Day 15 - Waiting for the Airplane

My plane did not leave until 4, so I had some time to roam.  I went back through the ABCs again and some other random tourist stops.  If I had more room in my bag, I would have bought some more stuff, but it is a good thing that I did not because when I weighed my bag at the airport it was 50.5 lbs.  The lady was nice enough to ignore it... whew.

I did break down and buy a Hawaiian Shaved Ice...otherwise known as a Snow cone. They are very proud of their Shaved Ice and proud of the fact that add ice cream to it.  It kind of made me laugh.  Uncle French started adding ice cream to his show cones when I was in Junior High.  The the girl just kept adding more and more and more ice.  I made a little tunnel to the ice cream.

I walked out on the walk that went out over the water.  I saw some fish.  

The flight back home was OK.  I was SO cold the entire flight.  They gave me an extra blanket, but it was just not enough.  The guy that I was sitting next to was leaving his home in Hawaii to go to Florida...hummm...seems a little backwards.

Great trip, but I am still exhausted :-)  Until the next adventure!  Hopefully, next summer I will be writing My Hawaiian Field Studies 2.0.

Day 14 - Pearl Harbor and Surfing

Pearl Harbor - When we got there (at 10 AM), out ticket over to the Memorial was not until 11:15 AM.  I had plenty of time to wander around.  I wandered to the 2 Gift Shops, placards, and random military things placed around the facility. I was sure how I was going to feel there.

Jeff wanted a book from there.  There were quite a few authors there, but there was one gentleman and book that caught my attention.  He signed the book for Jeff and declared that this was the "real" story of the attach on Pearl Harbor.  There was a biography of a survivor of Pearl Harbor was in the back and he also signed the book.

I was fine until they funneled us into a theater and showed us a video of the event leading up to the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the aftermath. I know if did not take much to make it super sad, but it was definitely super sad.  The boat trip was short and the memorial was pretty small, but the back wall with all of the names of those that lost their life there was humbling.  

Surfing - I finally get to surf.  There were only 4 people in my group, so it was a nice small group.  The worst part was paddling out to the waves.  I got up each time.  I finally decided to not ride the waves too far in because it was such a pain to paddle back out.  It was a lot of fun!  I was so focused on not falling, that I did not let myself enjoy it enough.  Next time will be better :-)  Here are a few non-flattering pictures.

Ah...so much fun!  I am ready to surf again.

Sunset - I finally get a chance to watch and photography a sunset at the beach. So pretty...

Day 13 - North Shore Adventure

Compared to what we were doing with the Hawaiian Field Studies class, this tour was a breeze.  The guide's name was David Atkins.

We started at a cemetery - Valley of the Temple Memorial Park.  Odd place to start, but in the back of the cemetery is a full sized replica of the 11th century Phoenix Hall of the Byodo-In Buddhist temple complex in Japan.

  

Inside is a large Buddha.

Interesting place.  These are family plots where the bodies are cremated and added to the family plot.

Next place we stopped at was a structure called Chinaman's Hat.  It is also known as part of a legend.  Something about a dragon tail.  It is also called Mokolii which means "little lizard".

On the East Shore, we stop at Liea Point.  This is a beautiful little spot.  Nothing of much significance, but I am sure that there is something geology based and volcano based info here.

We drove through the town of Kohuku.  Here they have 12 wind turbines and are going to be getting a lot more soon.  Hopefully this will help cut down on the cost of their electricity.

We drive by the Shrimp Ponds.  We did not get to get out, but I did get to see a few birds, but no pictures :-(

Night Heron
Hawaiian Coots
Red-face Moorhen
Hawaii Stilt

On to the North Shore.  We stop at Sunset Beach.  This is where the big surfing competitions happen.  Definitely NOT in the summer.  It was just about as flat of water as Galveston...which is really flat. There was one area that had a little surf and people were surfing there.

Slightly unimpressive in the summer, but it was exciting to see where the BIG surf competition happens.  Here is a picture of what surf was happening.

Waimae Valley - we came here to see a Hawaiian temple.  We were reminded that Hawaiians did not have a lot of technology, so it may not seem grandiose, but was very meaningful to the Hawaiians.

Turtle Beach - There were two Green Sea Turtles resting on the beach.  It was so cool.  There is an organization that volunteers to watch the beach and rope off the Sea Turtles so that they are not disturbed.  Our guide said that someone is being fined for sitting on top of a Sea Turtle and taking pictures.  Goodness.  Some people.

Last stop was the Dole Pineapple Plantation.  Apparently, the Pineapples grown there stay on Hawaii for the most part.  Most of the Pineapples eaten now come from Central and South America.  I ate some yummy Pineapple Ice cream with pineapple chunks on it.  I was not going to eat the whole thing, but I did anyway.

 

Day 12 - Leaving Kauai and heading back to Oahu

All of the students get back on the plane and we all make it back to Oahu.  A few students stay a couple of extra days in Hawaii.  I met up with Judith for dinner and then a little shopping.  The Hula Grill was very nice, on the beach, and yummy food.

Day 11 - Wiamea Canyon, Iliau Nature Loop, Kalalau Valley, and Alakai Swamp

Wiamea Canyon - Another random stop on the side of the road.  I would like to say that I knew why we stopped here.  It was a beautiful view.  I am sure that there was something about a volcano said.

Iliau Nature Loop - a quick loop with a nice view of the Canyon.  There was some geology talk and some botany talk.  Passion fruit was found and eaten.  It was very sweet and yummy.  

Kalalau Valley and Alakai Swamp - Beautiful view.  The hike to Alakai Swamp was horrible.  The ground was very hard and it went up, down, up, down, etc. Two miles in never felt so long.  Some beautiful views of Kalalau Valley, but that is about it.  We were promised cold rainy weather as we went down.  On no.  It was hot and steamy.  Therefore, the jeans that I wore were really hot.  The Swamp was not even swampy.  We were only about a mile from the rainiest place on earth, but it has been a little dry.

Lets see.  We did get to see a Sundew plant.  Plants in the swamp were adapted similar to plants in a wetland...well, because it is a type of wetland.  Saturated soil = shallow roots, stunted growth, etc.  There is a low amount of phosphorous and nitrogen = carnivorous plants.

When I got back to the Condo and started packing, I found a piece of metal in my boot from the walk.  Thank you to the thick rubber on my shoes... and to Sabra by buying me my hiking boots.

Day 10 - Salt Ponds, A Couple of Random Spots, and Spouting Horn

Salt Ponds -

Much more to explore and a few new critters.  There are still a lot of Sea Cucumbers.  There were a lot more Brittle Stars and larger crabs were found.  We snorkeled afterwards.  The water was rough, but snorkeling happened.

Spaghetti Worms                                  Brittle Star

Another Sea Cucumber

Another Rock Boring Sea Urchin

Sheriff's Badge Sea Star

Collector Sea Urchin                             Banded Sea Urchin

Nudibranch                                                    Oysters

7-11 Crab                                                   Crab (?)

Random Stop - This RR stop turned out to be great.  We saw a Hawaiian Monk Seal.  There are only about 1,200 left and we got to see one!  This was one of the highlights of the trip!

Random Spot - This was as close to a Black Sand Beach as we got.  We went there for the Glass Beach.  Apparently they are getting nervous that the Glass Beach is disappearing.  How do you fix the problem??? Start littering again?

Spouting Horn - Another volcanic phenomenon.   There was something about a lava tube and air and water pushing up.  I was not listening too well...oops.  

National Tropical Botanical Gardens - a quick stop to enjoy the plants.  Pretty plants.

Garbage Conglomerate - Ah yes.  We stopped to look at garbage, but fancy garbage.  The garbage was somehow cemented together naturally.   But the view and the colors of the water were beautiful!

Just Beautiful!

Garbage Conglomerate