Day 6 - Volcano's National Park

Visitors center scavenger hunt to start off the rainy day! 

Thurston Kava Tube was next on the agenda. There is a beautiful rainforest down to the Lava Tube. The glow in the tube is the light they added. 

Next we headed to where the Lava Trees are found. The lava was from 1974, I believe. 

Then it was back up to the Jagger Museum to see the crater during the day.  We went back to the hotel for a quick change = layers and layers for the trip up the mountain to see the stars on Mauna Kea. Once again it was cloudy, so, no stars really seen. I did see Venus and what I am told was the Big Dipper.  Even though there were no stats, the sunset was beautiful!!  

Here is the stop before we made the steep climb up the mountain. Why all of the cameras you ask? That us because some brave students took the fast way down the hill. Don't worry. No one was hurt (well, one sprained anckel). 

A view from about 9,000 feet. 

Back to Uncle Billy's to pack. Next island...Kauai!!

Day 5 - Keauhou Bird Conservation Center and Lava

This was the day I had been waiting for. BIRDS!! Last year we only were up at theConservation  center for a couple of hours, this time, we were up there pretty much all day. We worked on restoration of a part of land that used up be farm land.  We planted over 100 baby plants. It was an awesome experience. 

After lunch we went and heard about the birds of Hawaii. We got to see a couple of the birds that they were researching. It was wonderful!!!

We came down the mountain and went and saw a large Lava pit = large hole in the ground. We also saw a fault line. For geology, it is impressive!!

Dinner. Cold. Someone had started a fire in the pit. It was nice and cozy. 

Last stop...Jagger Museum. Here you can see the Lava glow. It was rainy, so it was a little hazy, but impressive none-the-less. 

Day 4 - To the Big Island and Volcano's National Park

Compared to last year, we "slept in" for the flight to the Big Island.  The bus left at about 5 AM.  Ugh. On to the Big Island and a lot of geology...it is after all still an active volcano!  A stop at Safeway and up we went.  A park ranger - Ranger Dean- gave us a fantastic tour.  He talked all about plants and the geology and he history of the island. He sang/chanted for us and played the nose flute. He talked of the war between Pele and the demigod that was trying to get her attention.  It was really quite spectacular. He told us of the story at the crater sight.  

Sulfur Banks. Well. It smells like sulfur!

The fumes coming up is the sulfur. There are also sulfur crystals. 

Next we went to the Volcano House. I don't believe that we went there last year. It was a very pretty view but we had to walk through the restaurant to get to them. Kind of awkward. But. It seems to happen a lot because everyone seemed just fine with it. 

Kubicek orientation to the island was nice. We looked at a big map of Hawaii and how the islands have changed over time. 

The Orchid Garden was new to me thus year. It was a big store with A LOT of orchids. It was fantastic! There was one orchid they had there that was a $20,000  orchid. Yikes!  This one is not it. 

Day 3 - Bishop Museum and Hanauma Bay

Plus a couple of random stops. It would not be a Hawaiian Field Studies day without it!! Bishop Museum was fun. We looked at Astronomy and Volcanoes.  The professors got a little crazy!

Then on to Hanamua Bay. On the way we made 2 stops to check out the geology. The water color is just beautiful!!! We did get to see a VERY endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal here.  It was on the distance.  There was a man that was trying to "help" it back into the water.  To me it seamed like the seal was just taking a break.  I guess I'll never know.  He finally got it back into the water.  

Then to Hanamua Bay for snorkeling. The  water was a little cloudier than last year, but it was still beautiful!  So many different fish. I stalked a Parrot Fish a couple of times. 

Back for a quick shower and then dinner with the staff at Shore Birds. Here we pick our meet and then go to a big grill and cook it. It was yummy!

Next stop, the Big Island!

 

Day 2 - Paui Overlook, Coconut Island, and Waikiki Aquarim

I woke up this morning at 4:30 and said no way!!! But I did wake up before my alarm at 6:15 AM...why...well, my body sure thought it was 11:15 AM. We started the day stoping at Paui Lookout.  I'll have to check my spelling. It a great view of the island. Here I am there. Notice the sunglasses covering up the bags under the eyes :-)

Then on to Coconut island. An island rich  in history and is now a research facility. 

Last stop today... The Waikiki Aquarium. Lots of pretty fish and other critters. After the students looked around, I got to introduce birds and the coral reef to the students :-)

Dinner tonight at the Round Table Pizza. Yummy!! I don't remember what it is called but it had chicken, garlic, tomatoes, etc. with White Sauce. 

Last activity before a shower and crashing, night photography!!  Sunsets!  As I once told one of my favorite photographers, the Sunset is just as beautiful as Sunrise...and you don't have to get up super early!!

Day 1 - The Flight and Waikiki!

Well, the day began at 3:00 AM. My loving husband was nice enough to get up and take me to the airport at that awful time!  The flight left DFW at about 6 AM. But!!! That means that we got to Hawaii at about 11:30 Hawaii time. So, what did I do when I got here. Orientation with the students first and then off to the International market place for yummy Hawaiian Tacos. I had them last year and I have been dreaming of them every since. What makes them "Hawaiian" you ask. Well, you get some pineapple sauce to go with it. Funny knowing that pineapples are not naturally found in Hawaii. Then it was back to the hotel to change and then to the beach!!  The beach and water are so nice here. We are waiting for group 2 to arrive. They should be here in a couple if hours. Then the real orientation followed by SLEEP!! 

Pictured below. 

Me at 3 AM. Not pretty! 

Me in Hawaii. Even worse. After 10 hours of flying. 

And them the glorious tacos!

And the hotel we are staying in. 

Hawaiian Field Studies 2013!!!

Yes!  I am headed back to Hawaii again :-)  I am so excited and I feel like I know more of what I am getting myself into.  This year, NLC added a photography course.  I am so excited!  This year, I should not be the only one getting on my hands and knees to get a random angle for a shot or down in the sand an dirt.  I got to go with the student on the Oklahoma trip.  It was a lot of fun.  One thing that I learned was there were trilobites along 35 in Oklahoma.  I would love to find one one day.

The first Photo assignment was to take 20 pictures of the same subject. I went to Grapevine and took pictures of one of the old trains.  Here are a few pictures.  I had a little fun with the editing on some - not part of the assignment.  I'm not turning these in, but it is fun to get a photography assignment and go do it.

In Oklahoma, I tried to pay attention to the Geology part at much as possible, but I was distracted by the Biology.  

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...