The Perry's Adventures in the South Pacific

Ch...ch...ch...changes

2010-03-30T01:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I am way behind...but, it has been quite a hectic couple of months plus since my last post. About 6 weeks ago I received an offer and accepted a job as natural resource planner for the Fish and Wildlife Service in the Northeast Regional Office in Hadley, MA.

So, tomorrow the movers finish packing our worldly possessions in boxes and crates to be shipped 6,000 miles across the Pacific the across the continent. We will have one more night on O'ahu at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Their kama'aina rate combined with the water slides just can not be beat. That will be followed by a Wednesday night red-eye with a Thursday noonish arrival in Hartford.

I will be trying to get caught up...in the meantime, a few pictures of what we have been up to!

President's Day weekend

2010-02-20T23:16:00.000-08:00

I had an extra long weekend with Friday off and then the holiday Monday. We had a lot of fun!

We had our friend Tai over for dinner on Thursday night and finally made chocolate fondue with our fondue set that we have had for a very long time!! We had a great time hanging out with Tai for the evening!

One of the other highlights of the weekend was heading to the north shore on Sunday. We started the day with a hike out to Ka'ena Point, which is the northwest corner of the island. It is about a 5 mile round trip. We saw some whales during the hike out that were showing off with some flipper slaps. Then we saw about 20-30 nesting albatross including a couple of recent hatchlings! There were also a couple of monk seals resting on the rocks at the point. It was a beautiful day and not as hot as this very exposed hike can be!

You can make out the flipper just left of center in the water. If only those humpbacks would pose for us, we could get better pictures!

Laysan Albatross with chick. These are big birds that spend most of their lives at sea. The oldest known albatross is about 70 years old!

It is a little tough to see the monk seals sleeping in the center of the picture, but they are there! Hawaiian monk seals are one of the most endangered types of seals in the world with about 1,000 left in the wild!

The view from Ka'ena Point looking south toward West O'ahu.

We even saw our friends Mike, Stephanie, and Dylan from Alaska. We hoped to see them and had already made plans to hike with them on Monday. I used to work with Mike in Massachusetts and we saw them while they were on vacation in Alaska and we were there while I was on a work detail a couple of years ago.

After our hike, we met up with our friends; Stella, Zoe, Talulah, Cristoff, Hazel, Gretchen, Bruce, Kris, and Joe at a pretty secluded spot. We had a great afternoon hanging, swinging in the Banyans and watching the sunset. We followed it up with dinner in Hale'iwa. Kua aina was not our first choice, but it was delicious!

On Monday we met up with Dylan, Stephanie and Mike to hike Olomana. It is one of our favorite hikes with some beautiful views and some rock scrambling to get to the top. There are actually three peaks and on previous hikes we have been working our way in stages through the challenging portions near the top. This time we made it to the second peak and our sights are firmly set on the third!

At the top of the first peak!

View of the second peak!

Heading back from the second peak.

The view of Kailua and the Mokuluas from the second peak.

Back at the first peak on our way down.

The view looking north.

Next time....the third peak!

Kalalau Trail

2010-02-05T22:26:00.000-08:00

had chance a few weeks ago to hike part of the Kalalau Trail on Kaua'i. I was on island running public meetings and had a few hours to spare.

The trail runs along the Na Pali coast on the north shore of Kaua'i. So, I got to the trailhead right about sunrise with visions of a 12 mile round trip to Hanakoa Falls. With a side trip to Hanakapi'ai Falls if time permitted.

The surf was coming up and I saw some pretty big waves from up above!

It had rained quite a bit on Tuesday night, so I was anticipating some muddy conditions. Sure enough there was plenty of mud and the stream crossings were a bit challenging.

I made great time all the way to Hanakapi'ai Stream (2 miles in). I took my shoes off (I had not gotten too wet or muddy at this point) and crossed the stream without too much difficulty.

I decided to take the detour to Hanakapi'ai Falls now while I had plenty of energy. I had to cross the stream 2 more times on the way to the falls and did not bother taking my shoes off any more... The falls and valley were gorgeous. I had yet to see another hiker and saw extra falls cascading down the valley walls from the previous nights rains.

I really like the look of bamboo forests in Hawai'i (I know they are not native)

Falls along the wall of Hanakapi'ai Valley.

Hanakapi'ai Falls

Then I headed along to Hanakoa. The entire hike was absolutely beautiful. Fewer people hike past Hanakapi'ai, but I did meet a couple of backpackers on their way out from a couple of days in the valleys along the coast.

I was still making good time when I reached the split for Hanakoa Falls. I had read that the trail could be difficult to follow and went in and out of the stream bed. With the fresh rain, I found the trail impossible to follow, but it was only a third to a half mile in, so I was determined! At one point about 10 minutes up Hanakoa Stream, I followed what seemed like the trail, but it definitely turned out to be a pig trail... As I worked my way along, I was looking for the real trail. Next thing I knew I had stepped into vegetation with no ground below it. I crashed to the ground and let out a yell! My knee hurt and I lay for a second assessing my situation... I gave myself a good 5 -10 seconds and stood up. My knee was kind of screaming at me, but other than that I seemed o.k.

My left knee was bleeding, but not too badly. I started to work my way back down (giving up on seeing the 1400 foot falls was not an easy decision, but I think the right one...). I looked at my knee again and thought that it had swollen really quickly and took another look...it wasn't swollen it had a rock embedded in it. I pulled the rock out and started to bleed a little more, but nothing too horrible. After that my pace slowed considerably, but I tried to focus on the view and just working my way back.

Pre-rock removal...

Once I got back to the more popular section of the trail, I got some interesting looks and a few comments, since most of my left shin was covered in blood. I still finished up the hike by just after one, got myself cleaned up, first aid supplies at Foodland, and counted myself incredibly lucky that it was not worse!

I did stop for this self-portrait on the way out!

Aerial Fabrics and Trapeze for Adults!

2010-02-05T22:10:00.000-08:00

In early January, Samadhi offered trial aerial silks and trapeze classes for adults!!

Of course, Danielle and I went. It was a blast. Danielle had taken class in the past, but I had always watched from the sidelines. The class was really, really crowded.

First, was the trapeze class. It is not "flying" trapeze, but a fun apparatus for testing strength and flexibility.

Then we walked across the street to Kaka'ako waterfront park to snack, play tag and wait for the Tissu II trial class (hoping the crowd would diminish...) We played tag in the rain for a bit and walked along the ocean, before venturing back to the studio.

Jamie split us into groups and "encouraged" me to join the more experienced group...I guess she counted hours and hours of watching as experience.

I was surprised at how I was able to translate watching to doing...

Danielle is so graceful and strong!! As always, I was incredibly impressed!

It was a ton of fun!!

Maui with Nonni

2010-01-21T23:20:00.000-08:00

Nonni came to visit a couple of days after Christmas to stay for almost 2 weeks. On the morning of New Year's Eve, we flew to Maui for 5 nights.

We started the trip with a drive out to 'Iao Needle. We had read about it in some guidebooks and decided to check it out. It was a beautiful valley with some nice walking trails around a native plant garden. Nonni was a real trouper as we dragged her along the trails!

Afterward, we headed to the condo in Kihei where we would be staying for the next 3 nights. It was a cute place just a block from the beach. So, after a little unpacking we headed down to enjoy some sand and sun! That evening, Danielle and I were able to go out for a New Year's drink. Many thanks to Nonni!!

Gabbi posing in front of the masks that decorated the condo...

On New Year's Day, I went scuba diving in the morning. We met at 5:45 a.m. and after all of the paperwork, etc. We headed out to Molokini Crater for the sunrise and a back wall dive. The most incredible part of the dive was hearing the whale songs underwater!! It was unreal. We had great views of Kaho'olawe, Lana'i, and Maui from the boat.

The view of Haleakala as we headed to Molokini.

Two dives later, I was done by about 10 a.m. We spent the afternoon at the beach and rode some waves, played soccer, and hung out.

On the following day, Nonni and the girls hung out by the pool for the day so that Danielle and I could take a long hike in Haleakala Crater. It was a great time for us to hike at our own pace and have some time to reconnect. We covered about 13.5 miles and it went by unbelievably quickly!!

We took the Sliding Sands Trail. With its loose sandy soil, we found ourselves stopping to empty out our shoes every so often...

Close up of an 'ahinahina (silversword) in Haleakala.

The clouds seemed to flow from Kaupo Gap up into the crater while we were eating lunch.

On Sunday, it was time for us to pack up and head for Hana. We decided to take the south road and then take the Road to Hana back out on Tuesday. Either way...it is a long drive. Bumpy, winding roads lead to carsickness which makes the trip even longer. We stopped an Ulupalakua winery to sample some of their red and pineapple wines. We bought a few bottles to take with us for the rest of our trip.

We stopped at the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge boardwalk to get some energy out before the long ride!

Then, we had a long stretch before our next stop at Oheo Gulch (aka the 7 sacred pools). The lowest pool was pretty crowded, but Danielle and Gabbi braved the jump and took a swim. Then we all walked up to the second pool, which was much less crowded (there were 2 other people in the water). We made another couple of stops for waterfall, but it was so dry that one was completely dry and others were barely a trickle.

Then we stopped for one of the highlights of the trip. Maui Revealed calls it the Venus Pool. A short hike along a cow pasture brings you to a brackish water pool that is gorgeous and incredibly refreshing. To top it off, there are ledges at various heights for you to jump off! Gabbi, especially, loved jumping from a few heights (getting more daring with each jump)! We liked it so much we went back the next morning (and dragged Nonni with use too!)

We had to dodge a little barbed wire on the way out...

After a stop at the Venus Pool (we dragged Nonni there this time), we went to the beach. It is listed as one of the best bodysurfing beaches on Maui...we must not have hit it on its best day. It was however a beautiful beach to relax, dig holes, etc. We had one more stop at another beautiful beach with a view of a sea arch and some nice cliffs.

OK, then came the truly last stop to see a red sand beach on Hana Bay. It was a short hike to a tiny stretch of red sand. We checked it out quickly, then headed back to the cottage for dinner.

The view of Haleakala from Hana.

The view from our cottage (Hale Popolana) in Hana.
The cottage that we stayed in was nice. Right on Hana Bay, cool lava to explore, rustic, lots of coconuts around.

On Tuesday, we got up and went to explore a state park just to the north for the morning. There was a cool black sand beach, lava tube, sea caves. It was a great place to explore.

Then, it was time to pack up, drive the Road (from) Hana, check out Pa'ia, and fly back to O'ahu. We stopped to see some waterfalls along the way. It was a great trip and lots of good quality time with Nonni!!

Mele Kalikimaka

2010-01-15T23:41:00.000-08:00

Trying to get caught up...we had a busy couple of months with the holidays, the Sackett-Pasquales visiting, nonni visiting...

Ummm...Jacqui, they are called stockings, but...

In Hawaii, companies do indeed ship Christmas trees for the season. Apparently, every few years they have a "shortage". This year, multiple container were rejected because of invasive wasps that survived the trip. So 2 weeks before Christmas on a Sunday afternoon (not having heard about the shortage) we headed to the large tents that are set up in parking lots to sell the trees...they were all either gone or packing up. The girls were devastated...as we pulled into the last possible spot, we saw one more tree! We pulled up and were given the sales pitch that this beautiful 8 foot spruce could be loaded on our roof for only $210 dollars...we headed home, treeless. Danielle, Gabbi, and Jacqui had plans to go searching the following day. At work that Monday morning, after a few conversations and a web search, I heard about the tree shortage and a possible solution in Waimanalo. Live Norfolk pines! Sure they don't smell nice or have very many branches, oh yeah and the ornaments fall off the flimsy branches really easily, but we had a tree!!!

so, we had some friends over on Christmas eve. Khris, Bruce, Zoe, and Cristoff came over. The kids had a blast (as always) and the adults drank wine and talked. It was a lot of fun! We sang some Christmas carols and the kids opened some presents. My friend Jamie came over around the time that they were leaving and we had a chance to hang out.

Gabbi read the other kids the latest story of the adventures of Bobo the Christmas Monkey!! This year Bobo and his friend Hugh Manatee worked to clean up the environment. My Dad has been writing a new book each year for the last (I think) 5 years. They are great stories and include a new character. This year Hugh was a big hit! Thanks Dad!!!

Gabbi with Hugh.

Danielle outdid herself this year (as usual). She made fairy bowers for the girls to hang over their beds. Some friends have had them over the years and Danielle was inspired! She hung them as the girls slept, so that they could wake to them on Christmas morning.

Christmas morning was fun! The kids had a blast opening all of the gifts that Santa had brought, the gifts from us, and that had come in the mail.

After hanging out for a while that morning, we headed to the north shore. We were planning on watching the big surf that had come in and take a hike. It was kind of a drizzly morning and with the holiday, we hoped that traffic would be light despite the big surf....we were wrong. After sitting in traffic in Haleiwa for about 15 minutes, we decided to hike first. We were headed to the Peacock Flats area behind Dillingham Airfield. After talking to a woman that told us that it was now paved the entire way, we decided to try a different trail that was just up the road. The trail was fun. As we got higher in elevation, the rain picked up. When we got to the point that we were getting absolutely soaked, we turned around. We definitely plan to get back up to that trail again.

Christmas hiking...a little wet, but shorts and short sleeves...

We sat in traffic to watch the big waves at Waimea. When the surf get huge, the only break that will hold a wave is at Waimea Bay. A few weeks earlier, the Eddie Aikau tournament had been held, which is only held when waves faces are consistently 30 to 40 feet. (A note about wave heights...most of the world measures the face of the wave when measuring the height. So the wave as you are looking at it from trough to crest would be the height of the wave. In Hawai'i you measure the back of the wave...from the top to where the wave flattens out. This tends to be much smaller - 50 to 70% of the face or so. So when the surf report says 20 to 30 foot Hawaiian scale, you can expect to see 30 to 45 foot faces!) The traffic was ridiculous...at one point, Danielle got out to walk. She got a good distance ahead of us until we crept past her and slowly pulled away. We easily found parking at Three Tables (just past Waimea). Jacqui, Gabbi, and I walked back to the beach at Waimea and arrived at the same time as Danielle... We were treated to some great waves. There were about 15 - 20 surfers out and we saw some incredible rides and a few tough looking wipeouts!! We watched for about 45 minutes and headed home, after a quick stop to see some friends.

And of course the pictures, cannot do it justice...

Hawai'i Island

2010-01-09T21:54:00.000-08:00

Well...the weekend after Thanksgiving, Molly had to head back to MA and Andy, River, Sage, Danielle, Jacqui, Gabbi, and I headed to Hawai'i "the Big Island". To get a good deal on airfare, I booked us on a 5 a.m. flight?!?! Hmmm...4 kids on a 5 a.m. flight, which means that even in laid back Honolulu airport, we have to get up at 3:45 and get on the road by 4... Everyone did a great job getting up and on the road. I way underestimated how busy the airport would be the Monday after Thanksgiving, but thanks to helpful Hawaiian Air staff we made it with time to spare!

When we got to Hilo, we found that I had booked the rental car for the day before...off to a great start!! They had the car ready for us in no time and we were on our way into Hilo for breakfast before 6:30.

Can you say attitude...are we in trouble or what!! We stopped at Coconut Island on Hilo Bay on our way to breakfast. That is Mauna Kea way back in the distance! Then we headed for Rainbow Falls. We had a great time exploring an incredible banyan tree that is right near the falls.

We could have spent even more time at this banyan! We have been to it before, but spent a ton of time exploring all of its nooks and crannies!

After that we loaded into the van for the hour plus ride to the top of Mauna Kea (13,796 feet above sea level). When measured from its base below the surface of the water where it begins, it is the tallest mountain in the world (33,000 feet) We could see some snow on the top when we landed.
The 'ahinahina plant (silversword) is only found in a few locations...Mauna Kea and Haleakala being the primary ones. This one is just past flowering. They are quite beautiful!

Hiking near the visitor center with some great views.

When we got to the visitor center, the road beyond there was closed. We were planning on staying at the VC for a half hour to an hour to explore and acclimate anyway. While we were exploring the ranger told us that they were planning on opening the road at 11 a.m. The timing was perfect to begin to acclimate to the altitude (9000 ft.). We ate a snack, took a hike, and the headed up the road. The summit area is such a desolate, moonscape sort of place (it reminded us a lot of Haleakala Crater). We figured we would take a 1 mile hike to an alpine lake. Okay, that was pushing it at almost 14,000 ft. We all felt the effects of the altitude and the early morning... they kids collapsed into the car and looked absolutely miserable! So....we drove the last half mile to the actual summit and observatories, took a look around, and started racing back down the mountain to get to lower elevation! Of course the incredibly winding Saddle Road back to Hilo took its toll on Gabbi and Jacqui (mixed with the altitude sickness). We had stopped 2 or 3 times on the way up to let Jacqui throw up from car sickness. On the way down, between Gabbi and Jacqui, we stopped at least 5 times.

The kids did great at the start of the hike! The sun was shining!

The alpine lake was gorgeous! At this point, Danielle and Andy kept going to check out the lake up a little closer and I turned around with the kids.

They were pretty wiped out by the end...it was all we could do to get them back into the car!

After the trip down the mountain, we stopped in Hilo for groceries. Then sat in traffic for almost an hour to travel the 15 miles to our rental house in Pahoa...

It was a gorgeous setting with beautiful flowers, avocados, mosses, and lava tubes!

We spent day 2 exploring Volcano National Park. We did a couple of shorter hikes and the girls picked up Junior Ranger books to work on.

A trail near the visitor center explores steam vents and provides the opportunity to see sulphur crystals like these (yes, it stunk...)

Then, we drove down Chain of Craters Road. We stopped to see some craters from eruptions of many years past.

The more recent lava flows that you drive through are beautiful in a desolate, otherworld kind of way.

When I was here in high school on a bike trip, we rode down chain of craters and I think that if I dig around enough, could find a picture of this sea arch from that trip. At the time, we were able to ride along the road to Pahoa...2 lava flows have covered and closed the road since then (and buries the black sand beach we visited back then.

We hiked to a collection of petroglyphs. The kids really enjoyed trying to figure out what they represented. Some of the ideas that they came up with were really cute! (Of course they are escaping me now...)

For Day 3 we headed to a good snorkeling spot that we had heard of. The a'a (a really sharp type of lava) made walking between pools challenging, but we saw beautiful coral and a fair amount of fish!

We stopped at Lava Tree State Park afterward and saw some great lava formations that occur when the lava flows around a tree and takes its shape before the tree burns. We also saw these enormous leaves!

That evening, we went to see where the current eruption is flowing into the ocean. It was beautiful! Of course pictures are tough...you hike about a half mile to within about a quarter mile of the flow. It is not safe to go any closer...

On Day 4, we packed up the car and headed for a hike in Kilauea Iki at the volcano. It is a really run hike that takes you along the bottom of a crater. The kids did a great job hiking (as usual)!

We stopped to see Halema'uma'u erupting. This is where our vog (volcanic smog) comes from when we get Kona (south) winds.

Even though the visitor center was being closed because of air quality (vog)...the park staff took care of inducting 4 new junior rangers to help out!!

Then we drove to Kona for a night in a condo there. The kids had a blast in the pool!

Then we went snorkeling at Kealakekua Bay. It is a 2-mile hike to the bay, which provides some of the best snorkeling in the islands! It was not crowded at all and we saw some great fish (including a big ulua that scared Gabbi!!)

Sackett/Pasquale - Week 2 - Molly and Thanksgiving

2009-12-28T23:47:00.000-08:00

Molly caught up with her family for the middle week of their visit.

Hanging on the beach at Lanikai.

This seahorse was floating in the water at Lanikai Beach. We could not tell for sure if it was alive or not...either way it was pretty cool and a rare site.

Sage and Jacqui at Aikahi Playground.

We rented sea kayaks for a day and paddled to Flat Island and the Mokolua Islands. It was a gorgeous day and everyone did a great job pulling their own weight in the paddling!

It is seabird nesting season. We saw lots of shearwaters on both of the islands that we visited.

We explored the perimeter of Flat Island and found lots of crevices to explore.

We ate lunch and spent some time sunbathing on the left Mokulua Island, before we attempted to circumnavigate it.

We made it about two-thirds of the way around before we were turned back by the tides!

Hanging out with Hawai'i and Massachusetts friends.

Gabbi and Jacqui had a hip-hop performance (along with our friend Zoe)

Jacqui with her reverse coffee grinder.

Gabbi with her cool shades.

On Thanksgiving morning, we hiked the Old Pali Highway. It is a nice hike with great views and we have found avocados on the hike in the past.

This time we hit the jackpot with a load of papayas, a bunch of bananas (totaling about 40), and some avocados.

The hike follows the original Pali Highway that ran from the windward side of the island over to Honolulu. Much of the hike is paved.

Climbing for papayas...

For Thanksgiving dinner, Khris, Bruce , Zoe, and Cristoff hosted us for a potluck with about 7 families. It was a great way to spend the holiday, so far from home...

Pasquale/Sackett Visit

2009-12-19T23:24:00.000-08:00

Gabbi and Jacqui giving River and Sage their leis they made.

We have been here for almost 2 years now and the girls (and us) have been anxiously awaiting a visit from one of their friends! Well, it finally happened. After Andy and Molly moved back to Massachusetts from England, they decided that now that they weren't almost half-way around the world from us, they would make the trek. They did and we really appreciated it. It was so awesome to have some of our best friends be in our space and share our lives for 3 weeks.

Hiking the pillboxes in Lanikai

On our first full day with our friends here, we decided to stay in Kailua and do a hike then go to the beach. We went to the pillboxes in Lanikai and then went for a dip at the beach. Hiking was great...there is always such great views from on top of these hills. The days started off with blue skies, but then clouds came in after the hike...and by the time we went to the beach....it got cool and cloudy. Not great swimming weather, but the kids went in anyways.

Andy and I on top of one of the pillboxes

Jumping in the beach after the hike

Lanikai looking as beautiful as ever...even on a cloudy day.

A couple of days later, we went on Gabbi and Jacqui's favorite hike, to Olomana. They love it because it has ropes to help you get up the steeper sections and there's some rock climbing toward the end. At the very top, it is very exposed. I must say, I was a bit nervous with 4 young ladies being up so high, with drop offs so dramatic. In the past Jacqui had never made it past the rock climbing part because she was afraid of the exposure up top. But this time, she did it. I was really proud of her (and of me for not totally freaking out!)

The girls in front of Konahuanui (the highest mnt. in the Ko'olau range)

Windy up on top

On top of Olomana

Halloween

2009-12-09T20:01:00.001-08:00

Again, it was a bit weird to be dressing up for Halloween and not having a concern about being cold. Gabbi was a cowgirl, Jacqui was a scary vampire, Bill was a pirate and I was a gypsy.

We had a really fun night. We went over to our friends' Sari and Iam's house and had a potluck. We also ended up having an "impromptu" dance party. The kids had a blast. Then we went trick or treating into their neighborhood which reminded us a lot of our old Dana Woods neighborhood. We saw a first this Halloween....someone was giving out cotton candy, had the machine and everything. We would have gone, but the line was pretty long (darn!!). A great night overall!

Big Island Ladies' Trip

2009-11-05T22:04:00.001-08:00

Gretchen, Khris and Toni

A few weekends ago three girlfriends and I took a trip to the Big Island. It was a weekend filled with lots of girl talk...hiking....drinking wine and just plain relaxing. We had a wonderful trip! I am blessed to have these ladies in my life here (although Toni lives in Oregon)

Our first stop was to hike up the side of Mauna Kea (a dormant volcano, which when measured by the ocean floor...where it originates...is the highest mountain in the world). To read more about Maunea Kea, check out this link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Kea). The top of the mountain is home to approximately 10 telescopes representing several different countries. This summit is above the clouds and is clear about 360 days a year. The altitude and isolation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean makes Mauna Kea one of the best locations on earth for ground-based astronomy.

Views driving up.

Gretchen and I being silly

The hike that we did started at the Visitors Center which was at 9000 ft. Coming from sea level, it was quite an adjustment. We didn't hike all that far, but sure did enjoy the views. It felt lunar-like and was absolutely incredible. Our family is going back there next month with the Pasquale's and we're looking forward to taking the day to acclimate and making it to the top (13,803 ft) and doing a hike to a glacier lake. I'm very excited for this!!

Near the visitor's center, there is a short trail that leads to a few of the rare and endangered plants below called a silversword. The only exist here and in Hale'akala Crater on Maui. I've heard it can take up to 20-50 years for the plant to flower and then the plant dies shortly after. No wonder they are so rare and special.

Silversword past it's flowering phase.

We stayed at Kalopa State Park which is on the Haumakua Coast. We stayed in a cabin, the same one that our family stayed at last Christmas. Can't beat the price and we were the only ones there this time.

Hanging out in front of the cabin

Hiking in the rainforest of Kalopa State Park.

Pretty Trees

On Sunday, we had to drop Toni off to go back to Oregon and Gretchen, Khris and I headed to Volcano National Park. We hiked the same hike that I've hike two other times. It travels down, across, and back up the floor of a crater. Very cool hike.

A view of Halema'u'ma'u Crater

A couple of tree-huggers

Halema'uma'u Crater is responsible for all of the "vog" that the islands recive on days in which the eastern "trade winds" aren't blowing. The towns located south and west of this crater are suffering pretty bad air qualitly these days.

Thanks for a great weekend ladies!!

Aerial Fabrics and African Drumming

2009-11-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

In the beginning of October, Gabbi and Jacqui were invited to do an aerial fabrics demonstrations at the Honolulu Youth Festival that took place on the state capitals grounds. They were very excited to be able to perform again in front of an audience, although it wasn't nearly as exciting as it was for their performance in May (and it was much hotter!!!!)

The Samadhi crew has been using this bamboo structure when they don't have trees to hang the silks from. It was a pretty cool work of engineering. I think that they used it one time since this demonstration and word has it that they are retiring the structure for safety reasons.

Auntie Chandra with the ladies.

Auntie Jamie with the class forming a "star"

Gabbi on djembe and Jacqui on the doununs at drum lessons.

The ladies have been taking lessons for a few months now and love playing the drums. Jacqui has a natural ability on the doununs (says her teacher) and Gab on the djembe. It is so amazing how the remember the rhythms far better than I do. It has been very cool for me to learn the drum rhythms and be able to put them together with the dances that I learn. Very cool!! One of the our dance teachers is convinced that we should put their show on the road and freak people out. She thinks that people wouldn't believe that "a couple of young white girls" could play the drums so well. It was pretty funny. She was convinced they had been playing the drums for years.

Volcanos and Birthday Cake

2009-10-11T23:17:00.000-07:00

Last week was Danielle's birthday!! We had some friends over for dinner and cake.

Gabbi and Jacqui, also took the occasion to show off the volcano that they constructed. We built the inner workings of the volcano earlier in the week.

Then filled around the lava tubes with sand and prepared for the explosion.

Turns out that all of the lava came out the side tube. So, we have plans to plug that up and try again for a bigger explosion out the top!

Camping Weekend - Waimanalo

2009-09-29T23:16:00.000-07:00

One of the things that we really miss about living in MA is all of the camping that we would do, all summer long. So, we spent this past weekend camping at Waimanalo Bay Recreation Area. It is about 15 minutes from our house on a beautiful beach.

Our campsite, complete with hammock! Of course, with the kids playing in it, I think it saw about 15 minutes of adult relaxation...

About 5 yards from our tent...the view back toward the Mokolua Islands.

Our friends Gretchen, Andre, Stella, Talulah, and Hazel camped with us for the weekend and we had visits from Khris, Bruce, Zoe, Cristof, and Joe.

Gabbi, Stella, Talulah, and Jacqui's knee...playing cards in the tent.

We've camped in HI often enough to not really be phased by the neighboring campers watching movies on their projection television on Friday or rocking the night away with their karaoke machine on Saturday (although rocking probably should not be used to describe people belting out bad 80s ballads...)

The weather was great. The only complaints were that there were a fair amount of man-o-war in the ocean (3 stings - 2 for Talulah, 1 for me) and the waves were a little bigger than the kids were comfortable with (I managed to spend a little time riding them...)

Gabbi and Stella popping man-o-wars and marking their locations with sticks. You can make out the long tentacle of on extending down from Gab's stick.

Rob and Carina Visit

2009-09-20T12:49:00.001-07:00

We were blessed this summer with a visit from our dear friends Rob and Carina!! They visited us from Albuquerque N.M. We met them up in Alaska when we were there 2 years ago. Bill worked with Rob up there as a fellow planner. And last summer, Rob came here for 8 weeks and worked with Bill.

Carina, Gabbi and Jacqui

At Laie point....a filming sight of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"

Playing at Lanikai Beach

We went for a great hike up the "old pali" road.

Here is Carina on Bill's shoulders trying to pick an avocado out of a tree...seconds before she fell. We had some beautiful avos to eat thanks to our hero Carina for braving the picking!!

On top of the windy Old Pali Lookout.

Here is the waterfall on the way down

Sometimes you meet people and you just know immediately that you connect. Rob is one of those people for Bill and me. He is truly like family....and I don't think it's just because he's Italian. He and Bill have a really special friendship in which I am so happy for both of them to have. And for me, Rob is like a brother. Carina is one of the most fantastic teenagers I have ever met. She is grounded and treats my girls with such love and respect. They had such a great time together, whether it was playing "Killer Bunnies", swimming, hanging around or making up dances....it was so precious to see. I only wish they moved to Hawaii instead of Albuquerque!!!

Our last night together at the Foster Botanical Garden's "Midsummer's Nights Dream"

June/July Happenings

2009-09-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

The girls for the second year in a row, took swimming lessons at the Kaneohe Yacht Club. Their instructor's name is "Mark the Shark", and they completely adore him. Although he is constantly making references to pop culture that go completely over our girls' heads, he is awesome.

As I sat there every day for 2 weeks, I was wondering if perhaps this was one of the most picturesque settings of swimming lessons in the world. Unfortunately, the pictures do it no justice.

Another fun event that happened early summer was a visit from Gabbi and Jacqui's favorite storyteller to Hawaii....Bobby Norfolk. He is just amazing. We discovered him last year when the girls and I studied W. Africa. He has a whole CD on the "Anansi Tales". He came to several of the libraries on the Hawaiian islands....we caught him twice.

Here is Bobby signing autographs.

We even brought 3 neighborhood kids to see him at the Kailua library because we thought they'd enjoy his performance.

We met a nice (cute) Italian guy at a mall who wanted to sell us a "Jose Eber" infra-red curling iron. Even though the girls were ecstatic over their curls, I could not justify spending almost $200 on a curling iron!!

The girls took a ballet class and an African dance/Jazz class through the Recreation Department this summer. Even though they weren't able to complete the progam because of our travels, they were able to put on a short show for us before we left. Their teacher Gabbi is fantastic!!

Gabbi and I got to celebrate her birthday early with trip to the "tea room" as Jacqui and I did the month before. We had a beautiful time sipping tea and eating scones!

Silks and Trapeze

2009-07-27T01:10:00.000-07:00

Gabbi and Jacqui participated in about half of the summer session of their classes with Samadhi Aerial group before departing on their mainland trip.

Showing their flexibility and balance!

Gabbi learned this new move called a hip key, as a new way to lock into position on the silks.

The girls have worked on trapeze for a couple of the classes this summer.

Jacqui with the double foot key and crossover move that she did without assistance!!

Danielle stretching during class.

Conrad even let us try out the trapeze last class!

4th of July on Moloka'i

2009-07-11T00:46:00.000-07:00

We spent a long weekend on the island of Moloka'i over the 4th - known as the Friendly Island. We flew over with our camping gear (whittled down to the bare necessities in 4 bags and carry-ons) on Mokulele Air. The flight over was pretty full...8 of the 9 passenger seats were taken.

Heading to Moloka'i!

Looking down into Diamond Head crater.

An aerial view of Hanauma Bay.

We decided to rent a 4-wheel drive Jeep Wrangler (4 door) so that we could explore a few spots on the island that are listed as inaccessible to rental cars. We drove to the main town on the island, Kaunakakai for groceries, propane, and sparklers. We found the bakery for some great bread, the liquor store for beer, the hardware store, the gas station for ice and the natural food store; so we hit almost all of the establishments on the island...

Then we headed up to Pala'au State Park for camping. Like we have found with a number of state parks in HI, it was not extremely well marked. While we were looking for the campsite, we took a short walk to Kaule o Nanahoa (Phallic Rock). It is a site that has been used to promote fertility.

Easy to see where the name came from...

After we found the campsites, we discovered that we had the run of the place. There were no other campers when we arrived Friday mid-morning. Over the course of three nights there was a couple that came in late for 1 night on Friday and another couple that came in Sunday night that were planning on camping for a couple nights.

After setting up camp we headed to the west end of the island to Pohaku Beach. It was a gorgeous 2-mile stretch of beach that was empty when we arrived. The water was great. Then we spent some time looking for shells and were followed by a local dog that Jacqui made quick friends with. After an while, we decided to check out a couple of other beaches, before heading back to the campsite for dinner.

Pohaku Beach

Splashing in the sun!

Bathing beauties!!

On Saturday (the 4th), we first walked up to the lookout over Kalaupapa. Kalaupapa was a settlement that was created by King Kamehameha V to send victims of Hansen's disease (leprosy). Individuals were forcibly removed from families and sent to Kalaupapa which can only be reached via plane, boat, or steep 3-mile hiking trail. Some of the residents still live there and the area is managed as a National Historic Site by the National Park Service. It is really a tragic and fascinating story.

Kalaupapa peninsula...the village is the right side of the picture.

and the sea cliffs that isolate the peninsula from the rest of the island. The north side of Moloka'i has some of the highest sea cliffs in the world (3,500 feet from top to ocean).

Then, we went to the Farmers Market, which was fabulous!! We stocked up on mango, pomegranate, spinach, fennel, fresh carrots (the first ones we've been able to get in the past year and a half!), beans... Then we hit the dirt road to Kamakou Nature Preserve. The road was in pretty good shape. We stopped near the end of the road at a historic site that was a sandalwood measuring pit, where harvested sandalwood would be stacked to determine the amount for sale purposes. Then we hiked to Pepeopae Bog. By this time Gabbi was feeling pretty under the weather...she had a bit of a fever, but was a real trooper for the weekend!! It was a bit of a trek to the bog. When we got to the boardwalk trail, we saw some neat looking plants, some of which are only found on Moloka'i.

The view on the drive up.

The sandalwood measuring pit.

Some of the native vegetation.

Gabbi making it through despite not feeling well...

Hanging by the fire.

Sparklers on the 4th of July.

For our Sunday adventure, we drove to the east end of the island for spectacular views of Halawa Valley along with the 250-foot Moalua Falls and the 500-foot Hipuapua Falls. Unfortunately, they are on private property and hiking is not allowed without a guide. We spent a little time on the beach and then headed back to an area that was supposed to have good snorkeling...

The view of Lana'i driving along the south coast.

Halawa Valley

The one and a half lane road to the mouth of Halawa Valley was well paved, but still an adventure!

Looking back into the valley from the beach.

The south side of Moloka'i has some major sedimentation issues. Grazing, logging and other land practices have led to a lot of erosion. As you drive past Kaunakakai and head east, the water is a constant murky brown within 300 yard of the shore. The snorkeling site that we read about was listed as an area that would be teeming with life, unfortunately a lot has changed since the guidebooks were printed. There were very few fish and the reef is in really bad shape! Sediment, algae, really beat up coral...it was sad more than disappointing.

You can see how cloudy the water is...

We planned on eating out Sunday, so we stopped at One Ali'i Beach park for a shower. Then stopped to see the menu at the Moloka'i Hotel. When we pulled into the parking lot we found an enormous mango tree with mangoes littering the ground around it. Of course, the girls had to find some that were ripe and not too bruised from the fall to the ground. They succeeded in finding a few that were delicious. The restaurant wasn't really what we were looking for, so we stopped in town and found that our only other option was the pizza place...all the other shops were closed (except the ice cream shop, which we visited afterward). The pizza was fine and our bellies were full!

Nothing like local mangoes fresh from the tree!

Monday morning we took our time packing up camp and gave Gabbi some time to rest. Then we drove another 4-wheel drive road to Mo'omomi Beach. It is managed by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. There was a nice pavilion that is available to native Hawaiians. It was a nice spot to climb on the rocks and enjoy lunch!

Mo'omomi Beach.

When we got to the airport and checked in, we were told that we were the only one's on the flight and we could go as soon as we were ready! We enjoyed our own private half hour slightly bumpy ride back to Honolulu. It was a neat trip that was unlike any place we had been before!

Malaekahana Camping

2009-07-03T00:46:00.000-07:00

We spent the last weekend of May camping at the Friends of Malaekahana campground. It is about an hour north of us in La'ie. Our friends Gretchen, Andre, Talulah, Stella, and Hazel rented a cabin and we had a tent site. Bruce, Khris, Cristof, and Zoe joined us all on Saturday.

Friends of Malaekahana is one of the few private campgrounds on O'ahu. It is a beautiful spot and quite different from the city and county run campgrounds... Our site was steps away from the beach and we spent the weekend playing in the sand, surfing, and relaxing!

Gabbi and Talulah catching some waves!

Gabbi, Talulah, and Zoe hanging out at the cabin.

The kids sacked out, so that the adults could hang out by the fire on Saturday night.

Jacqui and Stella enjoying the sand...

...along with Gabbi.

The beach in front of the cabin and campsite.

Our last stop on the way home was for a hike at Ahupua'a o kahana state park. We traded Jacqui for Talulah for the afternoon and enjoyed a ~4 mile hike through some beautifu rainforest. At the very end of the hike, there was an inviting pool for swimming. Danielle and Gabbi cooled off, while Talulah and I hung out on shore. The swim led to a leptospirosis scare that ended well (no more spirochetes for us!).

Gabbi and Talulah in front of a hala tree.

Danielle broke off a dead hala branch to find this centipede! The centipedes in HI deliver a nasty venomous bite that is very painful! We quickly found a spot to put the branch...

"The swim"

Jacqui's Birthday Celebrations

2009-07-01T01:04:00.001-07:00

I (Danielle) wanted to do something special with Jacqui for her birthday, so I decided to take her somewhere that for the past year, have been meaning to take each girl separately to. We went to a tea room in Kailua called "A Cup of Tea". It is something completely out of the ordinary for our family to partake in. We are usually not into doing "girly-girl" things, but had such a great time doing it. Jacqui was so very polite to the waitress, always using "please" and "thank-you". She also spoke in a very quiet voice the entire time we were there. I wonder why she doesn't use these skills at home????

There was a hat stand with lots of hats on it for us to adorn while we were having our afternoon tea and desserts.

Here is a picture of our scrumptious desserts, minus one that we had already started eating!!
Jacqui had "bubble gum" tea and I had a beautiful vanilla tea. They served us both a pot that would have taken each of us hours to drink. I think we did an O.K. job and even brought Bill and Gabbi leftovers home. I look forward to taking Gabbi there someday soon. And the girls already have it planned to take Nonni there when she comes for Christmas!!

Jacqui wearing her beautiful hat.

The waitress also gave Jacqui some tiaras to pick from to wear. She loved the tiaras so much, that after tea, she decided to spend her own money on purchasing one.

On Jacqui's birthday morning, we took her and her 3 buddies to the Honolulu Zoo. We had a really fun time. It's actually quite a cool zoo!

One of the two Indian elephants

Stella, Jacqui and Gabbi hanging out with the giraffes.

Jacqui wearing her new halter-top that I knitted for her (my second knitting project since we moved) near the Rainbow eucalyptus tree (my favorite tree here)

Gabbi taking a rest.

The girls had aerial fabrics class after the zoo and then we went for a hike at Manoa Falls.

On Monday, we had a little birthday party for J on the beach down the road from us. It was a beautiful afternoon, but too many portugues man-o-wars in the water to enjoy a dip.

Gabbi and Daddy fooling around

The Orangatan cake!!

Opening gifts and cards

Leslie, Gretchen and myself

Lynn and Oliver

"Happy Birthday to You"

And the evening ended with a fresh-squeezed lemonade stand and a sleepover!!!

Happy Birthday Jacqui!!

2009-06-27T01:10:00.001-07:00

How is it possible that our little girl is 7?!?!

She's one of a kind!! We love her beyond words!

Summer Solstice

2009-06-24T01:33:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, we held a little solstice ceremony at the beach. We went to Kalama Beach, which is about a half mile walk from our house. After constructing a windbreak shelter for our altar of flowers, we had a picnic supper while we watched the surf and filled up our bellies for the ceremony.

Danielle had done some research about solstice ceremonies and rituals and prepared the agenda. Unfortunately, it was a little too windy to use the candles that she had planned for. The rest of the "event" was wonderful!

Danielle had put together a sachet of herbs that we each held and put any negative thoughts that we had in it. We then buried those thoughts with the flowers.

The final piece was for us to each say what we needed strength and patience for in our lives.

It was a really wonderful way to celebrate the solstice. Thank you Danielle!!

Jacqui's Ballet Recital

2009-06-10T00:25:00.000-07:00

Our Beautiful Ballerina

Jacqui's ballet recital was a couple of weekends ago. She was the most beautiful ballerina I have ever seen (not that I am biased or anything). Her costume was black and green and brought out the beautiful green in her eyes.

Jacqui backstage waiting for one of the "aunties" to do her makeup and glitter.

Jacqui and Gabbi hanging out before the show.

Gabbi and Stella anxiously awaiting the opening of the curtain...

Jacqui performed for two nights. Bill, Gabbi and I went on Friday night and then on Saturday night, I helped out backstage. It was too cute to see her on stage. She looked a little nervous when she came out. Later on she told me that she thought they were going to rehearse first and was not expecting to see all the people in the audience when she came out. Her buddy Talulah was also in her ballet class.

Talulah and Jacqui

Backstage with buddies.

It brought back lots of memories for me and my days of dancing on stage. My mother said that she looked just like me, but I think she is far more beautiful than I was.

No flashes were allowed....so this was the extent of the quality of stage pictures

Jacqui and Talulah with their leis and bouquets of flowers after a job well done.

Jacqui was rightfully proud after her performances. It was nice for her to shine all by herself! We finished the night with a yummy ice cream from Baskin Robbins (really the best place for ice cream in our town....Hawaiians pride themselves for their shaved ice, not their ice cream)

Great Barrier Reef

2009-06-02T01:26:00.000-07:00

All right, I am really going to try to finish up our Australia trip entries (and get an entry in about Jacqui's dance recital 2 weekends ago...)

One of the activities that was very high on my list of things to do was a snorkel trip to the Great Barrier Reef. After looking through a dozen or more brochures at our condo, we picked an outfitter and made our reservation.

It was really a great trip, despite the rocky seas on the hour and a half long boat trip out and back. Gabbi and Jacqui both got seasick while we were in the 2 meter seas. Finally, when we made it to Michaelmas Cay, the boat steadied and we got our sea legs under us. When we signed in, we found out that the trip included an introductory scuba dive! Gabbi and Jacqui were quite jealous as Danielle and I took turns being guided down to about 15 feet under. It was an incredible experience. I really enjoy snorkeling, but this really was completely different. Usually I will take a deep breath and get down to 15 feet or more during a snorkel trip. But, it involves diving down quickly, maybe equalizing, taking a quick look around, and shooting back to the surface. The 20 minutes or so that we spent with anemone fish, wrasses, and the chance to put our hands into a giant clam was quite enjoyable.

Danielle retuning from her scuba adventure.

Gabbi and Jacqui in their wetsuits!

Gearing up for the descent...

Gabbi and Jacqui (as usual) were incredible snorkelers. They are constantly pointing out interesting coral formations, fish (did you see that Moorish idol?), and sea cucumbers. Gabbi has gotten the hang of diving down for a closer look as well.

Looking up at Jacqui as she works her way through the water.

We were really impressed with this sea cucumber! It was quite different from the smooth black ones we usually see.

Gabbi diving by...

The coral was quite stunning!

and the giant clams were absolutely amazing!

On the return to Cairns, we enjoyed a glass of wine and endured the salt spray that kept us fairly drenched!

Samadhi Video

2009-05-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

Danielle took this video of the girls silks performance. For the past week, the girls have been on a serious performance "high"....they wish that there was another one to do. It's super cute to see them so excited and proud of what they've accomplished. We're so proud of them too!!

African Dance

2009-05-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

Bill, Gabbi and Jacqui visited me on my last day of West African Dance camp on the North Shore last weekend. I think that they were pretty inspired because they came home and immediately started choreographing their own dance. ....check it out. They even picked out their own music from their keyboard, and costumes including a lapa and a hula top. Too cute. I think they own the rights to the "stinky armpit" move!!

Samadhi Show

2009-05-17T01:43:00.000-07:00

Gabbi and Jacqui performed in an aerial show with Samadhi Hawai'i tonight. It was a truly magical experience. They have been taking classes for the past six months (and in Vermont back when we were in MA). Aunties Andrea, Chandra, Nicole, and Jaime did a great job with the classes. The show was held at the ArtZone in Honolulu and played to a packed house.

Most of the pictures are from the dress rehearsal Friday night.

Show night, with full makeup!

Gabbi, Jacqui, and their good pal Talulah.

The whole crew from the show!

Daintree Rainforest

2009-05-16T00:45:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Cairns late, picked up the tiniest car that I have ever driven, and found our condo.

The first day, we explored the area a bit and found this beautiful waterfall.

On our second day, we headed north to the Daintree Rainforest. We stopped along the way to try to find information about hiking in the forest. In the guidebooks and people that we talked to really pushed us to hire a guide service. Dire warnings of crocodiles, pythons, and plants that would rip the skin right off of our bodies were presented... We really wanted to just spend the day exploring. My impression is that the Queensland Park Commission has really given in to pressures from commercial guides. There are only a handful of boardwalks .5 - 1 km long for hiking. Other trails that we read about have been allowed to grow over and are impassable now.

We ended up going to the Rainforest Center in addition to the boardwalks and the forest was quite beautiful, but we couldn't help but feel that everyone that we talked to was trying to make a buck off of us.

Our first overlook after crossing the Daintree River. Much of the vegetation and landscape in this area reminded us of Hawai'i.

The boardwalks were in quite good shape.

The cassowary fruit is poisonous to just about everything except cassowaries (they swallow them whole).

The butterflies were absolutely beautiful. We saw the giant Ulysses butterfly, some green triangles, and this blue triangle.

We thought that these berries were very cool.

The buttress roots were very big.

A katydid type insect just before being nabbed by Jacqui...it promptly bit her, much to her dismay...

There were lots of big spiders along all of the trails.

This strangler fig long outlasted its host and looked really neat with the empty space where the original tree had been.

The epiphytic plants were amazing. They root to the trees that host them and catch water from the sky.

One of the boardwalks followed a mangrove swamp.

Showing off some flowers for the camera.

Basket ferns...another epiphyte.

We didn't see any cassowaries in the wild, but we thought this sign was pretty funny. There were speedbumps about every 5 km to keep speeds down.

We found these sand balls at the beach that we stopped at before heading back to Cairns. Crabs sift through the sand for food (invertebrates) and leave behind these patterns.

We saw this carnivorous pitcher plant when we stopped for ice cream and a cool roadside stand.

The Daintree River ferry was the only method of crossing into the Daintree.

Downtown Sydney

2009-05-14T00:12:00.000-07:00

We had most of a day to spend in Sydney before our flight to Cairns.

So we left our campsite fairly early. It was an easy drive and remarkably easy to find parking near the Harbour Bridge. We walked the bridge and enjoyed the views of the Opera House and downtown.

The walk across the bridge is about a mile each way. We were glad to have gotten up and across before the sun got too hot!

After a stop at Starbucks...yes, we went to Starbucks. At that point in the trip we really wanted a decent cup of coffee. I was done with the coffee in Australia after the second day. It is very European style with lots (a ridiculous amount) of milk. The Starbucks at least had the option of drip coffee. It wasn't great, but it worked...

This fountain outside of Starbucks provided some balance beam time...

Anyway, after our stop we walked to the Opera House and then around the Botanic Garden.

This plant reminded us very much of the banana flowers that we see in Hawai'i.

One of the issues that has come up at the Botanic Gardens is all of the fruit bats (Flying Foxes) that roost in the trees. There are estimates that as many as 10,000 of the creatures call the garden home. They were great to see, but you could certainly see the impacts that they were having on some of the trees. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of suitable habitat left for them and they obviously have been doing quite well here!

On our way back to the car we stopped to watch a street performer. Bendy Em put on a fun show. If you get a chance to stop and watch, she's good for some laughs and is quite the contortionist!

After stopping for dinner at a great little pizza place, we had a little more time to kill and found Perry Park to stretch our legs and run around.

Then it was on to the airport and a week in Cairns!

Featherdale Wildlife Park

2009-05-07T01:13:00.000-07:00

Gabbi and Jacqui were really excited to see koalas and since it did not seem likely that we were going to encounter any in the wild, we went to a wildlife park just outside of Sydney.

In New South Wales, you are not allowed to hold koalas, so we had to settle for petting them and posing...

We looked for cassowaries in the wild near Cairns, but this one at the wildlife park was the only one we saw.

This is a hairy nosed wombat. Unfortunately, we only saw dead ones in the wild as roadkill!

For some reason, the girls were really excited about trying to catch these chickens.

They eventually caught one...only to get peed on.

This Tasmanian Devil seemed a little wiped out...

We were pretty glad that this was the only saltwater croc that we encountered during out trip!

These cute little ones are called quolls.

An echidna, one of the only two egg laying mammals (the other being the platypus, which we only saw a stuffed one).

On the way out, the girls were able to visit with this joey wallaby. It is being rehabilitated and was cozy in its pouch. Gabbi and Jacqui were pretty excited to be able to hold it!

Hunter Valley

2009-05-07T00:47:00.000-07:00

After spending the night at Lane Cove National Park, which is a really nice campground about 15 minutes from downtown Sydney. We spent a relaxing morning at the pool and playground.

We drove north and made a stop at Brisbane Waters National Park. Actually, we made 2 stops. First, we stopped and saw some Aboriginal rock carvings.

Then we stopped for lunch and a short walk at a waterfall.

We continued North to Hunter Valley and stopped at a brewery (that had a playground) for a local brew and ginger beer for the kids.

The only caravan park in the Hunter Valley area was the typical privately run caravan park with sites right on top of each other.

The next day we went on a wine tour. It was great! The tour van picked us up at the campground at 9 a.m. We spent the next 8 hours tasting wine, olives, cheese, schnapps, and chocolate. Gabbi and Jacqui were treated very well at all of the stops and were usually given their own glass of aqua vin.

By the end of the day we were cooked and glad to be back at the camper...

The Squeaky Sand of Jibbon Beach

2009-05-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

I took this video of the ladies because the sounds of the sand on Jibbon Beach were so surprising!

Royal National Park and Bondi Beach

2009-04-28T01:07:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was Royal National Park. It was just a couple hours drive to the cliff hike at the southern end of the park. There were some beautiful views along the hike and the girls (as usual) were super hikers!

Trying to scale the fence...we caught them just in time!

The coastline south of Sydney was beautiful!

...and so are these lovely ladies!

The girls found this natural swing along the trail that served as a diversion for a few minutes.

Our next stop in the park was at Jibbon Beach, which we re-named squeaky beach! The sand made this really neat squeaking sound when you walked on it.

We walked the length of the beach to see the aboriginal rock engravings near Bundeena. They were very difficult to find, but finally, we managed.

Danielle had found an African dance class to take at Bondi Beach in Sydney. So we headed north...

Getting to Bondi Beach was not too difficult even without a great road map of Sydney (I'm not sure if they make a great road map of Sydney, but we sure could not find one...). We found some delicious Thai take-out and hung out on the beach, paid a ridiculous amount of money to park, and found Danielle's dance class.

While she took class, the girls and I had a lot of fun at the playground that is adjacent to the beach.

Later that evening, we found a real gem of a campground at Lanes Cove National Park, just north of the city. More about that in the next post.

Fitzroy Falls

2009-04-21T23:17:00.000-07:00

After a couple of hikes at Jervis Bay, we hopped in the car for what we were expecting to be an hour long drive to Fitzroy Fall visitor center. Well...we got a little off track and explored some of the steepest, narrowest most winding roads yet!

Once we were back on track, we got to cross this pretty cool bridge.

Then we found our way to the Fitzroy Fall visitor center. It had some nice exhibits and the woman (Beth) that ran it showed us a great video about how kangaroos are born and how the mothers care for their joeys.

We really got a kick out of this sign outside of the restrooms at the visitor center.

Looking down from the top of Fitzroy Falls.

The view of the valley downstream of the falls.

Looking back at the falls from further along the trail.

She also let us know about a very nice (free!) campground not far from there.

Is anyone sick of the campervan yet?!?

The next morning, we stopped to see some more falls and headed for Royal National Park.

Gabbi and Jacqui...which way to the falls?

The view of the waterfall just a bit down the road from our campsite.

Kangaroo Video

2009-04-15T01:25:00.000-07:00

I had trouble getting this video to work on the last post, so here it is!

Bateman's Bay and Jervis Bay

2009-04-14T00:48:00.000-07:00

Bateman's Bay.

We left the Snowy Mountains and headed for the coast. The drive was (once again) winding roads up and down through the mountains.

After about a 5 hour drive, we found the dirt road that led to Pebbly Beach. It was an unbelievably washboarded road that forced us to crawl or have our fillings shaken out. When we reached the beach, we spent some time eating a late lunch and exploring the tide pools.

The tidepools were filled with shells and limpets.

Danielle went to check out the campground. We were trying to decide whether we wanted to stay there or venture another hour (or so) north to Jervis Bay. Gabbi, Jacqui, and I walked the beach a bit and the girls noticed a mob of kangaroos emerging from the woods. Of course, they wanted to go and pet them! I warned them that it was unlikely that these 'roos would be as friendly as our previous campground visitors and that they would probably hop away if they got too close.

I was wrong.

There were a lot of rainbow lorikeets flying around here.

The goannas were very cool looking (and kind of intimidating).

After watching the kangaroos, goannas, and birds, we decided to head north, hit a grocery store, and find the "Green Patch" campground that had been recommended to us by some folks that we met at Kosciusko. The ride ended up taking about an hour and a half (plus the stop for groceries), so it was well after dark when we arrived. After a quick supper, we were ready to hit the sack.

The next morning, we got up and had a nice pancake breakfast. After stowing our gear and our beds and making sure nothing would fall off of the countertops... we headed to our first hike of the day.

We did a nice hike along the shoreline that wrapped back inland and joined a nature trail.

There were quite a few of these crimson rosellas along the start of the trail.

The moon was still out as we started the hike.

Jacqui was convinced that one of these rosellas would hop onto her arm!

You can pretty much count on finding a balance beam on any hike (anywhere).

We caught a glimpse of this swamp wallaby.

A very cool hollowed out tree.

This natural arch was a fun exploring and climbing spot.

Toward the end of the hike, we came across this snake. It's hard to tell the perspective (no one would go stand next to it...), but I'd say it was about 6 feet long. I was surprised at the light color (we all remembered it being very dark, before we saw the pictures).

Luckily, it did not block our way for very long.

For lunch, we headed to the Botanical Garden and explored for an hour or so before heading to Fitzroy Falls.

The mud along the shoreline of this lake was extremely sticky and tried to steal the girls shoes!

The first kookaburra of the trip!

Mount Kosciusko (The Snowy Mountains)

2009-04-08T00:13:00.000-07:00

It was about an 8 hour drive from the Jenolan Caves to where we had reservations at a campsite at Kosciusko Mountain Retreat. The kids did great on the ride. The campervan setup was such that they sat about 12 feet away from us at the back of the van with a half wall in between us. It was difficult to talk with them, so at some points Danielle would crawl back and read to them or work on math.

When we arrived at the campsite, we were greeted by a group of kangaroos! When we opened the doors to the van, they quickly hopped up to see if we had anything to eat. Needless to say, this kind of caught us by surprise.. Gabbi and Jacqui really enjoyed the chance to pet the kangaroos, along with a brush tailed possum that was hanging out near the kitchen one evening.

We saw this older joey nursing as we pulled into the site.

Our first kangaroo visitor to the campervan. We had expected them to be quite a bit bigger and apparently as you get into the outback they can get larger (especially the red kangaroos). All of the kangaroos that we saw in the wild were Eastern grey kangaroos.

Looking out the campervan door at our new friend.

We did a couple of nice hikes. The Rainbow Lake Trail was near Snowy River (the site of the book and movie) and was a nice afternoon hike to a beautiful lake.

Getting ready to start the Rainbow Lake hike.

The girls spotted these larva on a leaf along the trail. After this we spotted a lot more as we went along.

Gum trees along the hike to Rainbow Lake.

We were able to explore the shoreline a bit before a rain shower moved in.

There was the remains of an old dock along one part of the shore.

We hiked Mount Kosciusko, which is the highest mountain in Australia at 2228 metres (7310 ft) above sea level. The route we chose went from Charlotte's Pass to the summit and was 18 km (about 11 miles!) round trip. It was really cold and windy!! We all bundled up in the warmest clothes that we brought. Luckily, we had anticipated lower temperatures in this area. The night before the hike was also the coldest night of the trip. We talked to some folks near the summit that had come up the other side (there was a chair lift option to get you most of the way up). They told us that the thermometers read zero Celsius at the top of the lift! Luckily there was a hut part way along the trail, so we ducked in for a little shelter and lunch!
The view as we started our hike.

Bundled up and ready to hike!

At the headwaters of the Snowy River, the girls still had plenty of energy!

The sun was shining for the morning and most of our ascent.

By the time we reached the top, the clouds had really rolled in.

The hike down was pretty cold.

We shared hats and sunglasses all around.

We made it. Pooped out. I was so impressed with the girls! Congratulations on accomplishing a heck of a hike!

This brush-tailed possum was quite friendly (obviously hoping for scraps...)

Next stop, the coast...

Jenolan Caves

2009-04-03T23:47:00.000-07:00

As we left our makeshift campsite, we headed down the road to the Jenolan Caves. We had heard about them from some folks that we met on the airplane. On the way to the caves, we got our first introduction to the steep winding roads of rural New South Wales. The engineers that designed these roads were certainly feeling adventurous! When we reached the bottom, we passed through a tunnel, parked and found out that the only way to see the caves is to start with a guided tour. The first one of the day was about a half hour after we arrived. We hemmed and thought about it, then decided it would be worth the money...

The one lane tunnel to the caves.

The gift shop and restaurant.

It was. The caves are well done with walkways and railings to protect the caves and lighting along the way. Our guide did a nice job of explaining the history of the caves and, of course, the picture do not give it justice.

Blue Mountains Continued

2009-04-03T23:19:00.000-07:00

We drove down a 10 km dirt road in some pretty dense fog to our next campsite. It was close to dark when we arrived at Perry's Lookdown. Luckily, we had been sure to fill up our water tank before heading down the road... When we awoke in the morning, we walked down a sort track (trail to you and me...) to the view at the Lookdown.

Heading down the Perrys Track.

Hamming it up along the trail.

The view from Perry's Lookdown.

After breakfast, we went to explore at the Anvil...and saw our first wild marsupial. We're pretty sure it was a wallaby, but did not get a picture. Then, we headed for a hike into the canyon of the Blue Mountains. It was a nice hike along a pretty stream, through a tunnel and behind a waterfall.

The view from the Anvil.

Climbing on the anvil. We thought it was going to be an anvil shaped rock. Turns out there was an actual anvil attached to the top of this rock.

The gum trees were impressive with their peeling bark and beautiful smells.

Hiking along the track.

In the slower parts of the stream we spotted yabbis, which were bright orange and looked more like miniature lobsters than crayfish.

Here, the track went behind a small waterfall.

The view from behind the falls.

Heading through a tunnel before heading back up to the rim of the canyon.

Then, we headed in the direction of Jenolan Caves. We had looked at a couple of guides at a visitor center and read about 2 potential campsites that were on the way. Of course, I neglected to actually write down directions to the campsites... After going further down the road than we thought we needed to without spotting either campsite and exploring a couple of dirt roads, we decided to just pull into a field and spend the night! It worked out great. We saw a couple more wallabies and got a good night sleep (as good as you can expect in a campervan anyway...)

The Blue Mountains

2009-03-31T00:15:00.000-07:00

It took us about 2 hours, once we finished our shopping excursion in Sydney, to get to the Blue mountains. It was mid-afternoon at that point and after sitting all day the day before and running errands and driving all morning, we were ready for a hike! Our first hike was Wentworth Falls.

Heading down the to Wentworth Falls. All of the hikes in the Blue Mountains were "reverse", we started out along the tablelands between the "canyons" then hiked down for the first part of the hike and then back up.

These falls were just a warm up to some breathtaking falls later in the trip.

If you look closely, you can make out a few sulphur-crested cockatoos nestled among the rocks. Jacqui was the first to spot them. We found out later that we would see them everywhere, including downtown Leura (a town nearby) and in Sydney.

The trails in Blue Mountain National Park (and really in all of the parks in New South Wales) were extremely well maintained!

We stopped a visitor center in Katoomba, just as they were closing to find a caravan park. Our first night in the campervan, we successfully cooked on our gas stove and set up the beds. It was a bit of an eye-opener to see just how small of a space we could sleep, cook, and travel in...

We awoke the next morning to a flock of king parrots in the tree next to our camper! We were all pretty excited. Then, we packed up and after a stop in the little town of Leura for coffee and calls back to the US.

Chatting with Nonni and Gramma and Grandpa.

We started our hike down the giant staircase, past the 3 sisters through a valley and back to the car.
The view at the start of the hike.

Heading down the Giant Stairs.

Linda Falls.

A fern grotto on the hike back up.

We found a playground on the way to the next campsite (just before it started raining) for the girls to play around on. Then a dirt road for about 10 km (the distance makes a lot more sense after you've been in Australia for at least a few days...)

Next time...the rest of the Blue Mountains and on to Jenolan Caves.

Our arrival - Down Under

2009-03-30T23:54:00.001-07:00

Well, we had a great 3 weeks in Australia. I'll attempt to get all of our adventures updated here, but it will definitely take some time!

We flew from Honolulu to Sydney on Qantas, which is a nine and a half hour flight. Qantas took good care of us, though with 2 meals, snacks, free drinks, hot chocolate, and tea (nothing like our interisland or mainland flights, that is for sure...

Gabbi and Jacqui entertaining themselves in the Honolulu airport.

It was Gabbi and Jacqui's first trip across the equator and the international date line! Since we crossed the dateline, we arrived on Monday after leaving Honolulu Sunday morning. We arrived too late in the afternoon to pick up our campervan, so we stayed in an inexpensive hotel near the airport...it worked (for one night). We were awake bright and early on Tuesday and walked to the rental company and picked up our transportation and home for the next 2 weeks!

After picking up our luggage at the hotel, we headed off to find a supermarket. So, we were driving through Sydney on the wrong side of the road in an oversized vehicle, with the steering wheel on the "wrong" side of the car, the blinker and windshield wiper levers switched. Woo hoo! We were off.

Our luxury accommodations.

After a rather confusing trip to the natural foods market that Danielle had found on-line (produce by the kilogram?, how much is the Australian dollar worth? what the heck is a sultana? or a capsicum?) we were headed to the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney.

Congolese Dance Camp Maui

2009-03-07T00:12:00.000-08:00

Showing some bootie!!

This past weekend (Friday to Monday night), I went (by myself) to Maui for Congolese (African) Dance Camp. Since I started dancing with the dance crew in May, I've been hearing about these camps and how amazing they are. Well, these stories were not at all exaggerated. It was AWESOME!!! I had a blast. We had two 2-hour dance classes a day, and there were two 1.5 hour drumming classes offered per day as well. I took every dance class as well as 3 drumming classes. It was great to learn how to drum, as I can see how it could help me with my dance.

Myself, Dhira, Marcia, Felica and Elasalina shared a car together on the trip to camp. The camp was at a YMCA camp in Eastern Maui, right on the coast. It is on the road to Hana, which is a crazy windy road that could make even the strongest bellies feel nautious. Dhira was our driver and did a fantastic job. However, I took a ride with my friend Chris to Hana (which I had never been to) on Saturday, and he drove "as the locals do"...winding pretty fast around the corners. I almost lost my lunch!!! But it was great to venture out and do some sight seeing. Hana is the "wet side" of the island and just gorgeous! I managed a quick dip in the not so warm ocean, as well as a freezing pool in a river.

This was a waterfall we saw on the way to Hana

Me groovin' down the line.

The O'ahu Posse

This crew is so much fun. Before this camp, I hadn't had much of an opportunity to hang out with them because I am always going off to do something with my family after dance class. So it was great to hang out with them, and get to know them. They are downright hilarious. I spent the entire weekend laughing. It was totally therapuetic. It was also such a treat to have all my meals cooked for me and with no dishes to do!! Absolutely blissful!!!

The drumming crew jammin'

Most of the dance teachers were either at one time from the Congo, or their families, but they now live in France. Many did not speak English, but the languages of dance and drumming are universal. They were so professional and fantastic dancers. They also shared such an infectious love of the culture. I just loved their energy.

Dhira, Marcia and myself on the campus

These are recent pictures of the girls during their African Dance Class, learning how to play the drums.

Jacqui getting some drumming lessons during her African Dance/Drum class

Gabbi playing the dunun drum.

American Samoa

2009-02-27T23:42:00.001-08:00

I had the opportunity to travel to American Samoa a couple of weeks ago for work. Since there are only 2 flights a week from Honolulu, I flew down on Sunday and returned on a red eye Thurs/Fri. It was my first time traveling south of the equator! American Samoa is an unorganized US territory, so you do need a passport to travel there. It is made up of 8 islands (5 inhabited and 3 uninhabited). I was on the island of Tutuila for 4 days of meetings, but we did manage to get out and see some sights! The capital, Pago Pago (pronounced Pan-go Pan-go with a short a), is where we had most of our meetings.

One of my first views of the topography. The highest mountain is around 2,500 feet. The spine of the ridge runs most of the length of the 20 mile long island.

A view of the north shore of Tutuila. There are a few roads that run across the ridge to the north side from the much more populated south side.

A typical village scene. The building on the right is a meetinghouse of sorts.

The view of Pago Pago harbor and the cannery on the right. The main area of Pago Pago is set toward the back of the harbor.

I had a run-in with the police while I was there. I was looking for a pay phone (they are almost non-existent) and driving around town. I took a right turn off of the main road and as I started down the side road, I thought "this road doesn't seem wide enough for me and the car coming toward me." Then the blue lights came on and I was told to pull into an adjacent parking lot. The officer asked if I knew that I was traveling the wrong way on a one-way road. I told him that it was my first time in Pago Pago and that I did not see any signs indicating the one-way. He replied that there weren't any and it was "kind of a problem" I was let off with a warning...

This is part of the National Park of American Samoa. We drove to the point that you see in this scene (it was a half mile walk or so from the end of the road to the point.)

The view at the point. Most of the shoreline is quite rocky. There are a few beaches.

You can see the "rock hopping" fish on this rock that I noticed. As you got close they would jump from rock to rock. They are about 3 inches long or so.

Some of the things that I noticed...the people are very friendly! I'm glad that I am not a true vegetarian and will eat fish (it was most of my diet for the week). Many men wear lava lavas (think long kilt without the checkerboard) mostly solid patterns, but some aloha style. There is a starkist tuna cannery that is by far the biggest employer on the island. The public transport buses are great, brightly decorated, blasting hip-hop and generally jam packed with 20 people or so (about every 5th car on the island).

The entrance sign to Fagatele Bay. We had a free afternoon to do some snorkeling. It's about a mile hike to a secluded beach. The coral was very beautiful! Not a lot of fish, but definitely some that I don't usually see in HI. I especially like the prohibition on dynamiting...

There were breadfruit trees (seen here), bananas, and coconut trees absolutely everywhere!

Fagatele Bay

While we were at Fagatele Bay, we saw quite a few fruit bats (known as Flying foxes). We saw them here and there around the island, especially at dusk.

Charlie the tuna.

Our last meeting of the week was at American Samoa community college.

Kaua'i Trip

2009-02-18T22:25:00.000-08:00

Danielle's mom arrived the day after Danielle, Gabbi, and Jacqui returned from their New England visit. It was absolutely wonderful to have her spend 2.5 weeks with us! She was really loving and spent lots of quality time with us (especially Gabbi and Jacqui). She took them to Waikiki for a night at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. They had a blast! Thanks, Mom for such an incredible visit!!

Waiting for the airplane for our inter-island flight.

We had the opportunity to travel for a long weekend on Kaua'i, while she was here. We spent the first 2 nights in Po'ipu and explored Waimea Canyon and Koke'e State Park, Po'ipu, Sea Glass beach, and more. We were pretty disappointed on our first afternoon, when we attempted to get out the far western beaches. We found out that Barking Sands Beach is completely closed to the public at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. Then, we found the state park and the road closed just past Barking Sands.

Gabbi and Jacqui love to climb and they found this great spot at the north end of "sea glass beach"

Nonni's first Kaua'i beach, exploring for sea glass after driving through the lovely petroleum district of Port Allen...

We even got Nonni to cross this suspension bridge in Hanapepe!

At one end of the bridge we found this spectacular looking spider.

Hanapepe is known for Bougainvillea. This truck serves as a flower pot.

The morning our our second day we headed to the Kalalau lookout and got incredible views of Kalalau Valley (accessible only by hiking or kayaking). We got there early, because when we came in June fog rolled in and completely obscured the view by 10 a.m. Nonni indulged us and did a great job joining us for most of our hike along the rim of the valley.

Hiking along the valley.

Then, on the way down from Kalalau and Koke'e State Park, we took our time and explored plenty of views of Waimea Canyon, including this view of Waimea Falls.

A beautiful view with nice scenery behind...

While we were on Kaua'i we had a chance to see 3 different monk seals basking in the sun. There were 2 at Po'ipu beach on our first afternoon and this one on Salt Pond Beach.

We climbed around on the rocks at Salt Pond Beach. I especially enjoyed this view.

This one is great as well!

And how could you miss this beauty!!

And of course, the 3 lovely beach beauties.

On the way from Po'ipu to Princeville, we stopped at Wailua Falls (some of you may recognize this as the opening shot from Fantasy Island, from re-runs of course).

The second part of the trip we spent in Princeville. I had a couple of days of meetings at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, while the ladies explored Hanalei, Ke'e Beach, Princeville and the north coast.

Hanging loose on the beach in Hanalei.

The girls had a couple of nene visit our condo in Princeville.

The pool did not get a lot of use, it was pretty chilly...

Kilauea lighthouse.

A view across from Kilauea lighthouse at a portion of Kilauea National Wildlife Refuge and the red-footed booby colony.

Enjoying time with Nonni at Kilauea Point.

The sunset from the window on our return flight to O'ahu.