Today’s card is the Wheel of Fortune, reversed. Generally, this is a good card, but it’s not a fabulous card, the meaning of which can be summed up as, “Pay attention to what you can learn from when things don’t go perfectly.”
I must not ask, even as a joke, “Did they film Magnum PI here?”
Today we got up early—mostly because we’re still on Oregon time—and tried to see the comet (again) and generally get oriented to the skies. Then it was off to Dolphin Discoveries in Kona to snorkel.
Originally we were to go on a dolphin tour where we would observe dolphins from a boat, but that package was cancelled and we were rebooked on a double-snorkel trip. All of the passengers on the boat were pleasant and the Dolphin Discoveries crew (Erica and Captain Raj) were laid back and knowledgeable.
Our first snorkel was in Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park, a bay against a cliff where there is a white obelisk to Captain James Cook (British explorer and jerk). The water by the boat was a deep blue, then green, then a washed out turquoise, then white as it became more shallow.
Clutching a rental GoPro Camera, I plunged into the water and promptly had my snorkel come out of my mouth. The water was warm (again!) which was a nice change from the cold water off of the Oregon Coast. Undaunted, I began to video fish. What I hadn’t taken into account was that when I wear my contact lenses, I’m very far-sighted, and the GoPro has a fairly small screen: so there was no way I’d be able to look through the camera’s finder to see what I was imaging. I more or less held the camera at arm’s length and pointed it in the same direction that I was looking. But I really didn’t have an idea of what kinds of video I was getting, other than that I probably had a good shot of Mark snorkeling.
There were tons and tons of fish, and they seemed to be used to people. We saw a purple and gold striped boxfish (probably) and a blue and gold spotted tang and lots of trigger fish. Slate-pencil Sea Urchin lurked among the (mostly) cauliflower coral and (some) finger coral. It was difficult to get close to them, though, because they were about eight to ten feet below the surface and swimming down—even with fins—clutching a GoPro in one hand and holding breath was hard; I kept bobbing up (I guess I should be thankful that I’m much more buoyant than I used to be forty years ago). Mark felt the water pressure in his ears when he tried to swim to deeper depths.
After an hour of floating and diving and pointing the GoPro camera hopefully, it was off to the waters around Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, the Place of Refuge. We snacked on delicious pineapple en route. The ocean continued to be calm and the sky slightly cloudy.
On the second dive, I think my and Mark’s gear got swapped—my mask was leakier and the bite on the snorkel felt off. Despite this difficulty, we sited a spotted ray. I was so intent on videoing it that Mark had to pull me back from swimming out of bounds and into a dolphin sanctuary! Afterward, we saw an eel and more of the other fish. Mark liked the majesty of the second dive site, but I had a better experience at the first. Mark says I should have switched masks with him—but I was trying to make thing work.
The GoPro seemed to be turning itself off, so I got fewer videos of this spot. After forty-five minutes in the water, it was time to leave. On the trip back to Kona, we stopped by a rock formation that looked like Pelé lying on her side (the old chiefs used to have their priest light fires in the formation’s “eyes”). At a second stop we visited a former hill that had collapsed into a caldera (sort of like The Devil’s Punchbowl in Oregon, only navigable by boat.)
We both noticed that time seemed to be stretching out. Mark’s fairly active anyway, so we weren’t just sitting around on a beach day drinking, but it felt like we’d been on The Big Island forever. Possibly not paying close attention to what day it was or listening to the news and limiting social media time helped. We also never really got off of the Oregon time zone; so we frequently found ourselves up around 5:30 A.M. and being actively engaged with the environment—and being tired and ready for sleep by 8:30 P.M.
Afterward, we changed into dryer clothes and went to downtown Kona. The captain (Captain Raj) had recommended a place to eat (Mark asked) which turned out to be right on the ocean in Ōneo Bay. Mark had really good fish tacos, and I had a “Luau Pizza.” Our waitress was a hoot, and had strong opinions of how disruptive the Ironman competition (or “Underwear Run,” as she called it) was. We did a little bit of shopping, looked at Hulihee Palace (closed for a private event), and then drove back to the resort.
We both noticed that time seemed to be stretching out. Mark’s fairly active anyway, so we weren’t just sitting around on a beach day drinking, but it felt like we’d been on The Big Island forever. Possibly not paying close attention to what day it was or listening to the news and limiting social media time helped. We also never really got off of the Oregon time zone; so we frequently found ourselves up around 5:30 A.M. and being actively engaged with the environment—and being tired and ready for sleep by 8:30 P.M.
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