Serendipity

Who knew that this morning, by chance, we would end up sitting on the beach watching a sleeping Hawaiian monk seal? Following several miles of walking, we decided to sit on the beach for a while.  I put the chairs in the shade and went walking just a bit farther north and discovered the sleeping monk seal.  A woman from the Marine Mammal Center's Hawaiian Monk Seal Conservation team had set up signage on the beach to give the seal some space.  We relocated to a shady spot due east of the seal.  The monk seal is an endangered species and we were told that there are only 8 known individual seals on the island of Hawaii.  This individual was an untagged female, estimated to weigh 400 pounds.  Earlier in the morning, she had been sleeping on the sandy beach, but then moved down the beach onto the lava rock and continued to sleep.  We watched her for about an hour.

The seal can be seen on the black rock just above the top of the sign where "MONK SEAL" is written.

While we didn't see lots of movement, the seal occasionally rolled over, and made other small movements.

Back in the water

This morning, we snorkeled again and saw many lovely fish.  The current was pretty strong, but we are good swimmers, so that didn't bother us much.  

Soon after getting in, we encountered quite a few keeltail needlefish (Hawaiian name: 'aha), swimming just beneath the surface.  These were about 8 inches long.

A little later we encountered a bluefin trevally (Hawaiian name: 'omilu), swimming circles around a big rock.  This fish was about 20 inches long.  It seemed to change color, turning its blue fins and blotches a sort of electric blue color.  We couldn't figure out why this fish was fixataed on the rock.

And later, Bori spotted this little nudibranch (sea slug) on the sand.  This scrambled egg nudibranch was about 2 inches long.

Nice conditions and nice marine life!

Mo'okini Heiau

This morning, we drove up to the northmost tip of the island to visit the Mo'okini Heiau.  A heiau is a place of worship, and the Mo'okini Heiau is one of the most sacred and oldest heiau sites in Hawaii.  Legend has it that this heiau was built sometime between the 12th and 14th centuries by the powerful priest Pa'ao (from Tahiti or Samoa) on the site of an earlier temple, built by Mo'okini in the 5th century.

Pa'ao was a powerful ruler who arrived in Hawaii during a time of anarchy and introduced Hawaiians to human sacrifice and a set of rules that governed all aspects of life.  This site definitely has a creepy factor.

The structure is about 250 feet long by 135 feet wide.  The walls are 10 feet wide at the base and up to 14 feet high.  The stones were said to have been passed hand-to-hand from their source, 9 miles away.

The "road" 

And while I was exploring, Bori opted to whale watch and dolphin watch.  He saw dozens of humpback whales and hundreds of dolphins.

Plenty to eat

Walking around the neighborhood, I realized how much food is hanging in the trees.  Some is ripe, some is not.  Some of it is actively harvested, some of it drops on the ground.  Nevertheless, it is amazing to see the abundance of fruit in the trees right now.

In alphabetical order: avocadoes, bananas, oranges, and papayas.

Stay healthy by eating plenty of fruits.

Surf and turf, more or less

We went snorkeling today.  The visibility was pretty limited, so I don't have a big selection of lovely underwater photos to share.  Instead, I will share a few photos of one lagoon triggerfish (the surf portion of this post) and one flower that is blooming along our driveway (the turf portion).

Surf:  The lagoon triggerfish is one of two triggerfish to share the Hawaiian name humuhumu nukunuku apua'a (made famous years ago by lyrics in the song "My Little Grass Shack."  The blue bands that run between the eyes, across the forehead are a gorgeous shade of blue.  This fish was about 10 inches long.

Turf:  The first time that I saw this flower, I was convinced that it must be synthetic.  To me, the blue looks unreal and out of place with the surrounding vegetation.  It is the jade vine, a woody vine endemic to the Phillipines.  The flower cluster is nearly 2 feet long.

The old airport

Old airport runways are big and flat, so we thought that renting bikes and cycling on the old runway would be enjoyable.  There are lots of lovely recreational fields and courts built on adjacent parts of the old airport, but the runway is pretty much unimproved beyond the gate.  That makes it pretty bumpy and so it wasn't quite as amazing as we expected.  But we rode around the recently-paved parking lots surrounding the tennis courts, baseball fields, swimming pool, etc., and got plenty of exercise over a couple of hours.

The old runway

When we needed to take a hydration break in the shade, we headed to one of the covered picnic tables that line the beach between the runway and the Pacific.

Old airport beach looking south

Old airport beach looking north

Bori's rental bike wasn't quite big enough for him, so we are still working on finding a bigger bike to rent.  And we need to check out other flat routes that wouldn't be near lots of traffic.  For us, cycling here is a work in progress.

Keep moving!

Not my first rodeo

 But today, we went to my first Hawaiian Rodeo!

We knew there were lots of cowboys in Hawaii, but we were pleasantly surprised to see the rodeo signs.  It was really a family event.  One event (dummy roping) featured kids 4 and under, and 5 to 8.  There were kids throwing ropes all over the place.  

Some events involved single riders.

Other events involved pairs: either two riders or one rider and one runner.

All the events that we saw involved roping.  But we didn't stay for the whole show.

We saw lots of great boots and spurs!

Aloha finally!

After a cancelled flight, a change of airlines, and three nights in a Hampton Inn, we arrived in Hawaii just in the nick of time, as much of the country is getting hit by an arctic blast.  My smaller suitcase managed a side trip to Kauai, but it arrived on the big Island only 4 hours after we did.

I walked around the coffee plantation today and here is some of what I saw.

First of all, there are coffee plants all over the place.  It looks like they are budding and will soon bloom.

Second, I found some really tiny bananas that I'm hoping we can watch grow into the lovely apple bananas that we enjoy for breakfast.

I found a gecko on a large banana palm.

And I discovered that the avocado tree is loaded with avocadoes this year.  I picked up a few off the ground, and will wait for them to ripen.  This variety of avocado is very large -- bigger than a softball, and very tasty.

Stay warm and be safe this winter!