Day 7 - Carlsmith Beach Park, Imiloa, and Mauna Kea

We started out the day going to my piece of paradise.  We went out, collected some critters, and then set them free. I love this place.  It is just beautiful. There was not as much biodiversity here as there has been in the past.  Humm...wonder why? I also saw some red algae that I had not seen before. Hopefully there is nothing going on with the water quality.

 

When we were done, we drove back to the hotel, showered, changed, got some lunch and then went to Imiloa. We checked out some native and canoe plants.  This was especially important because we could not get up into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

 

After getting into our warm clothes, we went up to Mauna Kea so see the stars. We could also see the glow of the lava from the fissures. On our way down, we could really see the lava glow AND some actual lava spewing up...from a long distance, but it was impressive! I forgot my tripod attachment at home, so please forgive the shakeiness.

 

 

Day 6 - Dolphin Quest and Heading Back to Hilo

We had the opportunity to participate in an educational activity at Dolphin Quest at Waikoloa Beach Resort. Students got to learn about science careers and some husbandry behaviors they do with the dolphins. It was a beautiful hotel and a neat experience.  Makes me realize just how much I miss helping dolphins.

We got to touch the dolphins and feed them some stinky fish.  Here is our group picture after the dolphin encounter.

We got back to the hotel, packed up, and headed back over to the Hilo side of the island.

Day 5 - Geology and Snorkeling

Geology can really be very cool. We headed away from Kona today and got to see a lava lube.  I've walked through a lava tube before, but this was different.  The Thurston Lava Tubs is very neat to walk through, but this one was not touristy like the other. I walked down into the lava tube, but them came back out.  The students were able to walk through it and come out the other side.  It was really neat.

 

Someone made a heart on the lava rock.  I thought it was pretty.



After lunch, we went on a brutal hike up and up and up to see a cinder cone.

 

We decided that the students did a fantastic job so we also went snorkeling at Kahalu'u Beach park. OMG.  This place was amazing.  There were fish species that I've never seen before and sea urchins the size of a dinner plate.  It was fantastic!

  

Kona Canoe Club for dinner and then off to bed.

 

Day 4 - Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau and Greenwell Farms Kona Coffee

Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau is a beautiful and historic area of Kona.  The Royals had land here and there was also a place of refuge. If you got yourself in trouble with the law, and you could outrun the law enforcers, you could go to this place of refuge, get pardoned, and not loose your life or limb(s). Here we are looking at a pond that has fish in it. The circles are where the fish lay their eggs and protest them.

  

We traveled a way down from this spot and saw where the royals were buried and the Captain Cook monument.

  

The Greenwell farms was the next stop. If you know me, you know that I am not a coffee person. But, it was a pretty and neat tour. We learned how coffee was made, got to see some coffee plants, the students tried some coffee.  I took pictures.

Apparently the red ones are the ripe ones.

   

 

I saw this dish on Yelp and just had to have it.  It was as yummy as it looked on line.  Pasta, vegetables, and sausage.  So good! After a super yummy dinner at Mi's Bistro, we came back for night activities.

 

Day 3 - To the Big Island of Hawaii, waterfalls, and Kona

Pele is not a happy woman. The south-east part of the island is having active lava flow right now.  So, what does this mean.  We normally spend quite a bit of time in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, but not this year.  We landed in Hilo, went to Akaka Falls, and then headed over to the Kona side of the island.

It was eerie how empty the airplane was. It makes me wonder how many people changed their plans with the Big Island fissure eruptions. Just FYI...we had NO problems and a wonderful time in Kona and Hilo!

Akaka Falls and some botany. 

 

There was a long drive over to Kona. We stopped along the way to look at kipuka.

We made it to Kona, got checked into Uncle Billy's Kona, and did some night academic activities.

 

Dinner at the Island Ono Loa Grill. Apparently, the 8th best Cheeseburger in the USA according to Yelp.  Pretty good hamburger.

 

Day 2 - Coconut Island, Hanauma Bay, and Sunset Workshop

We started off the day at the Nu'uanu Pali Overlook.  It was not as windy as it usually is. Still a beautiful view.

 

Then we headed to Coconut Island for a 3 hour tour...LOL! Yes.  It is Gilligan's Island. We got to search through invasive algae to find critters. They put the critters back into the water and got rid of the algae. We also got to see some of the research projects they were working on.

 

Hanauma Bay was next. I've never seen so many fish there.  It was nice this time.  Fairy clear and water too. In the past, a lot of sand had been kicked up on it was hard to see the fish.  Now, the snorkelers there were not wonderful to snorkel with. I got kicked, knocked into the reef, and saw many a tourist standing on the reef...even though they watched a video telling them NOT to.  Ugh.  please don't stand on the reef. It is a living, breathing organism...NOT a rock.

 

We ended the day with the students doing a Sunset Workshop on Waikiki beach. It is a lot of fun.

 

The Shore Bird is not longer open, so we went to Cheeseburger instead for dinner.

 

Getting to Hawaii and Oahu Day 1 - Summer Hawaiian Field Studies 2018

In the past, I've taken the 6 AM flight to Honolulu so that I can be on the beach by noon.  This year, I took the 9 AM nonstop flight to Honolulu and was on the beach by 2...and I did not have to get up at 3 AM.
 . 

I ended up sitting right in front of Kubi.

The water is always so pretty!

Made it to the beach for about an hour. The beach was calling, so I sprinted.

After orientation on the beach for the students, the staff stopped at Aloha Burrito...so good.  Matthew forgot that Kate was not with us on the trip this year and got her a chair.  He was sad.