Honokohau with James and Tara

The Birthday Girl Remained Ashore.

   We've had a great time with James and Tara.  In addition to looking at fish, we celebrated Tara's birthday at Jackie Rey's.  Today they are ascending to the top of Mauna Kea to look at the island from 14,000 feet and look at the stars from the visitor's center, at a paltry 9100 feet.  Their absence gives Sandra and I a chance to catch our breath and (lucky for you) write a blog.
   The surf has been pretty big the last few days.  Two days ago James and Tara played in the waves at White Sands.  I'm told my lovely daughter-in-law got rolled by one of the watery brutes. Despite being a sandy mess, she was no worse for wear.  No broken bones or hideous abrasions.

While the rest of us feasted our eyes on an Octopus !

    Yesterday the four of us took a trip to Honokohau for snorkeling and a hike in the National Park.  Tara decided to play with the dogs on the beach (I guess some people like dogs better than fish!)  So it was James, Sandra and yours truly swimming out through the surf breaking on the reef.   Outside the bay we were greeted by an exceptionally cooperative octopus.  He swam into a hunk of coral only eight feet deep and remained visible despite us diving down for pictures.  I think he liked the Holy Ghost song, which was performed according to custom by the St. Louis Aquarium Choir.  While we watched changed color and texture, attempting to mimic his coral nest.

    Its pretty unusual to swim away from a visible octopus, usually they split long before you tire of them, but after five minutes or so it was time to see what else was there.  A short bit of swimming led me to the next good find, a Great Barracuda.  He was about two and a half feet, so not huge.  He afforded us a pretty good look and then swam away.

James hates it when a Great Barracuda smiles at him !

    Shortly after that we saw a brace of Rainbow Runners charging ahead of a school of Heller's Barracudas.  When my beloved and I spotted the Heller's the other day,  I noticed some Rainbow Runners in the vicinity.  I don't know if any ichthyologists have made this connection, but yesterday it looked like the Runners and the 'cudas were hunting together.  It was pretty cool.
    We'd seen some really good stuff  in short order and as if to celebrate we were treated to the victorious hum of a bagpipe.  A large inflatable, the Timberwolf, with eight tourists aboard motored past, the guide standing in front playing Scotland the Brave on his bagpipes!  I let loose with my best Highland yell.  Woo Hah!
    Going back in, we were lucky with the sets and had a smooth swim up to the beach.  As I surfaced to take off my fins I saw a floating red and yellow dog lure.  Immediately there was a Golden Retriever snatching it right in front of my nose!  Good doggy.
    After we washed off and dried out we drove around the marina to the north side.  There we entered Koloko-Honokohau National Park.   The four of us walked about a mile down the beach at which point Sandra and I stopped to look at the birds in the fresh water behind the dunes.  We saw a few Black-neck Stilts, some Pintails and coots.   The red striped roof of Costco loomed in the distance.
    James and Tara continued on down the beach another half mile, never making it to the elaborate fish pond that features so prominently in the advertising for this park.

    We saw two interesting things on the way back.  First, we watched a sea turtle haul itself out of the water and collapse on the sand.  Occasionally it would blink, but otherwise was still as death.  When we were almost back to the entrance we came upon something more unexpected than a pre-morbid turtle: three young ladies in full belly dancing regalia!  They turned this way and that, their colorful silk scarves waving in the breeze.   They were photographing one another and permitted us to take a picture, too.  I assumed that they were the new entertainment for the Greek restaurant down by the pier in Kailua.  At sunset, I was informed by my pal Ross MacArthur that the Greek restaurant has been closed for three years (it is now an Indian restaurant) so the motivation of these flamboyantly clad damsels remains a mystery. 

Did you ever notice how an Octopus resembles a Bagpipe?

Opah!
jeff

(Besides being a Greek toast, Opah is one of my favorite Hawaiian fish...to eat!)