2008 Spirit of the West Cruise Diary and Photos

Below is the diary of our 2008 Spirit of the West Cruise to Hawaii.

We sailed on the Pride of Aloha - here's what she looks like on the outside.

Pride of Aloha

Below you'll find a basic itinerary of our trip and a map of where we're going. Go to the Itinerary

These photos will all enlarge if you click on them.

 

The cruise hosts

 

We'll be flying to Vancouver on Thursday morning and will have a day to relax and think about what we forgot to do at home before we left. Friday we leave Vancouver and fly to Honolulu where we overnight at the Waikiki Mariott. The photo to the left shows us with Lucky, but apparently they won't let her in the hotel in Honolulu so we had to leave her at home! Bummer ... how will Hugh get around?

 
 

Jan 12th Honolulu

 

Left photo - Lyn DeLeeuw and Doug Halliday at Lulu's restaurant in Hononlulu - open air looking right onto the beach about a block from the Mariott Hotel where we stayed. In the right photo Billie and Hugh are on the walkway, boarding the Pride of Aloha! ... We're off!

 

Jan 12th Honolulu

 

Jan 13th Hilo

Jan 13th Hilo

Jan 13th Hilo

Jan 14th at Sea

Jan 14th at Sea

January 13th. In the first photo Hugh and Mark up-load the January 19th Spirit of the West Show to the Internet for the Radio Stations. The Pride of Aloha tied up at the docks at Hilo. Hugh, Doug, Billie, Lyn, and Kathy - Happy Hour!

January 14th. Dr. Pete Knight from Pfizer Animal Health does the first seminar and Andrew Raphael from Meyers, Norris, and Penny winds up the first day of the conference.

Jan 14th at Sea

Jan 14th at Sea

Jan 14th at Sea

Jan 14th at Sea

Jan 15th at Sea

January 14th evening. The Spirit of the West band performs on the stage next to the pool. Over 200 people gathered to listen and to sing along - this is one of the most popular activities on the ship (for our crew anyway). In the first photo Doris Bircham recites some humourous and entertaining poems (practice for the Kamloops Cowboy Festival), the second photo shows part of the crowd, and the third photo shows the band which consisted of Andrew, Jim Bell (cruise director), not sure who the girl with the Ukulele is, Don, Hugh, and Ed. The forth photo shows a couple of the ships passengers (all though we didn't know them) having the time of their life - they'll probably want to join the Spirit of the West group next year!

January 15th. Hugh opens the second day of the conference by introducing Dr Pete Knight.

Jan 16th Fanning Island

Fanning Island

Fanning Island

Fanning Island

Fanning Island

January 16th. We are now about 200 miles from the Equator - we've arrived at Fanning Island. The first photo is of Jim, Hugh, Billie, and Kathy on the Tender. The next photo, taken from Fanning Island, is of the Pride of Aloha. In the third photo Billie has headed for a local craft market anf Hugh is keeping a watchful eye on her. The next photo - is this not a true cowboy? Blue jeans, boots, long sleeved shirt and hat ... this is Dan Stocking and Renee Turlock from Farmington, BC. Then Hugh, Billie, Kathy, and Mark baking on the beach - tough to take!

Jan 16th Fanning Island

Fanning Island

Jan 17th at sea

Jan 17th at sea

Jan 17th at sea

January 16th. Hugh and Kathy plan the CAIS seminar ... well maybe not ... maybe they are just enjoying a Corona! Lunch on Fanning Island was a huge buffet as shown in the second photo.

January 17th. Hugh introduces Kathy in the third photo, and she put on the CAIS seminar in the forth. In the last photo planning has started for next year's cruise! We'll find out where it's going soon!

Jan 17th at sea

Jan 17th at sea

Jan 17th at dinner

Jan 17th at dinner

Jan 18th meeting

January 17th. Here's a photo of the jam session in Captain Cook's Lounge - it holds about 80 people but here there were over 100! The next photo shows the jammers. The third photo - here's Hugh with his pet rabbit at dinner time (entertaining as always) and next, one of the ship photographers poses for a photo (wish I could sell her the photo for the same price as the ship photograpers sell their's for)!!

January 18th. A planning session in the McLennan Ranch suite - ideas on how to make future cruises better (if that's even possible). Left to right, Andrew, Louisa, Shirley, Pete, Jim, Karen, Larry, and Kathy (Mark takes the photo). Billie and Hugh take the centre seat.

Jan 18th evening

Jan 20th Parker Ranch

Parker Ranch

Parker Ranch

Parker Ranch

January 18th. Hugh, Billie, Mark, and Kathy pose on the stairs after dinner.

January 20th. We landed in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii and headed straight to the Parker Ranch. Hugh tried for an interview with the first cowboy we ran into (at the Parker Ranch Store) but found him very hard to get information out of. We were fed at the Parker Ranch Pukalani Stables where the Ranch Vice President, Corky Bryan gave a talk on the operations of the Ranch. Next Hugh let everyone in on the big secret - next years Cruise destination! The Cruise will be taking in 7 different countries and will be going right through the Panama Canal - from West to East. Jim and Hugh then gave evryone details for the last day (yes unfortunately its coming up). Next the Parker Ranch Paniolos Band entertained us and of course Andrew jumped right in with his harmonica. The last photo is of Hugh interviewing Corky - the interview was great and you'll get to hear it on a future Spirit of the West show!

Farewell party

Farewell party

Farewell party

Farewell party

Farewell party

January 22nd. Here's some photos of the farewell party on the ship - unfortunately the last day of this year's cruise. In the first photo Billie draws a name from the hat that Jim held with all the names of the folks that were on the cruise - Hugh announces the winners. Check back in the near future for a full list of the winners! For now ... in these photos Larry gives away a gift certificate for Morrand Industry products, Pete Knight gives away one of the prizes donated by Pfizer Animal Health, Karen and Jim hand out discounts for next year's cruise, and Andrew presents a coat from Meyers Norris Penny!

Last day

Last day

Last day

Last day

Last day

January 23rd. Hugh did some last minute interviews which you'll be able to here on future shows. In the photos .... Hugh tries to interview this farmer at the Dole Plantation but found him rather stiff and hesitant to answer any questions. Gloria Melnychuk from 100 Mile House tells Hugh what she thought of this year's cruise, Tiny (the bus driver and tour guide) just being his normal hilarious self, Doris Bircham speaks to Hugh while Ralph makes sure she says the right thing, and Don Howard the fiddle player answers some of Hugh's questions. Also interviewed for a future show was Dan Stocking but we don't have a photo at this point in time.

This is a group photo that was taken onboard the Pride of Aloha

click to enlarge

Our Itinerary!         Top of Page

  • January 10th - fly to Vancouver. Overnight.
  • January 11th - Fly to Honolulu. Overnight at the Waikiki Mariott. www.marriottwaikiki.com
  • January 12th - Board the Pride of Aloha at 1:00 pm. Cocktail party 7:00 pm and we sail at 8:00 pm.
  • January 13th - Arrive at Hilo 8:00 am. Spend the day and depart at 6:00pm.
  • January 14th & 15th - At sea. Both days start out with conference presentations by guest speakers. Topics include animal health, agribusiness, and stock handling equipment. Group Photo - keep your eyes open for it! Evening sing-a-longs under the stars on the pool deck, poolside.
  • January 16th - Arrive at Fanning Island 8:00 am. Today is beach day! Depart 4:00 pm.
  • January 17th - At sea. Another conference morning begins at 8:00 am - by a guest speaker who will do a presentation on the CAIS Program (Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization Program).
  • January 18th - At sea. A day to laze around the ship with another poolside sing-along in the evening.
  • January 19th - Arrive at Kahului (Maui) 8:00 am. Another beach day! This could get to be a habit! Depart 9:30 pm.
  • January 20th - Arrive Kona 8:00 am. Today we get the tour we've been looking forward to - a private tour of the Parker Ranch, the biggest ranch in the world, includes a BBQ.
  • January 21st - Arrive Nawiliwili (Kauai) 8:00 am, overnight.
  • January 22nd - Depart Nawiliwili 1:00 pm. Cruise the Napali Coast.
  • January 23rd - Arrive Honolulu 7:00 am and disembark ship. Tour Honolulu for the day.
  • January 23rd 10:00 pm - Hard to believe its over already and we have to head back to the snow.
  • January 24th - Arrive Vancouver 6:00 am.

    Top of Page

    Here's a route map - click to enlarge.

    Route Map

    We'll be sailing on the Pride of Aloha.

    Top of Page


    This website built and maintained by MSR Web Design