It is this time of year again: The sweet time between the end of the semester and the beginning of summer. Granted, since I was on sabbatical this year, this time is not as precious as it usually is (although I was still very much involved with the department, but still, not having to grade had a definite positive impact on my overall mood!). But I will still try to enjoy it as much as I possibly can (poor me, I know!).
Tuesday, 05/17/16:
This morning, bright and early, we made our way to the North Shore. Surprisingly, we were greeted with rain! (Mind you, not the Oregon kind of rain, though!).
After about an hour drive we arrived at the Shark Shack to check in with North Shore Shark Adventures for our dive with the sharks.
And off we went! After about 15 or 20 minutes we arrived at their location three miles off shore where they had anchored the tank.
Of the 19 passengers, only one had decided not to go into the tank. So we were split into three groups of six each and given 20 minutes in the water. Jan and I were in the second group, which gave us time to observe the sharks from the boat first (and then to dry off while the third group went in).
The reason the sharks are attracted to the boat is because they have been conditioned to the sound of the engine, which is the same type of engine that's used by crab fishing boats. And since sharks have to swim all the time in order to breath, they might as well check out the boat in hopes of a light snack! To keep them interested, the crew tossed the green metal bottle. Sharks are curious, and the sound of something splashing on the surface of the water attracts them.
Here's us right before the dive. All snorkel-geared-up!
The descend into the tank:
There were lots of sharks!
And we're done (and happy!).
And here are some stock photos that came with the video, and that show the shark better:
All of these are Galapagos sharks that can get up to about 15 feet long (the ones we saw were about 12ish or so). They don't come to shore since they prefer to be between (I think) 200 and 800 feet water. Surprisingly, they can get pretty old: Although this has not been studied in detail, the current best estimate is between 25 and 30 years! I had no idea!
After we were done with the sharks we drove further north and east around the island, with a few stops here and there to take in the scenery. Here's us near Shark's Cove and the tide pools in that area. We didn't see anything interesting in them, though.
"Oh look! There!!! ... Water!!!!!"
By almost sheer accident we read about the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie. It's staffed by BYU students (Laie in general has a huge Mormon population, and there are no coffee shops!). Each island has a dedicated area in the park, and there are lots of demonstrations, courses where you can learn to Hula-Hula or how to play with sticks, and shows. Our first stop was the Islands of Samoa where we learned about the coconut tree and the role it plays. Very entertaining and educational!
Yes, he did climb that coconut tree, and FAST! Very impressive!
Next stop, The Islands of Aotearoa, where we heard beautiful voices.
And more.
Wednesday, 05/18:
We started the day with a walk on the beach.
While Jan went scuba diving (I'll let him do the talking in a moment :)), I enjoyed some calm time in the condo (which was good for me knee!). So here comes Jan:
Today, being the second full day of our vacation, I did what I have been doing for most recent island visits on that day: scuba diving. I chose
Hawaiian Diving Adventures and was not disappointed. My dive instructor Susanna turned out to be not only from Rochester, NY, but having a home very close to the University (Highland Park), which she still visits regularly, so this turned out to be a great opportunity to catch up. Further, as the other party members were all taking beginner's courses, I had the - for me - first opportunity for a one-on-one dive, where for once the air in my tank would be the limiting factor (vs. some heavy breathing fella limiting dive time for the whole group). Not only that, but Susanna is also a photographer, so for the also first time, I can share some pictures of my under water trip. We visited the Horse Shoe Reef off Waikiki as well as the Pipeline. For more pictures of the trip, you can go
here.
This reef shark may not have been as big as the Galapagos sharks we saw yesterday, but then, we didn't have steel rods between us and him (her?) here, either. Nice, calm fellow.
We saw a bunch of turtles, some of them pretty big (and one, sadly, missing a flipper - most likely due to ship traffic). They are just great to look at, no?
I had a great time - looking forward to next time!
P.S. The sinus surgery worked - first time of completely pain free diving!
In the afternoon we walked through the eastern side of Honolulu (so many shops, so many people!). We stopped at the Coconut Cafe for some shaved ice (Michaela) and a mango bubble drink & burger (Jan). A very small cafe at the corner of a street that we would have probably ignored had we not read about them prior. The shaved ice was great, very soft and yummy (although very sweet toward the end), and bubble drinks are just ... odd? Essentially a mix of tea and smoothie with big tapioca balls (those are the bubbles). Very odd.
(Koi at the shopping mall.)
Thursday, 05/19/16:
This morning we were greeted by a rainbow.
After breakfast we drove back up to Kaneohe, but this time to do a 4-hour kayaking/snorkeling tour with Holokai Kayak and Snorkel Adventures. Last year a similar tour on Maui got canceled on us last minute due to bad weather (wind and waves), and since we had it scheduled on our last day we didn't get to do it at all. So we were excited to finally try it out!
Beautiful location!
Our tour guide was Kevin, a former environmental science major. He did a great job, was knowledgeable and fun, but not in the eye-roll kinda way. Good company. He pulled us with his boat roughly halfway to our goal, the Coconut island (it's the tree-covered island behind the sailboat in the above photo). He pulled us a little further than he usually pulls people since we were delayed by about half an hour (our third participant, Jen, was on a bus from Waikiki that got delayed). Which was good fun too. He also took photos that he shared with us.
We then paddled to the landing spot on Coconut island. Jan and I shared a kayak with me in the front. Which meant my job was to paddle and keep the rhythm (good choice ;)), and Jan did the steering from the back. We did some zig-zagging, but overall things were not too bad.
Typically, they let the group snorkel on the wind-ward side of the island, right behind the landing, since that's an easy to reach spot for big groups. But because it was just three of us, Kevin took us on the boat and we went to three reefs on the opposite side, with a lot calmer sea. We just jumped out of the boat, snorkeled for a while, then came back on board and drove to the next spot. Good fun!
At the first location we saw lots of
red sea cucumbers. This particular bay (Kaneohe Bay) is the only location where they thrive (of course, sea cucumbers exist in other places, but none of them are red!). They look like something from a science fiction movie. There were also
Cornetfish (very long, silverish, and with a long thin tail), and lots of other smaller ones. We also saw one
big puffer fish (ignore the article in this link, but the photo is very close to what we saw). (S)He was a very chill dude, just hanging out, watching us.
At the second location we saw lots of beautiful coral but not that many fish. Kevin later told us that a shark had checked out his boat (engine?), so maybe that's why. And that after telling us there are no sharks in the bay. Oops!
Since we had not seen a single turtle yet he took us to yet another spot. Turtle heaven! Even on the boat we already saw a handful of them near the reef. So we jumped in for a brief meet-'n-greet. One of them swam past me just a few feet away. Very impressive. They are huge! And fast, if they want to. Just a tiny flick of their flippers and they're gone!
The way back to the mainland was on us. Jan and I paddled away happily, while Jen decided to get towed by the boat. Paddling wasn't that exhausting (it actually felt good since I was a bit cold after the snorkeling), but we did have some steering issues: We were always drifting more to the right (probably due to currents or wind or something like that). After a while we found a way that worked quite well (not perfect, but quite well): Jan paddled only on one side, and I alternated between left-right and right-right-left. In the end we made it!
At the landing we were greeted by Hawaiian BBQ (chicken, corn, rice, salad). Tasty!
After so much exercise we drove the Valley of the Temples. It's essentially a very big cemetery, but a very beautiful one. At one end is a replica of the Byodo-In Temple in Uji, Japan.
At the entrance of the temple is the Sacred Bell that visitors are encouraged to ring.
The temple itself houses the two-ton Buddha.
The whole area is very peaceful with water, koi, black swans, and doves.
After the Temple we briefly stopped at the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden for a stroll in the green.
Afterward we grabbed a latte at Starbucks and drove back to the Condo. Good day!
Friday, 05/20:
After all this excitement we took it easy today. Very easy. We started the day with a morning at the beach right outside the condo. Renting two chairs and an umbrella was $30 for the whole day, so well worth it! I enjoyed reading one of the books I picked for my College Colloquium class in the Fall, Herzog's "Some we love, some we hate, and some we eat". Good read!
For lunch we went to Goofy's, a breakfast-all-day (and some more options for lunch/dinner) place about 10 minutes from our condo. Very tasty!
Even though we had originally planned to visit Pearl Harbor this afternoon, we decided to postpone that for the earlier (and cooler) morning hours tomorrow. Plus, we would not have been able to see everything anyways. And while the ticket allows us to come back for a second day, it's a half-hour drive. So, better do everything tomorrow morning! So instead we spent the hottest hours indoors and went back to the beach in the late afternoon. Very chill day!
In the evening we watched the weekly Hilton fireworks from our balcony (there were a lot of people who assembled at the beach, and close to ten ships were hanging out near the beach as well!). The whole show lasted for close to ten minutes!
Saturday, 05/21:
Today we went to Pearl Harbor (from about 7:30 am to close to 2:00 pm). So, not really a fun day, but well worth it, and we learned a lot.
Our first stop was the USS Arizona Memorial. When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7th 1941, the Arizona was one of the ships that sank off the coast. And to this day it still lies there. In addition, a memorial has been built above it to remember those who died that day.
Our next stop was the submarine USS Bowfin. It was pretty tight in there, but not as small as I had feared. But then again, had there been almost 80 other people in it, which was the crew of the Bowfin, I think I would have considered it very crammed!
From there we took a shuttle to Ford Island, which is still an active military base. Our first stop there was the Battleship Missouri Memorial. The USS Missouri was built between January 1941 and June 1944, and decommissioned (for the first time) in 1955. Between 1986 and 1992 she was recommissioned again as part of the Cold War.
And the last stop was the Aviation Museum where we also had lunch.
Sunday, 05/22:
We started this morning early and drove to the Diamond Head trail head. Even though we arrived shortly after 7 am the parking lot there was already completely full! I guess it really is one of those hikes that everyone
has to do when they're on Oahu. Thankfully we found a spot not too far away (just a five or ten minute walk). And off we went! The hike is short and reasonably steep. It begins with several switch backs, and culminates in two sets of stairs (74 and 99 I think) to the top.
The view was fantastic! Postcard view of Waikiki and the surrounding areas.
After the hike (it took us just under an hour) we stopped at the "Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf" to grab a latte and headed further along the coast toward the eastern end of the island. We briefly stopped at the Halona Blowhole for the obligatory photo (the blowhole itself was not very active today).
Another quick stop at the Makapu'U Beach Park (where the young ones were waiting for that one big wave to surf).
And then a longer stop at the Waimanalo Beach Park for some reading in the shade (there were high(ish) waves, wind, and signs warning of Man'O'Wars... not a good day for the ocean!).
After that we had lunch in Kailua (bless the Whole Foods!), then drove back to the condo for shower and coffee before we headed to the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
They had a nice exhibition of Hawaii's history, and we spent over an hour in it. Some of the photos are a bit blurry (we didn't use the flash).
Monday, 05/23:
On our last day we made it to Hanauma Bay, which is probably the most touristy snorkel spot on the island. Since we arrived just a few minutes shy of 7 am parking and admission was free (typically that adds up to $16). So yay! Plus, we did not have to watch the video that tells you not to touch the fish, not to step on the coral, etc.
The fish in the bay are super tame. And they are very close to the beach. Just a few steps in and you are surrounded by them. The bay itself is very shallow (a glorified bath tub!), with lots of small reefs and fish left and right. On my way out I saw a triggerfish (the Hawaiian national fish, also called Humuhumunukunukuapua'a) who was blocking my way and playing with me by swimming up to my hands and mask repeatedly. Very cute.
Last evening on the island:
Turns out there were also a 50k and a half marathon setup there today, so it wasn't quite as serene as we expected, but still a very pleasant hike.
