ISLAND HOPPING FALL 2017

FIRE AND WATER

 

Hawaii Island (also Big Island) 

Blue arrow = race, yellow stars = our snorkel spots, red flame = lava hitting water

(NOTE:  looking at post on tablet is better for zooming)

CANOE RACES

The Queen Lilio Race on Hawaii Island Saturday 9/2/17

                Gil hadn’t paddled in the Queen Liliuokalani race in Kona since 2014 and at the last minute they got a team together, practiced a few times (hard) and won the Gold medal, again.

Waiting for all 117 canoes the women were racing to arrive at Honaunau for men’s start

Switched out with the women’s team at Two Step

Finally heading out to the line-up where they waited another hour plus to begin

Friends were out watching the race from their boat 
(Too bad about the photo quality - but gives an idea of the pack before it stretches out)

The finish buoy, 18 miles, over!

Some drama to get each 400 pound boat up the slippery ramp, dismantled, and loaded on trailers

Two-thirds of the team – L to R: Art, Gil, Jack, Jim, MIA: Jeff & Tom

Good Job Namolokama 65s!

Sporting Gold on our way to dinner

UNDER WATER

Kealakekua Bay and Honaunau

                Sunday proved a great time snorkeling two of our favorite spots with Rick and Jane (and little two month old Howdy Doodle).  Kealakekua is below the town of Captain Cook and is actually the site of Cook being killed by Hawaiians during a grave misunderstanding in 1779.

Note little Capt. Cook monument across bay marking spot

Gil & Rick aboard Rick’s Boston Whaler, fishing boat

Honaunau (same location race left from day before – a great snorkeling spot)

Jane & Howdy

Gil bringing Howdy back in (still paddling his little front paws – OMG funny)

Fishes

                A big part of the reason for loving to snorkel the other islands is that we might see (we count on seeing) fishes not common here.  Do remember there is moving water between them and the camera!

Long Nose Butterflyfish

Oval Butterflyfish

Reticulated Butterflyfish

Tang collage Yellow tangs and Whitespotted Tang (love this guy's freckled face)

Hawaii Island seems to have more than its share of yellow fish, birds, butterflies, etc.

Lagoon Triggerfish with his blue "hat"

same family as the Picasso ( Humuhumunukunukuapua'a), the state fish, but less common

                Now, these friends of ours are a little on the crazy side; while Rick took Gil and I right to the snorkel spots, he dropped Jane off at a considerable distance so she could swim hard before meeting up with us.  

A couple days before, Jane was swimming with a pod of Pilot Whales in these waters and had a visitor:  an oceanic white tip shark.  This photo was taken by her good friend, famed photographer Doug Perrine.  Luckily we did not bump into this big guy.

                Fun times.  Our dinner with them that night was skip-jack they caught before we got there, yum.  Thanks R&J

VOLCANO FIRE

                Typically we spend a few days at Volcano Village walking in the forest with the tree ferns and native birds.  This time we just drove up, had a great lunch watching the crater and then headed down the other side to stay on the coast for our encounter with lava hitting the sea.

                We used to be able to drive around Kilauea Crater and hike out onto the lava to see the Pu’u o’o vent but that road has been closed for years as the volatility has cranked up.  There is a small crater within the large one and this has been rising and falling lately with no predictability.  Per chart in the Jagger Museum, yellow indicates 2000° F and the reddest red, 1300°.  We noticed more spurting yellow lava being depicted in the gallery paintings!

Halema’uma’u Crater within the larger Kilauea Crater

These are very dynamic with binoculars, hard to catch drama in still photo

                Down the mountain, past Pahoa and down to the coast, we found our lodging for the next two nights.  Not exactly handy, we bought microwave dinners on the way to have later.  We scouted where we needed to be at 4am the next morning for the lava boat launch.  A total crap shoot, we had booked this trip several years ago only to have the lava completely stop flowing days before we went. 

From our balcony.  Across was a black sand beach and surf spot, only 7 miles from Isaac Hale Park & harbor

This time the lava was there, not as dramatic as last February when they called it the firehose, but we were awed; non-stop oohs and aahs as the boat maneuvered in and out of the steam.  Gorgeous in the darkest dark before the dawn, the sunrise entertained us on the way back.

 
That other magma ball we see every day 

                We would recommend this company.  We had fairly calm waters but if there was any real swell or surf, or for afternoon trips, 1000 horses are pretty impressive.

MORE WATER   

                We had brought cereal for a beach breakfast at 7:30, then took a gorgeous drive up the coast before coming back to the tide pools.

Beach breakfast

Jungle path  
This forest reminded us of New Zealand with its tree branches loaded with ferns

Kapono Tide Pools

                Such a gorgeous spot.  The community has organized it so you park and walk several blocks in rather than cars blocking resident access.  We hadn’t been here since this coast was seriously damaged by tsunami activity.  In fact, the last time we snorkeled here, there was a tsunami tearing up the Kona side!  It is a very big island.

Kapono tide pools

Saddle Butterflyfish


Barred File Fish

Orange Spine Unicorn Fish getting his dorsal fin cleaned by a Cleaner Wrasse;
also a little Hawaiian Toby in lower left corner

Moorish Idol - these guys are very common but oh so pretty, love their faces

Teardrop Butterflyfish - 
We see many of these at home in the small young version (under 3") while this one was approaching 6"

                  Gil got these collections with his mask camera but is about to give it up, lots of troubles with it.

Butterfly Collection - 2 Teardrops, an Ornate, and down below a 4 Spot (2 each side)

Ringtail Surgeon Fish & large male Ember Parrotfish, a good two foot plus specimen.

                Our flight out Thursday was late afternoon so we headed for Hilo.  En route we stopped at the Lava Tree State Park.  During a large lava flow in the distant past, trees were wrapped in passing lava and as it receded, the forms stood, some till this day.

Pretty “Shaker” Heliconia – when they dry they are like a rattle with seeds inside.  Elsewhere in the world they are called “rattle snakes” but no one would even think of that in Hawaii where there are no snakes.

In town, we lunched at our favorite spot, visited U of H astronomy center for a quick talk on solar system monitoring and discoveries, then took a walk in the park at Hilo Bay.  Oddly when we parked by the bay, we noticed a very high tide.  Water was coming into the parking lot and over the grass.  Pathways throughout were under water.  Weird world these days.

Water Park (not usually)

The birds don’t mind

Ruddy Turnstone  
Fun to watch these guys.  We had seen many on Midway and in refuge on Maui but not so many at home.

Paths not passable (although I was tempted to run it barefoot)

The Japanese theme is always calming

MAUI NUI – EVEN MORE WATER

                Hawaiian Airlines had changed our flight from Hilo to Maui and we got in late.  It was after 9pm when we secured passage for a Lanai snorkel boat next day.  We were able to walk to the harbor, but there were hidden charges on our condo and we paid dearly for being handy to the dock.  Yet, another boat was fun and I love Maui Nui – being out between all the islands that were once one:  Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai.  We are usually here during whale season they really like the (relatively) shallow waters here.

The Crossing

Lanai from Lahaina, Maui

Kahoolawe

Molokai

Delicious water

Maui’s cleavage, shrouded in mystery

             The captain always chooses where the snorkel site is but we were bummed that Manele Bay was poor visibility due to a large South swell a few days prior.  Instead we anchored off shore from the abandoned Club Med. 

Only the pier and palm trees remain of the old Club Med (and the fish – they no kea)

Achiles Tang - talk about graphic arts!

Ornate Butterflyfish, seen most often in pairs, this was fun, they were so busy

Hawaiian Hog Fish, this mature female is quite a nice specimen, probably 16” without tail

Gil got this beauty – an Oval Butterfly rarely seen at home, but we also saw them on BI

Lanai’s rocky edge, dolphin arena.  The boat company is so sure dolphins will be spotted they guarantee it!  So much fun to watch, eyes not cameras this time.

Back on land we cleaned up, drove to Kaanapali and had great Mexican food at our hang out, Sangrita. Back home next day, nice place to return to.  We are happily Kauaians.

Kauai