Hau`oli la hanau

Happy birthday to me. It's not really my birthday for a couple more weeks but we started celebrating today. I wanted to go dirt biking and Chris didn't think he could contain the secret until May 15, anyway. So he produced my new dirt bike! I still can't believe he bought me a dirt bike. This Chris guy is going to make a pretty darn good husband. We took the bike out for a test spin and it was a blast. It would have been even more fun to ride around out there with Chris, but after 5 minutes he broke the frame of his dirt bike in half, so he was reduced to spectator for the rest of the afternoon. When the fun was finished we came back to my place where my mom had made - no joke- a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I guess she got the memo that my birthday starts early this year.

Our first wedding gift


Dan and Jill gave us a new 10.1 mega pixel Sony Cybershot camera. It's pretty sweet. And it's just in time, my old camera has been acting funky lately. It's been through a lot.


Chris and I took the new camera cave exploring Saturday. We didn't find any caves but we found an old rock wall that was probably used by Hawaiians for herding goats during the cowboy era. We cooled off with a dip in the queen's bath at Kiholo then we took a stroll along the beach.

What once was lost now is found

Several month ago I lost the key to the church. I tore my room and car apart before deciding it must be buried in the sand at Pine Trees. Finally, I fessed up to the lost item and mourned the loss of the key chain... a sturdy, stainless steel bottle opener imprinted with the logo of my Alma mater. It seems fitting, doesn't it? A church key on a church key key chain. Today I uncovered the elusive key from under the floor mat while vacuuming the Jeep. What better way to celebrate than with a cold brewski?

Smile

Sarah took our picture so we'd finally have one with both of us in it.

Fish for the dinner table

I borrowed Sarah's speargun Saturday and I finally got a couple kills. I shot a tiape (blue finned snapper) and a rainbow wrasse. Chris got five fish, including an uhu, some nenue and the table boss pictured below. I'm anticipating more fishing trips so I can polish my skills and fill the table with fresh fish.

Tiape, my fist kill:

Shark night

Duane took Chris and I fishing last Friday night. It was my first experience deep sea fishing, and let me tell you, it is not the same as fishing for bluegill in Lake Griffey. The lures we used while trolling were as big as the fish I'm used to catching in Indiana. After dark we set out a parachute in the water (it's too deep for an anchor) and we baited the lines and let them down 200 feet below the surface. And we waited....

...Finally we heard the reel click, click, clicking and wrrrrrrr the line was flying out of the reel. A few minutes of cranking revealed an 8-foot shark, so we cut the line and let it go free. A couple hours later, another hit! Click, click, click, wrrrrrr. This time, I got to the reel first, and this fish was fighting. It kept swimming straight down and the reel spun until it was hot to the touch. I knew this fish was strong because the tension on the line was set so tight I could barely pull it with both hands, yet this fish had the reel spinning like crazy. Then it stopped. It had broken loose. It took several minutes just to reel all the line back up to the boat. Duane determined by nicks on the line we had hooked a 12-foot thrasher shark. I guess they can be pretty dangerous so we were relieved the line broke and the shark never surfaced.


We didn't bag any eatin' fish, but it was still a pretty exciting time. We saw dolphins, a flying fish, creepy swimming creatures, and who can beat spending the night out on a boat with such good company?

Sunrise over Hualalai:

Duane preparing the lines for trolling:

Voggy Mountain

A plume of sulfur dioxide and ash pouring from Halemaumau Crater at the Summit of Kilauea forced the closure of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Tuesday and Wednesday. The park has reported elevated levels of sulfur dioxide in the air since mid-February, and in mid-March an explosion/ eruption at Halemaumau damaged the nearby museum. We've been seeing a lot more vog in the air ever since. Tradewinds tend to blow the volcanic gasses toward Kona and people are complaining about itchy eyes and phlegm in their throats. When the winds shifted earlier this week, even Oahu was blanketed in haze. I'm starting to miss the pretty, blue sky!


A view of Kona from Kailua Pier:

A view of Kona, vog included:

Winner! Winner! Winner!


I am now $60 richer and I am enjoying all of the glory, honors and benefits entitled to me as the 2008 West Hawaii Today NCAA bracket contest winner. Here are the final results: