  We visited Marischal College (a magnificent granite building)

Marischal College 

and FootDee (a medieval village).

FootDee an inhabited medieval village in Aberdeen.

We came home via Craigellachie and visited out favourite Scotch Bar again.  Once again we tried a few whiskeys only this time we did not do a flight, but rather tried other whiskeys in the range of our favourites.  We were not disappointed!  The selection is huge and we found new scotches that were GREAT!  Saturday – Sadly it is time to start the journey to the airport in Manchester.  We have had a great experience over the past 4 months, but we are excited to head home.  We started south with the idea of going through Ballater (Balmoral Castle is right there) and visiting the Royal Lochnagar distillery.  On the way we saw some amazing country, the highlands!  We saw highland cattle

Highland Cattle.

and some other amazing bridges. 

Seems impossible that this bridge can exist.

But the highlands were what really impressed us!  We spent the night once again at Gretna Green, but we decided to go explore Carlisle and were favourably impressed.