Da Big Island Part 2

Apparently this blogging app has character limits, so here is Part 2... Anyway, Monday was another early morning, as I had to make the 2 hour drive across the island in time for a 7:15 check-in at the dock. I ventured out with a small group on a traditional double hull canoe, the kind that the Tahitians used when they found the islands. We had a whale flanking us for a few minutes, surfacing a few times before diving down again. It was about a 45 minute ride out to Kealakekua Bay, the place where Captain James Cook (the first European to discover the Hawaiian Islands) docked during his second visit to the islands. The bay is known for its rich marine life and excellent snorkeling, and it definitely lived up to the hype.

After that voyage, I ventured into the town of Kona and added tried two new elements of Hawaiian cuisines. The first was a drink called Kava, which is made from the roots of a pepper plant, and has a natural sedative quality.  It is consumed in the Pacific to relax without disrupting mental clarity. The other was squid luau, which is made by cooking young taro leaves and squid in coconut milk until the leaves are tender. The squid dish was quite delicious and reminded me of cream spinach.

Monday night, I went out on a Manta Ray dive, which was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. On the way out, we passed a school of spinner dolphins, which are known for the aerobatic displays. The captain stopped for a bit and we were treated to a pretty cool show. 

The boat anchored in the bay just after sunset, and we dressed in wetsuits, with some gearing up for scuba and some for snorkel. The crew setup a big surfboard with 6 bright lights on the bottom, which attract the manta rays who feed on plankton. They are truly beautiful creatures, and I never knew how enormous they were. Some of the rays around us had wingspans of 15 feet and weighed over 1,000 lbs. As they swam around us with mouths wide open, it often times looked as if they were swooping in to bite our heads off, but they were extremely swift and would turn at the very last second. Manta ray populations are threatened, and a bill was passed in 2009 to protect them. The rays also have distinct patterns of black spots on their underside, and over 200 have been identified and named and are tracked online, so the crew was able to tell us which ones were around us.

Well, mom and dad arrive this Friday, and then my sister Kristina and brother in law Nate after that, so I hope to have more fun (and hopefully delicious) experiences to share in a few weeks! Mahalo for reading, a hui hou!

Da Big Island Part 1

Aloha friends! This past weekend, I spent 3 full days on the Big Island of Hawaii. I lodged in Hilo, home to the University of Hawaii. And after talking to some friends and reading a bunch online, I decided to rent a 4WD Jeep Wrangler, and I'm definitely glad that I did.

Saturday morning, I got an early start and drove about an hour and a half to South Point, the most southern location in the United States. There was a great 35 foot cliff jump into crystal clear blue water, with a few sea caves to explore down below.

 

After that, I went to look for the secluded green sand beach nearby. Getting there meant either a 5 mile round trip hike (which I wouldn't have been opposed if I had more days there), or off roading through the maze of different tracks (this is one of the times where 4WD was a must). I decided to follow a local who was shuttling a few others in his truck since he knew which tracks to follow, and all he charged me was a banana and cold bottle of water. It was definitely the most dangerous off roading I've ever done, and I'll admit I was pretty nervous, especially being in a rental. But once we made it to the beach, the view proved worth the trek. The sand was a rich olive green from the olivine mineral which is abundant in the nearby volcanic cinder cone.

My next stop on Saturday was Volcano National Park. I spent the afternoon driving around to all of the different volcano sights, including the museum, the hot steam vents, the lava tubes, the fields of past lava flows, and the spot down by the ocean where you the lava flow met the road. Looking out at miles and miles of black lava rock is a pretty eerie feeling. After sunset, I headed back to the museum, where I was able to see the bright orange glow of Mauna Kilauea's caldera.

Sunday morning, I drove down to Puna, which is kind of known as the island’s outlaw town. I even heard someone refer to the locals as punatics. I made a quick stop at Lava Tree Park, where the fast flowing lava once covered the trees, leaving behind molds of hollow tubes of lava rock. My next stop was Ahalanui Beach Park, where I took a quick swim in an ocean fed pool enclosed by rock that is volcanically heated to a warm 90 degree temperature. After what felt like a refreshing warm bath, I drove about north 2 hours to the Waipio Valley. It is a beautiful site that was once a meeting place for the Hawaiian chiefs. At a time many people lived there and the valley floor was known for great farming. But the valley was wiped out by a tsunami in the 1940s, and in the 1960s became inhabited by hippies and others looking to live off the grid. The valley is still home to 50 or so residents who aren't big fans of outsiders or tourists. I read that they pretty much govern themselves, without much connection to the rest of society. The only way down into the valley is on an extremely steep and windy road that drops 900 feet, and all of the rental car agencies ban you from taking your car down it. So it's either choose to take the grueling walk, or hitch a ride with locals headed to the valley’s beach. I chose the latter. The sand at this beach was black and consisted of very tiny fragments of lava.

 

After watching some locals surf, I followed a couple from Oahu to poke around the valley a little bit. The people living down there put up all sorts of signs to show their discomfort with outsiders, so I was sure to keep some distance. As we headed towards the back of the valley, we caught a glimpse through the fog of the two towering waterfalls. I also finally tried a Lilikoi fruit, which I had seen in the forest on past hikes, but never really knew what it was until my new friends from Oahu showed me. Very tasty.

Sunday evening I ventured up to Mauna Kea, a one million year old volcano, one of the five that formed the island. The mountain is 13,800 feet above sea level, but measured from its base, the mountain is actually more than twice the size of what Mount Everest measures base to peak. As I ventured up, I passed a number of locals who had loaded up the beds of their trucks with snow, and were hurrying back down to share with friends and family. As I passed the 12,000 foot marker, there were local children sledding on boogie boards! I would have never imagined seeing all that snow in Hawaii. Luckily, my friend Andy had warned me to bring warm clothes, because when I reach the summit, it was FREEZING. There were a number of huge telescopes scattered across the summit, because Mauna Kea’s high altitude, dry environment, and stable airflow make its summit one of the best sites in the world for astronomical observation. I hung out at the top for a while to watch the sunset.

On my way down, I stopped at the visitor’s center which was about 9,000 feet in elevation. For the hour or so that the clouds were cleared, I saw the most stars I’ve ever seen. They had a few very nice telescopes setup for the public to use, with one focused on the moon and another on Jupiter. It was really cool to see them both in so much detail. There was also a woman with a high grade laser (the kind that is banned by the FAA) and she was pointing out the different stars and constellations.

No fear of heights allowed!

Hi friends! I hope everyone is doing well, and I love when I hear from each of you.  Since the last post, I've added another new fish to the books, which is very exciting out here in the furthest west town in America.  It’s called the blue striped snapper, and I’ve had the most luck with catching it at night as you can see from the pic.

I had my first of many visitors last week. Nikki stopped in on the way to her awesome adventure to teach English in Thailand.  We checked out the Waimea Canyon, Polihale Beach, a Luau, and took on the challenging 8 mile hike to Hanakapia Falls (I didn’t get lost in the jungle this time…)  But we also did a few new activities that I hadn’t checked out yet, the first being Ziplining through the mountains.  Our guides were pretty funny, and showed us some neat tricks, like how to go upside down!

We also Kayaked the Wailua, which is a serene river that runs through the mountains towards the Eastern shore of the island. After about an hour of kayaking, we pulled off to the side and hiked (through some deep mud) to the “Secret Falls.”  Our guide must have been third cousins with Bob Marley (yes, for the reasons that you're probably thinking...) but he was really fascinating and friendly, and told us a lot of interesting facts about the history of the island.

The most extreme activity of the week came this morning at 7am, when we jumped out of an airplane named Sharky…  It was Nikki’s first time Skydiving, and my third, although this was by far the best view (no offense South Jersey and North Georgia).

Whale season is in full swing, and we've been seeing them just about everyday for the past few weeks. Here's a cool pic from this morning of a tail slap off the South Shore.

Lots of good meals this week!  If I had to pick the top 3, I’m going with the syrup infused taro chips, the malasada (Portuguese sugar coated donut), and the ahi tuna tostada that we had this week.

On a side note, this is one of the weirdest chickens I've seen in Kauai so far…

Mahalo for reading, a hui hou!

New Years in the Swamp

So I had an awesome week at home with family and friends, and was fortunate enough to go to the Eagles-Bears game, and get in a day on the slopes with the boys.  I got back to Kauai just in time to miss the bitter cold front… hope everyone is staying warm! I decided to celebrate New Year’s Eve at EST, so 7pm HI time.  I woke up bright and early New Year’s Day for a hike with my co-worker John.  The Pihea-Alakai Trail started at the top of the Waimea Canyon, about a 45 minute drive from my house.  The first leg was along the ridge of the mountain, offering some spectacular views of the canyon and ocean.

Shortly thereafter, the trail got steep (downhill) and muddy, as we traveled into a more swampy area.   At times, there was boardwalk on the trail, which provided a nice break from the otherwise challenging terrain.  I got lucky enough to see a few native forest birds here and there, although never long enough to snap a picture, as they are quick and seem to avoid human interaction.  But here is an example of one of the more unique species.

Along the way, we also saw some old Telephone poles, which are remnants of a World War 2 communication system.  After about 4 miles (2 hours), we reached the end of the trail, and were treated to a great view of Hanalei Bay, which is all the way on the North Shore of the island.  All that was left was the 4 mile trek back…

I went fishing a few times this week, and on Friday I actually saw a whale (tail only) and a sea turtle from my spot on the rocks.  I also caught my first Ulua fish.  They can grow to be HUGE as seen in the picture below, but mine was just a little baby so I had to throw her back.  Either way, it’s always exciting to check a new fish off the list.

There was a big showing from Eagles fans at Kalapaki Joe’s on Saturday, so it was fun to watch the game with my fellow Philadelphians, although the outcome was obviously not what we all hoped for.  This week, I plan to book a trip to the Big Island for the end of the month, so more adventures to come. Mahalo for reading, until next time!

Weekend in Oahu

I'm going to have to start this post off with the "Meal of the Week." On Thursday, I went fishing after work and caught a Moi fish (same type I posted a pic of a few weeks back). These fish are known on the island as the best eating fish you can catch from shore, and I've been told that they were once reserved for royalty only. I brought it to the nice lady at the local store where I purchased all of my fishing gear at, to thank her for all of her help, and since I don't really know how to scale/gut/cook it. She brought me in the back, taught me how to scale and gut it, and then graciously gave it back to me to bring home and cook. It was delicious, although fish always taste better when you catch it yourself...

This weekend, I took a quick trip over to Oahu, and stayed with my friend Andy's girlfriend Anna in Honolulu. We went to a local spot called Side Street Inn to eat Friday night, and then out to the bar with some of her friends, who were all very friendly.  Oahu is very different from Kauai, and Honolulu is much like any other major city, so this was a much needed change of pace for me. Saturday morning, I got up early and did a short hike to the top of Diamond Head Crater. The views were really awesome.

After that, I drove up to the North Shore and went swimming with the sharks. While the first group was in the water, the group of us that were still on the boat got very lucky and saw a few whales surface. When it was our turn to enter the water, I surprisingly wasn't nervous at all. The water was extremely blue and clear, and there were sharks everywhere. They were mostly Galapagos sharks, anywhere from 6 to 15 feet. We were out in an area where crabbers often go, so the crew told us that the sharks have been conditioned to associate the sound of the boat's engines with food (crabs that don't meet the size limits and get thrown overboard). But I never once saw one of them make an aggressive move of any sort. It is really cool how close you are to them, with just some metal bars between you.

The crew told us that there was a big surfing competition a few miles away at a beach called Banzai Pipeline. Well, apparently this was pretty big surf event, and the road going there is 1 lane, so the "few miles took" me almost 2 hours... But it was a very nice drive, passing by some really cool beaches, and extremely expensive looking houses. The drive proved well worth it, because the event was really something else. I was shocked to see the thousands of people on the beach, as well as how close I could stand to the water. At one point, Kelly Slater walked by me and I got a great picture. Kelly Slater by the way is known as the hands down greatest surfer of all time (7 time world champ), and is still doing it in his 40s. The waves were massive, many well over 20 feet, and far bigger than I have ever seen in person. I got there just in time to see the two Semi Final heats, and the Finals, so it was some great surfing. Each heat was 35 minutes, and the surfers got to use their two top scores. Whenever someone dropped into a big wave and briefly disappeared into the "pipe," the whole crowd kind of gasped and held their breaths, and if the guy emerged still standing, the crown went wild. Overall, very different and worthwhile experience. I think I heard the word gnarly well over 50 times...

After that, I headed back to Honolulu and went to a BBQ with Anna and some of her friends. It's very cool to hear people's stories about how they ended up in Hawaii. Some grew up there, some moved for school or work, and some just wanted to try something new. Sunday morning I went to Pearl Harbor, which was a very humbling and captivating experience. The tour started with a half hour long video, which explained the events leading up to Pearl Harbor, footage from the attack, and the events that followed. Then, a boat captained by the US Navy took us out to the USS Arizona Memorial, which sits on the water on top of the actual sunken wreckage itself. The smell of oil which still seeps from the ship was surprisingly strong. It was fascinating to hear some of the stories from the park rangers. The one that stuck with me was the fact that many of survivors from the USS Arizona's crew (of which 1177 perished and 335 survived) choose to be laid to rest with their fallen brothers. So when they pass, they are creamated, and after a ceremony aboard the memorial, a Navy diver brings their urn down to the wreckage to be laid.

After Pearl Harbor, I caught a glimpse of a few of the NFL games over lunch, and then headed to the airport and back to Kauai. Oahu was awesome and I'm going to try and make it back in a few months if I can, as there are some awesome hikes I would like to try. I'll be home the two weekends for the holidays (very excited to see everyone!), so next post won't be for a few weeks. Mele Kalikimaka everyone!