Put Me In Coach

A few shots from Mac's baseball game this morning. He had two basehits, scored two runs, and played shortstop, centerfield, and first base. He also broke into the post-game snacks in the third inning and almost missed his at-bat.

Report from John and Amanda in Tahiti

Hi, John and Amanda here,

We have spent the last few weeks in the Society Islands of French Polynesia – Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, and Raiatea. Our next stop is Bora Bora where, before we leave, John has to recover his $1,600 bond that he had to pay as an American to enter French Polynesia. That's a guarantee that he can be shipped back to the US if he gets ill! Amanda, being a member of the EEU didn't have to pay it. The islands are so spectacular, and the people very friendly and happy. Everyone speaks French and also their native Polynesian language. Baguettes here cost about 75 cents – the only inexpensive food item. If they had dollar stores here, they would have to be called $10-dollar stores!!

We've done some snorkeling and John went on a scuba dive with some guys from an Australian boat. They were surrounded by barracuda and black tip sharks. They also saw a very large turtle that had moss growing on it, it was so old (like the bottom of our boat – ha ha!) All was well, until a glass-bottom tour boat stopped right over where they were diving and started chumming the sharks so that the tourists would be able to see the sharks! John and the guys had to stay on the bottom while the sharks were in their eating frenzy!!

For all skeptics, the green flash is real. We saw it clearly on our passage from Moorea to Huahine.

We've met cruisers on other boats from Europe and the US as we move along. We have tons of photos to send, and will be sending them later. After Bora Bora, our next stop will be Raratonga in the Cook Islands.

We hope we can get internet access on the way, but in case, we don't, we love to hear your news too, so keep writing.

Love from John and Amanda

In Custody

Not really. A neighboring town had a day where all the local service organizations (police, fire, construction, ambulance, coast guard, etc.) brought in 2-3 of their trucks/cars so the kids could see them up close and sit in the drivers' seats and turn on the sirens (occasionally). They had a blast. Even had a helicopter there. Plus free hot dogs. Click on the pic to see a larger size and see who's getting hauled in. Again, not really.

Commencement

Kalia has graduated! She has accomplished much in her two years of pre-school, finished as one of 12 valedictorians, and is ready to move on to the bright lights of kindergarden. She got to choose a celebration dinner. Surprisingly she didn't choose pizza. She chose Sizzler. And had fruit.

Mahalo

This was our third trip to Hawai'i and it won't be our last. I've been quite a few places in my life and Hawai'i has quickly made it's way to among my favorites. It can be frustrating living within ear shot of the ocean but not be able to enjoy being in it like you can in Hawai'i. Hope you all get the chance to make it there.........

Winding Down

Our last night we took one final walk around the HWV property and got these shots.

More Anaeho'omalu Bay and Beach

Outrigger canoes, kayaks, catamarans all play in A'Bay. The last shot is from near the Marriott. You have the pond, a slim stretch of beach, then the bay. It's a beautiful area worth exploring.

Luau and Soapbox

We didn't do the obligatory Luau for a few reasons: kids wouldn't eat 72$ worth of food and although it's a fun spectacle, it seems to be overplayed. I can appreciate the tradition and culture without having to sit around with a bunch of haole gawking at the "exotic dancers". Having spent enough time with Kama'aina I know some of what the tradition and culture of Hawai'i is, the issues they face, and how tourism affects the islands (positively and negatively). Nevertheless, it's hard to find the vivid culture in an authentic setting, and for a moment I felt it ok to hang out with the tourist crowd. (I prefer to separate myself from the tourists by calling myself a visitor) With the caveat that I feel I'm well-traveled enough to know how to be a responsible and respectful visitor: understand the culture and respect it, when in Rome...., learn the language (even if it's just a few words), follow their customs, don't draw attention to yourself, be educated, educated, educated about where you are and what you're doing there. And do you have the right or the privilege of being there in the first place? You're not just there to sightsee or vacation.....you can do that in your hometown......you're there to live in their world, even for just a moment.

In regards to Hawai'i, part of me loved the HWV, yet part of me was not thrilled at contributing to the megalopolises taking over Hawai'ian lands, which have caused the cost of living to go so off the charts the Hawai'ian people have a hard time making ends meet. Many of them work in splendor and live in squalor. The Aloha spirit is usually present in tourist areas, but it works well when you demonstrate that you are a respectful, knowledgable visitor, appreciative of their way of doing things. You show a bit of that, then these big-hearted people really show you the beauty of their islands. Off soapbox.....

Hence, I watched this luau (which was at the Marriott at A-Bay) from afar for about 10 minutes, then proceded to take the following pics while walking around A-Bay......

Snorkel Trip

These two pics were taken on the Noa Noa as we went out for a four hour snorkel/sail. The Sea Smoke is a very similar vessel to the Noa Noa. We went out to Puako Bay, which is a huge reef system just south of Hapuna Beach. It's hard to access from shore, so having the cat get us there allowed access to the better and deeper parts of the reefs. I spent about 15 minutes following some honu around.

Kilauea

Most people when heading to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park are looking for/expecting active fountains of lava visible from the roadside, or huge lavaflows about to engulf towns and neighborhoods. Not the case. Although the lava has been flowing since 1983, most of the flow has been within tubes created as the lava hardens on the surface, creating it's own tube that it flows in. These tubes usually head south for the sea, and most of the viewing of the lava flows are as it exits undersea. Some lava is visible on the surface, but it's harder to get to, requires a hike not suitable for little kids or folks wearing sandals, and during the night to best see the contrast and red colors. Plus it would have added an extra two hours of driving to our day. Rarely are there actual eruptions, or fountains of red/orange lava like you see in the brochures.

We opted for something different. March 19, 2008 there WAS an eruption, but instead of happening down near the active area (hard to get to area), this one was at the summit, which hadn't happened since 1982. Halema'uma'u crater, within the larger Kilauea caldera, has been venting for the last 7 weeks, and the scientists aren't sure what will happen next. What we saw wasn't necessarily as dramatic as seeing actual lava, but it was a rarer phenomenon.

The first pic is us in the Thurston lava tube, the second Halema'uma'u, and the third a closeup of the eruption at night.

Waipi'o Valley and Akaka Falls

On Monday we checked out of the HWV Hotel and into the HWV Condos. We decided that would also be a good day for a break from the sun, so we packed up the car to drive over to the windward side of the island. On the mainland the wind and storm patterns typically go west to east. The Hawai'ian pattern is more east to west, or at least the tradewinds are usually out of the northeast. Hence, the Kona side is the western or leeward side of the island and much drier and sunnier. The Hilo side is the wet, lush side. The two sides are separated by five volcanos. Kohala in the north, Mauna Kea next (which is the tallest and usually has snow on the summit!), Hualalai in the west, Mauna Loa in the south/middle (which is the biggest and is still active. It is also the largest mountain on the planet by volume and the tallest from it's base below sea), and Kilauea. With all the vog we've had lately, they've been hard to see.

Anyways......we first headed across cattleland by Mauna Kea to the NE side of the island where the Waipi'o valley is. Then south along the eastern coastline towards Hilo, stopping at Akaka Falls, which I believe is the tallest in Hawai'i. We drove through Hilo, but didn't have time to stop, as we wanted to get to Kilauea at the proper time......

Birds

There's tons of fish, plants, but also birds at the HWV. I spent about 10 minutes watching the bird at the top (unknown species) slink closer and closer to a small stream then suddenly snatch a small fish out of the water. Amazing. The second and third pics are shots of one of the African Cranes that are all over the islands in the waterways that the boat-trams run on.

Hawai'ian Flora

One of the wonderful things about being in the islands is the scenery, including the totally different plants and flowers than what we normally see here on the mainland. I have started to become familiar with some of them, like the plumeria (#2,5), gardenia (#4), hibiscus (which I didn't post), ti, and a few others.

Lagoon

One of the great things about the HWV was their lagoon. They had an area of it sectioned off for their Dolphin Quest experience. We'll do this in the future once the kids can appreciate it more, too pricey for them right now to fully get it. You get to swim with them and go underwater and the kids aren't quite at that level yet. In this lagoon we saw eels, honu (turtles.....don't know who the snorkeler is in the photo, but wanted to show relative size of these honu), and probably 2-3 dozen different types of fish, including some that swim in large schools. Some of these fish were over two feet in length. The lagoon is perfect for teaching kids how to swim, or for first time snorkelers. They also rent stuff: gear, paddleboats, kayaks, etc.

That gets us up through the first four days......stay tuned for more pics on the rest.................Mahalo, Pila

Ohana at Night

More night pics with the tripod.

Waterbugs

The kids really took to the water, although it took them a day or two. We spent signifcant amounts of time in the water, either at the pools or in the ocean. Took some coaxing to get the kids in the ocean, but once they did, they liked it better than the pools in some senses, as the waves were fun to play in and the water was warmer in the ocean. Katie still has issues with stepping in sand, though.....we're working on that.

Kohala Pool HWV

Used the tripod for this one. The shutter speed was like two seconds, and with a slight wind blowing the palm fronds, it gives a cool time-lapsed effect. The poolside areas of the hotel were awesome at night, with all the tiki torches lit. They kept the pool water rather cool, so in the daytime it took about 30 seconds to get used to it, but with the daytime temps around 85, it was perfect......once you did get used to it. We tried swimming at night, but the water was just too cool for that. However, the ocean temps were warmer than the pool, around 80, and made perfect swimming and snorkeling temps.

Ohana at Anaeho'omalu

I took my tripod hoping to get some good night shots, as well as some family photos (so I could actually be in some). A-Bay has some large ponds makua from the beach, which makes for great photo ops. The s/v you see is the Noa Noa, which we took a few days later on a snorkel trip.

By the way, NONE of my pics (anywhere on my blogs) have been altered, photoshopped, or otherwise changed in any way. What you see is what I saw.

Anaeho'omalu Bay

Here's some closeups of Wiliama (aka Pili), Keleka, and Kalia taken at sunset at Anaeho'omalu Bay Beach, or A-Bay for short. It is the closest beach to the HWV and is directly in front of the Marriott Waikoloa. Very nice beach for swimming and snorkeling. About a 5 minute drive from the HWV.

Room with a View - sort of

We were given a first floor room, which as you know has pluses and minuses. Our room was supposed to be not a true ocean view room, but we could see the ocean, as well as the golf course. Not bad.

First Night Sunset

A view from the poolside area of the HWV. The first half of the trip we had great sunsets. The second half not so good. Reason being (and I'll go more into detail on later posts) Kilauea has recently erupted, and Halema'uma'u crater has been spewing volcanic gas into the air for about two months now. This is a significant event (more later), but for our stay in Kohala it wasn't a problem as long as the tradewinds were blowing and pushing the vog (volcanic fog) off the islands. When the tradewinds died down and winds were light and variable the natural wind pattern of the Big Island pushed the vog down around the south point, up the coast towards Kona (who had it real bad) and even up towards Kohala (which is usually not the case).

Ohana Hartsell in Kohala

Aloha from Ohana Hartsell. We've finally returned from a wonderful 9 days in the Kohala area of the Big Island of Hawai'i. We left Thursday morning May 8th from Portland, had a brief layover at the Kahului airport in Maui, then on to the Kona airport. Rented a car and drove about 20 minutes north to the Waikoloa resort area of the Kohala coast. We had been here previously (September 2005 with Nama and Papa, Nate Ang and Eliza) so we knew to expect the lava desert upon arrival at the Kona airport. We stayed 4 nights at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, then 4 nights at their condos. The HWV is like a mini-Hawai'i Disneyland. Check out their website at http://www.hiltonwaikoloavillage.com/ for all the details. It's a great place to stay for families, as the kids always have something to look at, do, or otherwise attract their attention. The grounds are beautiful, they have their own saltwater lagoon, heavily populated with native marine life, great pools and waterslides, and you have 60 something acres to play on. However, there are downsides, which are minor and avoidable: food is even more costly than the average for Hawai'i, there is no sand beach on the ocean within walking distance, and it is BIG. You can remedy all that with a little planning and research. All in all, a wonderful stay, especially with the kids. If Teresa and I went alone, we'd likely not spend a full stay here, but we might bring the kids back later.

Snorkel Mac

It's amazing the progress the kids have made in the pool. Katie is the dog paddling champ. She doesn't move too fast, but she moves and stays afloat just fine. Last night we went to the pool again, this time with our snorkel gear to practice. We got some for the kids, just so they can get used to it. Katie tried hers, but was more interested in regular swimming. Mac, meanwhile, had his mask on the whole time. He's not quite gotten the hang of fins yet, but I think with a life jacket he'll do great in the shallower waters. Mac can now stay under and float for at least a minute with the mask and tube! My apologies to the kids for calling them landsharks.

5 Days and counting

Katie got over her sore throat 3 days ago. Mac went back to school today after finally feeling better. Teresa is in bed today sucking down Chloraseptic. I haven't been hit yet. And I better not, cause there's only five days 'til paradise. Sore throat or not, I'm goin'! We'll try to post from the hotel computer....