Nick Piper's Blog

Its been quite emotional looking at all these photos again – its sad to think I haven’t seen anyone since . .

My photos from Hawaii on Flikr

Leo’s photos from Hawaii on Flikr

As i said before – if Carlsberg did weddings . .

Dan and Jessie’s Wedding on Flikr

For a while.

Dan’s stag do photos on Flikr.

Dan’s parents were kind enough to organise a boat trip for us to go snorkeling in the Molokini crater, off the coast of Maui. The trip wasn’t without event – Dan’s aunt was swept outside of the craters rim and was caught in a strong current that would have taken her to Tokyo!! Despite her sons and Leos best efforts they couldn’t pull her to the safety of the crater so had to be rescued.

Not only did we get to see all kinds of mutlicoloured fish feeding on the coral, but on the return journey we saw whales breaching (jumping out of the water). It is very common to see whales in Hawaii as they come to the shallow shores to mate, give birth and nurse their young. We had seen many whales in the week before, but none as close as this – seeing them so was quite moving.

My attempts at capturing them on my camera had resulted in lots of pictures of splashes but Dan’s Dad took two awesome shots.

Molokini

Photo courtesy of Mr Ellis Snr.

Photo courtesy of Mr Ellis Snr.

What is amazing about Hawaii is the different environments you can visit in one day.

From picturesque waterfalls, to glorious beaches, barren dry moon like surfaces, rain forests, bamboo jungles and Volcanic rock pools – there’s something for everyone!

Timotei?

Bounty?

Why did the lion get lost? Cos the Jungle is Massive!

I hope my legs dont break. Walking on the moon

Get your rocks off..

For those who dont know, Hawaii is a series of volcanic islands. We are staying on Maui which has (or is as it forms 75% of the island) a volcano called Haleakala.

We got up at 4am to drive up to the 10,000 ft high summit to watch the sunrise (with 4 t-shirts, 1 shirt, 1 jumper and 2 pairs of trousers on) and it was magical – and freezing!.

Sun rising up . . .

Giant steps are what you take. Walking on the moon . .

As if the stag do wouldn’t go down in history, the wedding will surely too. Fortunately I am single, so I didn’t have a partner getting big ideas about their big day !!

Set in a colonial style plantation house facing the sea, with palm trees and whales spouting a few hundred metres from the shoreline, I think it was just about as perfect as it gets.

We organised 200 photos of Dan to be stuck to the bottom of all the guests chairs at the reception – giving him a note to read to all of the guests asking them to check their chairs. Oh how we laughed.

An amazing day for everyone, even more so for Dan and Jessie – congratulations once again !

Wedding Venue

3 amigos

P-A-S-T-A

Dan and Jessie

Obviously I cannot divulge what happened on the stag do, but it was legendary and I doubt that it could be beaten easily, if at all.

Dan the Man

The Boys

Leo and I have arrived in Hawaii. Another massive contrast. From a country where we saw 3 fat people (fat school kid, fat biker and fat businessman) we are greeted at Honolulu Airport by a variety of oversized (to the point of deformed) custom officials.

On Sunday we head for the American version of TK Max, Ross “Dress for Less” buy the loudest clothes we can find and hit the beach to drink Pina Coladas on the beach for ‘Super Funday Sunday’ !!

Toilets

Super Funday Sunday