Sunny Kona Coast

We spend our last couple days soaking up the sun on the Kona Coast, Big Island, and Waikiki Beach, Oahu.

good-bye turtles!

We visit ‘our’ turtle friends again and say good-bye till we meet again. We snorkel another bay further down south well protected from the reef while out in the ocean the high surf is producing a surfer’s paradise.

 

 

Kona Coffee

After a busy day we make our way up the windy road on the slopes of Hualalai to visit a coffee farm. Unfortunately, they are just closing down and we are not able to take the tour or even taste the coffee. However, we are convinced by the smell of the coffee and buy the handpicked and onsite roasted beans.

While the ocean swells forced the cancellation of several boat tours of our last evening in Kona, it proved to be an act of providence as we were able to get together with some friends over dinner who would have otherwise been out all evening  video graphing the Manta Rays on the night dive / snorkel tours.

Sunset Kona Coast

The next morning we say our final good-byes and catch our flight to Honolulu. Certain enough, we spend some time at the famous Waikiki Beach and watch our last sunset in paradise. The morning comes all too soon and we fly back to the mainland, savoring our last glances of the Hawaiian Islands from our little cabin window.

Aerial View of Oahu

Aloha and Mahalo, good-bye Hawaii

You might wonder what the meaning of Nai’a is? Well, Nai’a means dolphin in Hawaiian.

The spinner dolphin is the most common dolphin that you will find in Hawaii. It is named aptly so because of the acrobatic twist it does when it rises well above the water surface. For the spinner dolphin spiraling out of the water is a way to play and have fun. The spinner dolphins feed during the night about 5 miles off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands in the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean. They hunt in huge pods feasting on various species of fish. It is only during the day that they come close to the shore to rest and sleep. Actually, they do not really sleep because they are conscious breathers, and at least one half of their brain is always functioning. They might dive deeper down to rest or just play lazily in the shallows of the coastline. The shallow waters provide them protection from predators such as sharks and killer whales.

It is here today off the Kona coast that we find a huge pod of dolphins and we are able to swim with them in different spots while they are traveling slowly north along the reef. We are on board the boat ‘Sunlight on Water’, and are being guided by a lifelong experienced Hawaiian captain, ‘China Mike’. He has an exceptional amount of knowledge about the creatures of the ocean. After the boat leaves Honokohau Harbor, Captain Mike stops to hold a traditional Hawaiian prayer service and asks for a safe journey. We travel north along the coast until we finally come upon the school of dolphins. We have already been educated by the crew of how to approach and swim with the dolphins, so everyone after donning their snorkel gear enters the water one by one from the two swim ladders from the rear of the boat.

Head down in the water we experience this unbelievable amazing feeling to see the dolphins swim close by or just underneath us. The dolphins elegantly glide by us and we exchange glances like we were watching a special parade with the best curb side seats. The dolphins almost seem to wave at us as their tails smoothly cut the water. Actually, they seem to have a smile on their face constantly and are not alarmed by our curious presence. It seems all too fast that we are asked to get back to the boat upon our final dive – after all we had already spent 4 hours out on the ocean.

It is an experience that leaves unforgettable memories of a lifetime!

Mahalo and good bye

Green Sea Turtle's lesson

All right, today we want to learn something about the Big Island. That’s were we live and Honu and R.D. are visiting just now.

Here we are in Kailua-Kona and I am going to tell you about the meaning of those Hawaiian names.

Kailua – Two seas or two currents; town and land division, ancient surfing area.

Kona – Whispering sea, clouds over a calm sea; area on the leeward side of the island.

Then we have the nearby mountains:

Hualalai - Overflowing; large volcanic mountain in North Kona.

Mauna Kea – White mountain; tallest peak in Hawaii, often covered with snow.

Mauna Loa – Long mountain; volcanic mountain, the largest land mass in Hawaii.

Sleeping Green Sea Turtle

Wait a second, you over there don’t you fall asleep now. Pay attention to what I am telling you about the Big Island, it is very interesting.

Well, let’s see, what else would be interesting to know.

We’d be back soon with more information. See you!

your Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles

Who do you think is talking to you? Of course, it’s us again the Hawaiian Green See Turtle. Wait a second, just getting out of the water here:

Green Sea Turtle approaching the beach

Right, so Honu is back to watch us again and learn even more about us, and this time she brought R.D. along. He doesn’t know us yet and needs to get to learn a lot about us. But first of all, we are just giving them a hearty welcome here at Kukio Beach!

Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

... and just another one ...

... wow, and me too!

yupee, I just flip over!

Well, you know, after this hearty welcome, we just need to rest a little bit and we tell you more about ourselves later again. All right, take care and have a good rest.

Resting Turtles

your Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles

It is New Year’s Eve and we want to find a nice restaurant outside of the common beach bar & grille but are caught a little off guard that the one romantic bistro we could find was totally booked for the evening.

Mahi

Although a little discouraged we drive further south along the Maui coast and find a quiet seafood restaurant and are pleased with the fresh macadamia crusted Mahi and seafood cheese fondue that we order. It is a great culinary send-off from the old year. We get a bottle of California Cabernet Sauvignon and usher in the New Year with a smile and thousands of firecrackers from all the tourists and locals celebrating on the beach.

Maui Coast

The first New Year’s resolution to begin 2011 with a barefoot run along the beach is kept as we pass couple after couple taking in the morning Maui sun. We have to take an earlier flight for the Big Island because of some plane problems with our Island jumping airline so it cuts a little bit into our beach time on Maui but we are happy to be heading toward our ‘spiritual home’ and are eager to meet up with old friends on Hawaii. It is a beautiful day on both Maui and the Big Island.

Airial view, leaving Maui

After landing and getting our thoroughly pre-scratched rental car we make it up the slopes of Kona and pay a quick visit to some old work colleagues and then head down to Kailua and check in at our resort.  We unwind for a little while on the cozy little alcove beach and then head off for dinner at the historic Kona Inn. The Ono and prime rib is as it should be – tender and absolutely delicious. We retire for the evening and give Honu some time to restore her ailing vocal cords.

Talk to you soon, R.D.

Island of Maui

The next morning we are taking the ferry to Maui, it is at first a little choppy but then the ocean smooths out the closer we get to the harbor of Lahaina. What a difference, we find a buzzing place with lots of tourists, shops and restaurants. At the sunset in Lahaina we are sitting underneath the huge Banyan Tree and listen to the daily concert of the hundreds of birds that gather there every night.

giant Waterfall on the road to Hana

The next morning we are getting up early and taking the fabled road to Hana. It is sunny when we leave at the Pioneer Inn in Lahaina but after getting our coffee at Starbucks in Kahului we drive right into a huge rain cloud as we are setting out for Hana. Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful trip as all the waterfalls are flowing at full pace. There are sun breaks here and there as we go through hairpin turn after hairpin turn. R.D. is riding shoot gun and starts to feel a little oozy but I have to concentrate and negotiate all those hairpin turns – no matter how sick he looks. I feel very sorry for my love. But we stop and take pictures at a few waterfalls and old concrete bridges to help lessen the green around his gills.

Grave of Charles Lindberg

After the hour or so break in the harbor of Hana we decide to forge on towards the grave site of America’s most famous aviator Charles Lindberg. We mistakenly pass the grave and end up turning around and having some coffee and a smoothie at a hippie commune farm. They give us the proper directions and also tell us that we should drive around the coast rather than go back on the curvy road to Hana. We gladly accept that advice and after the cemetery finish our drive around the slopes of Haleakala. We make it to our next hotel for check-in and are surprised with an ocean front room. We grab the last hour of sunshine from right down at the beach and watch the last sunset of the year.

Aloha and talk to you soon, Honu

Coming in from San Francisco we land in Honolulu (meaning in Hawaiian: place of shelter”), just to catch another short flight that brings us over to the island of Lanai. A new experience for both of us.

Manele Bay Lanai

Lanai is a pretty small island and our hotel is located at Lanai City – a rather moderate little town. We walk through downtown in less than a quarter of an hour that first night. The dinner at the hotel restaurant is very fancifully arranged but we both feel a little squeamish afterwards.

The next day we take the shuttle down to Manele Bay, a nice sandy beach at the ocean with an elaborately detailed resort and later on we take a shuttle in the other direction to a lodge with a gorgeous garden in the back.

Landscape on Lanai

We discover that we could have walked there from our hotel so we decide to stroll back instead of taking the shuttle again. Lanai is a nice green island but after our visit we agree to go there again only after turning 80 years old.

Mahalo for reading this blog and come back soon.

Best wishes, Honu

Golden Gate Bridge

This bridge is certainly the most photographed man-made structure in the world. No wonder, we had to get there too and try our luck to get some good shoots.

The bridge was opened in 1937. First it was not supposed to be built because one could not build a bridge with a clear span of 4200 feet. Well, it was built after all and is painted in a so-called distinctive International Orange color. The towers are 746 feet tall and the roadway is 220 feet above the water. The main cables used are 36.5 inches in diameter.

The roadway of the bridge is designed to sway 27 feet at mid-span and there are even sidewalks for pedestrians. You can travel the 1.7 mile length of the bridge during opening hours every day from 5 am to 9 pm. What an amazing view.

No idea how many millions of people have been walking the bridge, but nearly 45 million vehicles traverse the span annually.

Bye, Honu

the prison Alcatraz

Well, here we are today, eager to get to see this famous prison on the island just right out there in the bay of San Francisco, partly hidden by the mist. But let’s start right at the beginning of it all. Back in 1854 the original lighthouse was put in service. The one that’s operation today is just a successor of the just mentioned one. The island was then first used as a prison by the US Army during Civil War. Then later in 1934, the Federal Government opened a maximum security prison. There were actually many of the nation’s most notorious criminals incarcerated on the Rock, while numerous escape attempts were recorded, there is no firm evidence that any of them succeeded at all.

Cell in Block A

Alcatraz was never filled to capacity. The average number of prisoners was approximately 260, the lowest (during regular operations) was 222, and the highest, was 320. The prison was then closed by the government in 1963, due to prohibitive operating costs but there is also some speculation that the prison was closed because of the infamous 1962 prison break immortalized by Clint Eastwood’s movie ‘Escape from Alactraz’.

old warden house

Now the island is part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area and the prison can be visited on guided tours, like one we were about to take.

Clam Chowder Soup

Getting back on the Ferry the sun is finally winning over the fog and it starts to clear up. But we are totally frozen once we arrive at Pier 39. So we decide to go for an early lunch at Boudin, obviously they serve the original sour dough bread there, filled

China Town in San Francisco

with a steamy clam chowder soup, yummy. Just around a corner on the pier there is the next restaurant claiming the same. Well, Pier 39 is more like an overcrowded outside mall and we don’t spend very much time there. Not even the wooden boards for the famous sea lions are frequented that day. Just some few sea lions lay lazily around. Time to move ahead and stroll around town, to Fisherman’s Wharf, up and down the famous streets of San Francisco to the China town, and later on to Union square, before another day ends way too fast. That doesn’t really matter, since San Fran is just the gateway to Hawaii.

See you soon, Honu

Merry Christmas

winery in Napa Valley

We made it, just in time to spend Christmas Day together in San Francisco. Actually R.D. just arrived that morning in Oakland and I surprised him at the airport. We took off in a rainy day and following the suggestion of the guy at the rental car company, took a ride up to Napa Valley. It was a nice ride and we understood why the valley is so green, it was just pouring rain all day :-) no worries, we got to come back and visit this area again and do the wine tasting. There was just one of the wineries that was not closed for the Holiday, but we decided not to do that tour at this point.

Santa Cruz Lighthouse

Some stretches remind me a lot about

Chuckunut Drive just north of Seattle, still different in a way since there is that wonderful long beach in Santa Cruz, where we stroll along down to the lighthouse on a mild sunny day. We talk about the movie with Clint Eastwood that was taken here and are surprised how the place still looks all the same.

Sea Lion

Way down south we find another beach that is really crowded and there was obviously something going on down there, so we got in line with all the other curious people and found our way down to the shore, where dozens of sea lions had their show.

Sea Lions

Amazing creatures! Just a little further down the road we turn east off toward the Hearst Castle.

Hearst Castle

What an amazing place built by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. Built in a romantic Italian style, the estate covers thousands of acres and miles of pacific coastline. The panoramic views from the ‘guest lodges’ are breathtaking. In its heyday the estate was host to famous visitors from the highest ranks of society:  politicians, celebrities and wealthy American `blue-bloods`. The main house had an elaborate dining room, cocktail lounge and movie-theatre to entertain all the guests. Surrounding the main house and guest houses are stunning terraces, patios and pools with grand views of the Pacific Coast and inland California valleys and the rolling coastal hills. 

... just one of the pools

At one time the estate had its own zoo and free-roaming herds of animals from all over the world.  Some of those original animals` descendants still graze on the grounds. The buildings of the estate are now owned and maintained by the California Parks Service with most of the surrounding property controlled by the still privately owned Hearst Corporation – a powerful American media syndicate.