Greetings from the Hawaiian Islands! Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Day 1 by Wayne & Karen Brown

We've traveled over 3,000 miles and it has taken us over 8 hours! Here's what we had to go through to get here.

Thursday, August 28
12:30 PM (PST): Take taxi to John Wayne Airport.
2:50 PM: Fly to San Jose, California.
4:04 PM : Arrive at San Jose Airport and change planes.
6:10 PM: Fly to Honolulu, Oahu.
8:23 PM (PST-3 hours); Arrive at Honolulu Airport. Pick-up luggage and take taxi to nearby hotel.

We will go to bed early tonight, because tomorrow we will get up early to fly to the island of Hawaii, also called "The Big Island", because it is the biggest of all the Hawaiian Islands.

Here is tomorrow's expedition schedule.

Friday, August 29
5:30 AM; Get up.
6:30 AM: Take taxi from hotel to Honolulu Airport.
7:39 AM: Fly from Honolulu to Kona, Hawaii.
8:22 AM: Arrive at Kona Airport, Hawaii.

(Use math to figure this out: If we are on Pacific Standard Time minus three hours, what time is it in California if it is midnight in the Hawaii? How many hours did it take us to get to Kona? Remember to change all times to PST-3.)

We have now started our four week exploration of the islands of Polynesia, which are located in the Central Pacific Ocean. The most northerly islands of Polynesia are the Hawaiian Islands which are the 50th state of the United States. There are eight major Hawaiian islands, but they are all one state. The Hawaiian Islands are Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Kaui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, and Niihau and some tiny islands. We are starting our expedition in Hawaii, and then traveling across the Central Pacific, south across the equator. We’ll be looking for clownfish and studying the health of Nemo's home -- the coral reefs. We will also be studying the other marine life and learning a little about the history and culture of each island. We will also be investigating sunken ship wrecks and diving with sharks!

Join us tomorrow as we go 4-wheeling up to the top of the tallest mountain in the world -- Mauna Kea!

Welcome to our expedition to all our student adventurers.
Wayne & Karen Brown

At the San Jose Airport, Karen is ready to board the plane.

The view from our window as we fly over the Pacific Ocean on our way to Hawaii!