Way behind!!! Hawaii 2016...days 0-1!

Day 0 - Flying into Honolulu and Waikiki Beach

Yikes...so behind on my blogging.  We have had some really late nights, so I have a lot to get caught up on.  I am sitting in the Oahu Airport waiting to fly to Kauai... so here goes!

The joy of the 6 AM flight is that I get to Hawaii at 11:30 AM Hawaii time.  This means that I get to enjoy the beach.  I went to a different part of the beach.  It is in front of the Shorebird restaurant.  Not as fantastic.  The beach was nice, but in the water, the bottom was really rocky.  

We met the students at 6:30 for orientation down on the beach.  Welcome to Hawaii!

By coincidence, Sylvia was also in Hawaii.  We were able to meet up at a restaurant in Waikiki. I met Sylvia in Alaska when I was doing an internship up there with some other teachers.  We worked along side some graduate students doing Sea Otter Research. She was one of the grad students.  Super sweet!

Day 1 - Oah'u - Coconut Island and Hanauma Bay

We briefly stop at the overlook (have to look up the name).  It started to rain, so we headed back to the bus!  Off to Coconut Island!

On Coconut Island, we learn about the research that they are doing there and the history of the island.  We also got to meet up with Chris and hear about his research. He is a former HFS student doing coral reef research for his PhD.

Off to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling.  The water was rougher than normal, but it was still nice to snorkel. Here are some convict tangs that I saw and shot with my new underwater camera!

Not to far from Hanauma Bay, we stop at an overlook.  Do we stop there, no.  Down the hill we go so that we can see some Geology. 

The waves were pretty rough here to, and we got splashed a few times.  The sea urchins are Shingle Urchins.  They are adapted to live in the rough waves.  They are so pretty!

Sunset Workshop - Waikiki Beach

Sunset workshop on the beach.  Students take pictures of the sunset pictures.  The instructors treat ourselves to dinner at the Shorebird.  It is nice.  If you ever get to go.  The salad bar is amazing and the food is good.  We get to cook our own food.  Kind of fun!