Hawaii Diary 2000

Hawaii Diary 2000 • Part 1: Overview • Part 2: Arrival, the Hard Way • Part 3: Mighty Mo and Downtown Honolulu • Part 4: Circle Island Adventure on Oahu • Part 5: Oahu's Leeward Shore • Part 6: Oahu in Pictures • Part 7: Off to Maui • Part 8: West Maui's Rugged North Shore • Part 9: Old Lahaina Luau, Lahaina, Maui • Part 10: In Celebration of Canoes, Lahaina, Maui • Part 11: Maui's Kihei Coast • Part 12: Haleakala and Upcountry Maui • Part 13: A Day of Rest on Maui • Part 14: Molokai for a Day • Part 15: Hana, Maui and Beyond • Part 16: Sunset Sail in Paradise • Part 17: Hawaii Diary 2000 Retrospective

• Without question, the current problems with United Airlines could have cost us the entire trip. That's why I've written a letter to the CEO.

Natatorium War Memorial - Honolulu
Photo by John Fischer

• The repairs to the Natatorium in Honolulu look wonderful. They were just finishing up construction when we were there. All that has been done will be wasted, however, if money is not found to fix the pool area which is in terrible shape.

• Our trip to Roundtop/Tantalus Drive was somewhat disappointing. While the views of Honolulu were interesting, the tour books tend to overrate this experience.

Sun Yat Sin Park.- Upcountry Maui
Photo by John Fischer

• The county beach parks on Maui are, in many cases, in very poor shape. Heritage Gardens at Kepaniwai Park as well as Sun Yat Sin park in Upcountry are in bad need of upkeep and repair. In all fairness, the economy in Hawaii has only begun to recover, so budget tightening is the principal reason for this.

• Lahaina, although still a lot of fun, is way too crowded. It's really become too much of a shopping destination and in so, it has lost much of it's historical appeal. Lahaina was once Capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom and it will need to be very careful not to lose its history.

• The traffic on the Road to Hana is out of control. When we last drove the road two years ago we did so on a cloudy day and it was almost deserted. This time we went mid-week on a sunny day and it was very crowded. There was no parking available at may of the pullouts.

• The rental car rates are much too high. While you can get a good weekly rate, if you need a car to 9 or 10 days you really get killed for the extra days - would you believe $90 a day after all taxes are added in? Our car rental on Maui for 9 days was over half of what it cost us to rent our condo!

We hope that you have enjoyed our Hawaii Diary 2000. We've sure had a lot of fun preparing it for you. 

Between Eileen and I we took over 3000 photos in Hawaii on this trip. We'll be adding many of them to our Hawaii Photo Gallery over the next few months.

Until we see you again, Aloha.