Honu: Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

Honu: Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

Hi all,
Just a quick hello... Dave's brother Rob and sister-in-law Tonya have been visiting us this week from Tennessee (now that's a long flight!) Yesterday was one of the most amazing snorkel experiences we've had yet on the islands in terms of swimming with turtles.

Ellie and Uncle Rob

We drove all the way to Ha'ena (the end of the road on the North Shore). The ocean was uncharacteristically calm for this time of year and we were able to snorkel on the outside perimeter of the reef. Turtles, turtles, turtles by the dozens! I asked Kate how many turtles she thought she swam with. She held up 10 fingers twice. It think she was probably right... There were so many turtles, at points it seemed they were swimming fin to fin. It's great to see such a healthy population as Hawaiian Green Sea turtles are currently still listed as threatened.

Tasty algae covers the reef

If you're interested in learning more about Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles, check out this link:
http://www.turtles.org/hawgrnd.htm

Susanne and Kate

Just flying along

Lots of love to all of you and we'll be in touch soon! S, D, E and K

Big Island Volcano

Inside the Thurston lava tube (about 500 years old)

Hi there,

In December we travelled to the Big Island to check out a live volcano up close. We learned LOTS of interesting things... The Big Island is actually made up of 5 volcanoes, 4 of which are not currently active. The tallest, Mauna Kea is nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, but the base of the mountain lies more than 18,000 feet below sea level making it almost 32,000 tall!... That's significantly taller (by nearly 2800 feet) than Mt. Everest! (In November when I was on the Big Island for the birth of my nephews, I drove up to the snow line. Boy was that strange to touch snow the same day I laid on the beach in 80 degree weather! Did you know people ski and snow board up there?!)

Above the Kilauea Caldera

Kilauea holds the title of being the world's most active volcano. It has been erupting continuously for the past 25 years! During our visit in December the live flow had moved further down the mountain. We spent a few days at the top exploring the old flow and learning about volcanoes before we ventured toward the live hot stuff! Even though it was a cold rainy day, we found many steam vents around which we warmed ourselves.

Hiking along the Ka'u Desert trail

Steam vents

In December the only way to reach the active flow was by helicopter. For me, the most memorable part of that flight was my door opening as we leaned into a turn right over the vent. Logic told me I was strapped in, but survival instinct left me white knuckled clutching the dash. I could really feel the heat and had less than no interest in becoming a human marshmellow!

Hot lava!

Thoughtfully, the pilot flew us out to an old flow... landed the copter... and securely fastened my door before completing our flight. The bonus was an unscheduled tour over a 1980's subdivision cut off by the earlier flow. All that remained were about 15 homes surrounded by a desert of black hardened lava. That's a real bummer of an investment!

The end of the road...

Shaka from our pilot

(Check out the video below)

Sunset surfers

Aloha friends and family!

Sorry we have been so lax in our "blogging". We've been seeing and doing and visiting and learning and travelling so much, it's been hard to find time to sit down at the computer and write. Yesterday we returned from an overnight camp out with the kids at Anini Beach (beginning of the North Shore). The kids begged Dave to put his surf board in the water and they "practiced" surfing literally until the sun went down. The next morning they were up with the sun (6:45am), and back in the water until we had to drag the kids home Sunday evening.

While the kids played, Dave snorkeled and tested out his new underwater camera. Anini Beach is surrounded by one of the largest reef systems on Kauai. In addition to the variety reef fish, Dave was thrilled to spot many types of thriving coral and several curious eels (all in only 4 - 6 feet of water!) Too bad we couldn't peel the kids away from the surfboard to take a look!

Lots of love to all. We're looking forward to seeing many of you soon!

D,S,K, & E