The Hawaii trip: Big Island
So - with Neal going to Hawaii every month for his job, it was time for me to take advantage of the off-season prices and go join him. This time, we decided to do the Big Island, and make it a SCUBA/Manta Ray/volcano epic trip. And so it was.
I flew into Oahu while Neal was at work. He was able to pick me up from the airport during his lunch break, then leave me to doze in the sun until he got off work.
I said hello to the pigeons on the way to the beach.
And the turtles.
We had dinner and watched the sunset.
The next day, we took a hike. Literally. View from up high:
Once we got high enough, the trail turned into a moonscape of fallen needles.
We went to a lovely bar for the last evening in Oahu.
The bar had a canoe on the roof, with lights that flowed like water when the sun went down.
We were surprised by the torchlight run that went past the window, escorted by the police - using both manly and non-manly means of transport.
We then flew to the Big Island. The feel was immediately different - more laid-back, more pacific-island-y, more hot and sticky.
A walk to a local tide pool, looking over the ocean.
Lots of little mudskipper dudes in the pool.
We went for coffee, and this dude came by to say hello.
Then, the dive. We had a two-tank dive scheduled; a day dive to see the coral reefs, followed by a night dive to - possibly - see manta rays. The first part was already pretty dang cool.
Neal getting ready to get in.
A "7/11" crab.
An anti-social moray?
Star of the show.
I practiced with the flash.
We surfaced and recovered on deck. While we waited, the dive master told us what to expect. They would put down lights to attract plankton, and we would dive once the sun went down. We might see manta rays. And we might not. They're wild creatures - they do their own thing. He told us that they could get massive - 14 to 16 feet long. He told us that they had massive speed and agility. They are long-lived; some are estimated to be over 60 years old. One of the regular visitors, Lefty, was first seen in 1972; she's easy to spot, he told us, because her left lobe is paralyzed. So, as prepared as we could be, we dove. And waited. And waited.
Eventually, the dive master made the sign that meant, "No rays tonight, let's look at other things." And we did. It was quite cool.
A slightly more social moray.
Then, one of the other dive leaders came up to us, making the sign for "manta ray." We swam back to the light, and...
Holy shit.
People can tell you all day about the size and agility of manta rays, but until you see a creature with a wingspan the size of a small car, coming at you with ferocious speed, then banking and swooping up just inches away from you - well, there are no words.
No zoom needed. This was how close she came.
She had scars and blood on her belly. Probably some of that was from human activity. :(
We finally returned when we ran out of air. What an incredible experience.
It would be hard to top that SCUBA trip, and the volcano bicycle ride didn't start well. It was pouring rain on the way to the meetup, and although the rain lessened once we were there, it was still drizzling and wet, obscuring our initial view of the volcano.
We mounted up on our rental bikes and headed out.
Neal and our tour guide.
There's a volcano down there somewhere.
These crazy plants were all over. They started curled up like quill pens, and unfurled into fern-like leaves as the plant matured.
A flat volcanic plain, split by sulphur geysers.
Hikers.
For scale, note the hikers in the center right, near the bottom.
We walked through a lava tube.
Neal adorned himself with the local flora.
The sun started to come out as we bicycled farther. It was incredible to see such colorful plant life come out of black volcanic rock.
Lava turned this tree stump into art.
As you got closer to the lava, you could see it wasn't all black. Impurities give it startling color.
The sun came out fully, finally. Neal and the tour guide.
More of the crazy color from trace elements.
We saw a place where a recent lava flow had swallowed up roads.
Pale, older lava flows were covered with darker, newer flows.
Sea arch.
On the way out, we could finally see the view that had been obscured earlier!
We had dinner as we watched the sun set.
The next day, we packed and checked out. I took some pics of the local flowers.
And the hotel cat.
We did a local beach snorkel.
Om nom nom nom.
I asked to stop at another lava tube that we saw off of the main road.
So - it turned out there was a half ironman there the next weekend. That explains all of the people on goofy bicycles we saw throughout the weekend.
We did one last walk along the shore as we waited for our evening flight.
Some female crew canoe races were going on.
Massive banyan tree.
Feed me!
This dude had a dog that loved to play.
Good bye, Tsunami Evacuation Area.
We slept over that night, then flew out of Ohau the next morning.
We're back, Bay Area.
Epic trip!
I flew into Oahu while Neal was at work. He was able to pick me up from the airport during his lunch break, then leave me to doze in the sun until he got off work.
I said hello to the pigeons on the way to the beach.
And the turtles.
We had dinner and watched the sunset.
The next day, we took a hike. Literally. View from up high:
Once we got high enough, the trail turned into a moonscape of fallen needles.
We went to a lovely bar for the last evening in Oahu.
The bar had a canoe on the roof, with lights that flowed like water when the sun went down.
We were surprised by the torchlight run that went past the window, escorted by the police - using both manly and non-manly means of transport.
We then flew to the Big Island. The feel was immediately different - more laid-back, more pacific-island-y, more hot and sticky.
A walk to a local tide pool, looking over the ocean.
Lots of little mudskipper dudes in the pool.
We went for coffee, and this dude came by to say hello.
Then, the dive. We had a two-tank dive scheduled; a day dive to see the coral reefs, followed by a night dive to - possibly - see manta rays. The first part was already pretty dang cool.
Neal getting ready to get in.
A "7/11" crab.
An anti-social moray?
Star of the show.
I practiced with the flash.
We surfaced and recovered on deck. While we waited, the dive master told us what to expect. They would put down lights to attract plankton, and we would dive once the sun went down. We might see manta rays. And we might not. They're wild creatures - they do their own thing. He told us that they could get massive - 14 to 16 feet long. He told us that they had massive speed and agility. They are long-lived; some are estimated to be over 60 years old. One of the regular visitors, Lefty, was first seen in 1972; she's easy to spot, he told us, because her left lobe is paralyzed. So, as prepared as we could be, we dove. And waited. And waited.
Eventually, the dive master made the sign that meant, "No rays tonight, let's look at other things." And we did. It was quite cool.
A slightly more social moray.
Then, one of the other dive leaders came up to us, making the sign for "manta ray." We swam back to the light, and...
Holy shit.
People can tell you all day about the size and agility of manta rays, but until you see a creature with a wingspan the size of a small car, coming at you with ferocious speed, then banking and swooping up just inches away from you - well, there are no words.
No zoom needed. This was how close she came.
She had scars and blood on her belly. Probably some of that was from human activity. :(
We finally returned when we ran out of air. What an incredible experience.
It would be hard to top that SCUBA trip, and the volcano bicycle ride didn't start well. It was pouring rain on the way to the meetup, and although the rain lessened once we were there, it was still drizzling and wet, obscuring our initial view of the volcano.
We mounted up on our rental bikes and headed out.
Neal and our tour guide.
There's a volcano down there somewhere.
These crazy plants were all over. They started curled up like quill pens, and unfurled into fern-like leaves as the plant matured.
A flat volcanic plain, split by sulphur geysers.
Hikers.
For scale, note the hikers in the center right, near the bottom.
We walked through a lava tube.
Neal adorned himself with the local flora.
The sun started to come out as we bicycled farther. It was incredible to see such colorful plant life come out of black volcanic rock.
Lava turned this tree stump into art.
As you got closer to the lava, you could see it wasn't all black. Impurities give it startling color.
The sun came out fully, finally. Neal and the tour guide.
More of the crazy color from trace elements.
We saw a place where a recent lava flow had swallowed up roads.
Pale, older lava flows were covered with darker, newer flows.
Sea arch.
On the way out, we could finally see the view that had been obscured earlier!
We had dinner as we watched the sun set.
The next day, we packed and checked out. I took some pics of the local flowers.
And the hotel cat.
We did a local beach snorkel.
Om nom nom nom.
I asked to stop at another lava tube that we saw off of the main road.
So - it turned out there was a half ironman there the next weekend. That explains all of the people on goofy bicycles we saw throughout the weekend.
We did one last walk along the shore as we waited for our evening flight.
Some female crew canoe races were going on.
Massive banyan tree.
Feed me!
This dude had a dog that loved to play.
Good bye, Tsunami Evacuation Area.
We slept over that night, then flew out of Ohau the next morning.
We're back, Bay Area.
Epic trip!