Having started a tradition 5 years ago of going to Hawaii at least once a year, I have learnt heaps

Our plans for the Solstice cruise are no more. I know there are people out there who have read this blog and, as a result of my recommendations, gone on to book a sailing on the Solstice themselves. I still have no doubts that those cruises job photography travel will be some of the best holiday memories you will ever make for yourselves. You'll have a ball. Unfortunately I'm not able to be a fellow Solstice-sailor for a few more years yet due to more than just the "what about the sea days" reasons I spoke of earlier.
My delightful job photography travel husband's boss just wasn't at all flexible with time off for the stay in Hawaii plus the time to sail back to Australia. Something had to give and it was either the time in Oahu before the cruise, the cruise job photography travel itself or Anthony's employment. Being that he's been made redundant 3 times in 7 years and each time right before or immediately after a holiday, I wasn't keen on going through that option again. I also wasn't keen to fly into my favourite place on Earth the day before the cruise, spend less than 24 hours in Waikiki with no time to see anywhere else and then sail away for 19 days back to Australia. It is simply not in my nature job photography travel to fly 10 hours to paradise unless job photography travel I get at least the same number of days as hours flying to spend there soaking up the sunshine. So that meant no less than 10 days in Hawaii. That left one option, go ahead with cancelling the cruise. Which we have done and our deposit was back in our banks the next day. Immediately afterwards I felt that surge of panic that I knew would come but once I got into planning an alternate itinerary, I knew we'd done the right thing. We will be sailing on the beautiful Celebrity Solstice but it will be once Anthony is working job photography travel for himself and doesn't have a boss who is "iffy" with requests for time off. To those who have booked on this ship, I'd love to hear all about it so feel free to drop me a line and give me a review of your trip.
So, the alternate itinerary has turned out to include some island hopping rather than just basing ourselves on Oahu. We are flying over all together with my Mum, Sister, Nephew and my Dad's ashes and spending 10 days in Waikiki. At some point in those 10 days we will scatter Dad's ashes and say our final goodbyes to him. Once the 10 days are up, we all head to the airport where my Sister and Nephew board the flight back to Australia and Anthony, Mum and I board a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Maui.
We will be spending 3 nights in Maui at the Makena Beach and Golf Resort on the south-west coast of the island. I had looked at Ka'anapali but we've been down to Wailea before and it's so lovely job photography travel and relaxed there, job photography travel I wasn't keen on staying in the Waikiki-esque job photography travel Ka'anapali when secluded, gorgeous Wailea was just as easy an option. We got a great deal for our stay and will be relaxing in Oceanfront job photography travel Suites at the resort.
The plan for the 3 days in Maui is to relax at the resort, take walks, take photos (LOTS), go swimming in the ocean and the pool and drink cocktails. I'm going to try my hand at lazing around doing nothing for once - apart from one morning when I will be getting job photography travel up before dawn to do the Haleakala at Sunrise tour again. This time I'll have warmer job photography travel clothing so I can really enjoy the experience!
After the 3 days in Maui, we will be flying again with Hawaiian job photography travel Airlines directly to Kona on the big island. While on the Big Island we will be staying at the Royal Kona Resort. We have booked a King Corner Suite so we have panoramic views over Kailua-Kona Bay and we should be there while the Pride of America cruise ship is anchored off the coast.
My plans while in Kona are just to enjoy my favourite little town in Hawaii. I've been to Kona three times before and only spent a day there each time. One time I went to A-Bay to the beach, another trip I went to the Sea Horse Farm followed by a spot of shopping and then the last time we did the Historic Kona tour and saw more than I have before but a lot of it was out of the town itself. Mum wants us to take her to the sea horse farm as she didn't get to go last trip and we have all agreed that we are either hiring a car and driving ourselves or doing a tour to see Volcanoes National Park again and to stop at my favourite - Big Island Candies. Other than that, I have plans to walk the trail along the beachfront from the hotel to spot turtles and to find some beautiful job photography travel photo spots.
Once our 3 days in Kona are over, we fly back to Honolulu for 5 more days in Waikiki before we come home. I think coming back to Australia will be even harder this time because I will feel like we're leaving Dad behind. From then on, Hawaii will feel even more like home than it already does. One of the things I am looking forward job photography travel to the most is going in to the surf shop in Waikiki where Dad always rented the same board and seeing the guys there who Dad spent so much time talking to about surfing. I contacted them after Dad passed away and asked if I could buy the board because Dad said it was such a fun ride. My most enjoyable memories of our family trips to Hawaii have been sitting on the beach, watching Dad surfing and I want to bring the board home that he spent so much time having a ball on. The guys at the surf shop have been amazing and have put Dad's board aside for me so I can have it here in my house next to his "Aussie board". It's meant so much that they have done this for me and I am hoping job photography travel to head out to catch a few waves on it while I'm there too.
Saturday is 4 months until this trip and everything is fully booked. There is a small amount owing at the Royal Kona Resort as they only take 2 nights deposit and you pay the remaining amount at check in and the full amount job photography travel is still owing for Ohana West as they don't require any payment at all but, other than that, it's all paid in full. I feel like a weight has been lifted by not having to save $8000 for the cruise and having some spare money has meant we have been able to begin the process of buying a block of land and building a new house - which is all happening in the next week or two. We will be keeping in contact with the builder (who just happens to be the builder Anthony works for) while we're away because that's about the time that the concrete slab will be poured and then the frame will be constructed. I will have to find someone to come around and take some good photos of the slab for my records - although finding any of my friends who have the slightest clue how to take a decent photo will be a challenge! It's going to be a little scary being so far away while our new house starts to be built but I wouldn't give up my trip for anything. I have already been looking at decor selections for the interior that are all beach-inspired. My house wouldn't be "me" if it wasn't Hawaiian-themed!
I really job photography travel am looking forward to going back to Kona, it seems this was the perfect substitute for giving job photography travel up the cruise. Shame the holiday is only 3 weeks instead of the originally planned 5 but we'll have a longer holiday in future. Because of Anthony's issues with getting time off, it looks like our next mainland trip will have to be over Christmas and New Year so I guess I'll be seeing snow in New York after all. Now that this trip is almost all planned, I'll have to start getting onto planning that one - I'm trying to work in a cruise on the new Quantum of the Seas cruise ship!
Having started a tradition 5 years ago of going to Hawaii at least once a year, I have learnt heaps about the what's, where's, how's and why's of travelling to and around these beautiful islands. For anyone job photography travel looking at going, I hope some of what I have learnt job photography travel can help you get the most from your Hawaiian job photography travel experience.