July 6- Beaches and Manta Rays (by Dayna)

Beach day! Went to Mauna Kea beach- so pretty. We heard it was best to get to this beach before nine in the morning, so we all got up early and got there by 8:40am. Well done, friends.

We actually did some more snorkelling there and built a sand castle village. Later, after this picture was taken, the boys expanded the castle community and made a giant metropolis of sand catles, complete with a dike and a trading post.

Some of us did some final tourist shopping this afternoon and saw macaws on the street corner.

It was the boys' night to cook dinner. They did very well; we girls were impressed. Lots of meat and a salad. :-)

 

Saw a really pretty sunset. 

Went swimming with manta rays... at night! It was unreal. A little scary initially, but after a while the gentle giants of the sea had us enthralled and thoroughly entertained as they rolled, tumbled, and flew in the spotlights below us.

4th of July!

Stepping out of our own cultural element, we had explored the Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical park. We had learned the culture, and physical structure of what a Hawaiian village had looked like. 

That night we had went to A luau by the sea to celebrate the 4rth of July. The night was filled with dancing, food, and fireworks! The sky had also turned a bright pink in a blink of an eye. It was a truly amazing night.

Happy 4th of July!

-Dave

Waipi'o Valley ( and snorkelling)

Over the last couple of days we had gone on an atv tour through the beautiful Waipi'o valley. The tour consisted of gorgeous views of the valley, and a waterfall swim. 

The end of the valley from the lookout point.

The valley in person was a huge passage of mountains that was facinating to see. Within the valley there was a small village of farmers, who have maintained the fields for many years.

Later we had gone to a pizza place which served Italian style pizzas. It was delisious to say the least, and soon found a small alley which Andrew and Reggie had a little bit of fun in....

The next day we had gone snorkelling off of the south of Kona. The fish were vibrant in coulor, and had unique ways of gliding their bodies through the water. It was amazing to see the coral, which had taken hundreds, if not thousands, of years to create. (Pictures of the fish and underwater divers will be posted soon)

-Dave

July 2nd- ATV tour of Waipi'o Valley (by Dayna)

It was a long and quiet drive up to the Waipio Valley look-out today. We were all exhausted, even though we had a relaxing morning this morning. We all packed our own lunches, put on our "adventure clothing" and our close-toed shoes (don't worry, Murray didn't forget his, they were just under his seat) and met at the van at 9:45. When we finally arrived at the look-out the view was worth it. 

After eating our pre-made lunches of sandwiches and chips and cookies, we all piled in the van again and continued on our way. We met up with the ATV tour guides and piled in yet another 15-passenger van (just like ours only dirtier) to shuttle up to the ATV site. After getting the safety run-down from a bearded guy named Travis and passing our test-run track we hit the trail. 

There were some lurches and splashes on our way, but we all met up safely at the first stop- the waterfall pool swim- just in time for the tropical rainstorm to start. Whether you went in the water or you stood on the shore... you ... got... soaked. But that was all part of the experience. Most of us went in the water and jumped off the rocks into the water below (I even went in! Woo!) Landon's backpack fell out of the buggy on our way, but he found it in the end (phew!) on the ground right at the start of the trail. 

Our next stop was another look-out into the Waipio Valley and Hi'ilawe Falls. The scene was breathtaking. The clouds lifted a bit for us and we could see from the top of the falls, down into the valley, and out to the ocean. Beautiful. 

Wet and muddy, we all trekked back on our ATV's back to our starting point. By the end of the tour, our four guides were added to our "fabulous tour guides" list which has been getting longer with every tour we go on on this trip. Seriously, they were great. Especially Pat (aka Handsome) stopping the buggy periodically to pick gardenia flowers, eucalyptus leaves, and all manner of flora for his passengers. 

We said aloha and mahalo to our guides and changed out of our wet, muddy clothes and shoes and headed into the nearby town of Honoka'a to eat really good fresh pizza and home style calzone. But, before we got our food, we played a few rounds of telephone and learned that "Kalum dreams of jumping in banana cream pie". 

Our drive home was somewhat more lively than our drive up this morning, and after a Starbucks stop and a brief Christmas carol medley, we were pretty much all asleep. A few conversations about movies occurred, but all-in-all, we had given in to the exhaustion that comes from a fun-filled day.  

Beaches, Sun, and Sandstone...

Our adventure in Hilo, and now into Kona have been full of both, rain and sunshine. The day started with a trip to the candy factory. We enjoyed an awesome scienic path at Akaka falls, a hike, and a long road trip. Mad enjoyed Bubba Gumps down by the shore, and had a fantastic night in our beach side condos. Happy Canada day from all of us in Hawaii!

A bit of Dragons tongue 

-Dave