Feb. 6 it must be Saturday.
Oh yes, I think I finally remember this day. Trying to do a "daily blog" every 4 days is not so easy.
On Saturdays there is a farmer's market in our favourite Keauhou Centre Shopping area. There are mostly coffee vendors but also fruit vendors. You can imagine Hawaiians picking fruit in their own back yard and some families having a small fruit farming business. The girls select some very interesting locals. The spiked yellow fruit is called a dragon fruit, I believe. The other beige brown fruit I do not know but it tasted could when we had dessert.
Now I recall that 3 of us finally played a bit of tennis. The courts here are "soft and spongey". It is easy on the feet so you have to see how the ball bounces a bit differently.
Feb. 7..This is Super Bowl Sunday
Football does not play a big part in island life. Most here at Keauhou Kona Surf and Racquet Club would rather do anything but watch pro football. I am allowed to watch a little. The sound is off which is my preference as well. Not that one could watch the whole stupid game. I watched some of the first half. Went to the pool with everyone. The pool is always so refreshing. And back to watch the final quarter. A good defensive (?) Super Bowl. The better defense won, I guess.
This is the famous fish + macadamia nuts recipe evening. A steelhead fish of suitable dimension for 4 hungry people was already purchased a while ago at Costco. Adrienne adapted an internet recipe for the macadamia-panko crust. Butter, lime juice and other secret ingredients were also part of gourmet fish menu. Salad is the vegie complement and pineapple is for dessert.
Feb. 8 going to the dolphin beach
The National Park below the town of Captain Cook is a historic Hawaiian area. Very large fish enclosures were constructed many years ago. The documentation at the site also pleads that this was a place of peace and refuge. Some archeological findings are reported. Wood statuary is shown as a continuation of Hawaii's past and present.
Of course, we went to the further, by 400meters, dolphin beach. Called that by myself because we saw so many dolphins dancing 3 years ago. The real name for this National Park is a long Hawaiian one which I have to look up all the time. Still we had a picnic lunch by the Pacific Ocean, on a beautiful day, having a very lovely time.
I'll have to check with a map of Big Island if I ever wish to connect the exact locations with the exact Hawaiian names. At least I know Mauna Kea from Mauna Loa this time.
Feb. 9, 2016 Going to the Captain Cook snorkelling site
The day has finally arrived for our big snorkelling day. The company is called Sea Paradise. The boat is called Hokuhele. (Probably "good sailing"). In fact it is a smaller catamaran sailing vessel. The Captain id Dominique and the crew is Vickie. And they are very helpful. They gave Adrienne special assistance and made sure everyone was in their comfort level.
The boat was leaving about 8:30am and there was only 12 passengers. At least two or three individuals were expert snorkelers. Naturally they had their own fins, masks and special photography equipment. Also they had pretty good tans.
The Captain explained that another boat of about 80 people were getting off in a few minutes, so we had go get going at an eastern end and then head along the shore to the western, outer part of the corals. The masks and snorkels provided by the company were very adequate for me a newbie. The prescription lens was set at 4.5 was just about okay. A little bit of adjustment and I could go for about 50 to 60 minutes.
So much to see. The coral itself is so fascinating in itself and then to see schools of fishes everywhere. At our other local, smaller snorkelling beach there is not the plentitude of fishes here. So I saw more schooling fish than I have seen in a long time. Silver-coloured fish were schooling and I estimated about 100 to 120 of them. In the calm near coastal part of the corals.
So the first swim out was relaxed and trying to do most of the first pass-by before taking a break. The only difficulty one has snorkelling is that around the Captain Cook monument newbies did not look out were they were going. One ran right over me with a cheater floatation board. I was not deterred. Too many good sights to behold. Yes, I wish I had better photography equipment but Adrienne and I often times just want to be in the moment. Do not look back.
The Captain and crew took sail and said we were to be encouraged to try one more swim. They put up the sails and sailed around for 20 minutes to show off their vessel.
The last 25 minute swim just gave me and others a chance to see a little more. Maybe two kinds of trumpet fish. Tiny marlin fingerlings swimming near the surface. Seeing again the wonderful world that is just below the ocean's surface.
I am writing tis before we go to Kona Brewery for supper. It is a very famed pizza and brew restaurant. So it is quite a gala day for us.
Snorkelling near Captain's Cook monument is therefore in the books as one of the highlights of the trip. Is this our last Hawaiian adventure? Nobody knows.
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