Saturday - the road back.

Up Early – 4:30 am – to catch our flight at 7:00 am from Kona to Honolulu. Aunty Claudia bought us some bagels and cream cheese to snarf before we went through security. Onto the plane and off on time. Now a big sitting time in the Honolulu airport before we caught the flight to Seattle. At least there was a nice gardent to stay in.

There were a few sleepy heads on the flight to Seattle.

We got in late and then walked over to Denny's for something to eat. Back to bed as Sunday is again an early day!


Up one more time (5:30 am) with a last pig out at the Holiday Inn at SeaTac. We crammed in the buses and back to the airport to catch the Horizon flight at about 10:00. But guess what - bad weather in Edmonton - and we came home to a blizzard!

But we were all home safe and sound - back to school on Monday!

Snorkeling & Luau - Friday

Our last Hawaiian day – but a great one. We get to go snorkelling. We got on the ‘Fair Winds II’ after getting our snorkels and masks and sailed down to Kealakekua bay to snorkel. Along the way we saw a small (about 1 m across) ray playing in the harbour and some spinner dolphins putting on a show for us. The boat sailed for about an hour down to Kealakekua Bay. This is a marine preserve for the corals and fish. We were very lucky as we were welcomed by a young humpback whale who surfaced a couple of times less than 100 m away before it decided it didn’t want anything to do with all of the snorkelers in the bay. When we left the spinner dolphins put on a second show.

This bay is also important for another reason. It is where Captain Cook landed the first time in the Hawaiian islands where he was met by upwards of 10000 people who were glad to see him. He visited twice more in a relatively short time but unfortunately he was killed by the Hawaiians who had had enough of the ships and their demands on his third visit to this spot.

There was lots of marine life with corals and all kinds of colourful tropical fish. We had a great barbecue lunch on the boat then snorkelled a bit more before sailing back. We were welcomed back by three large sea turtles who had come up with the tide to the sea wall.

Back at the hotel we began packing and finished our shopping – we had to get ready for the luau! Everyone put on their best Hawaiian shirts and dresses and we were ready to go. The luau began with the digging of the whole roasted pig out from the fire pit. It was covered with dirt many hours before and sat all day roasting by the hot rocks. Then we had a feast with lots of interesting things including poi (a purple carb staple made from tarot – yuck), a tasty dish from the tarot leaf and chicken, a shashimi dish, mahi mahi, and chicken, beef, and (or course) roasted pork. We all ate too much.

The luau ended with a show of Polynesian dancing all the way from New Zealand to Hawaii. There was a ‘costume malfunction’ where one of the male dancers lost his skirt! There was also a fire dancer who did some incredible things with burning torches. Sadly the evening ended and we all headed back to our rooms to pack as we have an early morning to leave.

Onwards to Kona Coast - Thursday

Up early again – and the last big breakfast. Mr. Bagshaw chowed down a lot of papaya as he would not likely get another chance. Then the rooms got checked by the teachers and chaperones and we lined up our 39 bags for the bus.

The first stop was at Akaka falls, the highest falls (440 feet) in Hawaii. There was a short hike to the falls then we saw a gorgeous high fall of water into a pool below. Aunty Claudia also showed the kids a coffee plant that was there. We had a short stop at a bakery to stock up on ice cream and coffee (for the adults) then onto the bus for the next longer leg of the journey to the dry side of the island.

We could see the foliage change rapidly as we went from the lush NE coast that catches all the water from the trade winds, through an area that looks like southern Alberta where there are lots of ranches, and finally to a very dry place on the NW coast with cactus. It is very desolate there with just rock, dry grass, and some cactus type plants.

We stopped along the way for lunch then headed down to Kailua Kona and to the hotel the Royal Kona Resort and we got ready for our ‘Hard Rock Café’ evening were everyone chowed down. Of course, they could not bypass the ABC store (which sells everything) to get water, snacks, more souvenirs, etc.

Wednesday - Shopping, Astronomy, Geology

Up early for another pigout breakfast – then onto the bus and off to the Hilo Market to buy shirts (for Friday night), souvenirs and ukeles (they emptied one vendor out!). Also to try fresh coconuts (with a straw), apple-bananas (yum), smoothies, and Kona coffee.

We got in the bus and headed off to a small beach to do some marine biology. The waves were large so only the U of Hawaii student went out with Mr. Haley to collect specimens. We saw a number of different invertebrates such as urchins (don’t touch!! Or you need to pee on where they stung you), brittle sea stars (touch), and sea cucumbers (yum as shashimi but we put them back).

Back on the bus and off to the Imiloa Astronomy Centre. This is a brand new centre near the campus that is dedicated to trying to reconcile the differences between the native Hawaiians and all the large telescopes (13!) that reside on the top of Mauna Kea above 13000 feet. There were lots of interesting displays about astronomy and about native Hawaiin cosmologies. We were able to see the first 3D movie in a planetarium too – it was about space exploration.

Again, back on the bus. A quick stop at a chocolate shop (Hawaiian Candies) then back for a picnic out on Coconut Island right by our Hotel. Conconut island is now a little park but in earlier pre tsunami days there was a whole town nearby. Only large buildings that can survive a tsunami (such as our hotels) are now in this area.

And finally, off to the campus where we had a discussion of geology and geophysics. The kids got to see all kinds of rocks, minerals, and particularly Hawaiian lavas. As well, they got to try on a lava suit!

Back to the hotel to pack up for the morning – time to leave for Kona.

Tuesday - Some Culture

Tuesday – up again – pig out breakfast. Then onto the bus to go to the nearby community hall to meet with the ‘Kapuna’ (the elders/grandparents) who will pass their knowledge down.

This involved a number of different activities such as learning some hula dancing (‘learning all the moves for ‘?????”), some playing of the ukele, weaving of bracelets from dried leaves, and making flower (name) to wear. The Kapuna played some music for us. Then we had to give back with a line dance played to Cadillac Ranch. The students hauled some of the Kapuna up to teach them to line dance too.

Then the Kapuna did some more impromptu dancing for us. The highlight was when the 3 elder Kapuna men did a hula for us – this was only 80 and above – the oldest fellow who was still dancing was 101!!!! We can only hope that we could be in half as good a shape as him if we make it that far.

We shared another bento lunch with the Kapuna and we hopped the bus again and off to the Tsumami museum in Hilo. We learned about tsunami’s and how the Hilo bay really focuses them. The town was essentially wiped out a couple of times in a big way. In 1946 and particularly in 1964 with the big Alaskan subduction zone quake. Since the disastrous 2004 tsumami there has been a lot more warning systems put in place but if a local earthquake happens there still is very little time. We know that Seattle and Vancouver are likely due for a very big one (the last one being in the year 1700 based on historical records of tsumami’s in Japan.

Then a real treat – we learned some Hawaiin canoeing (called Wa'a kaukahi). We helped the U of Hilo team put the wa'a kaukahi into Hilo bay then we took them for a spin. The paddles are called wa’a and they are much like our paddles but they are bent. We learned how to paddle togther being led by the front person. We woud paddle about 10 strokes then the leader would yell some chants then we would switch.

Back to the Hotel for some swimming and then a bit of rest. We ate at the hotel and this was followed by more hula learning. We learned two more dances called the ‘Back the the Little Grass Shack’ and then a more ancient hula.

Off to bed to get ready for our last day at Hilo.

Monday - Keeping Pele Happy

Monday is volcano day. We started off the day early with our host ‘Aunty’ Claudia after our big buffet breakfast at the Hilo Hawaiian. Breakfast included a lot of great stuff – fresh pineapple and papaya, guava juice, eggs, sausages, pancakes, etc. etc. – so they all got loaded up after the two days of travel. Aunty Claudia gave us an idea of what we were going to do for the day showing us a map.

A quick picture under the Banyan tree (see its new roots that come down from its branches)

Then we boarded the bus and off the Kileaua and drove up the hill by ‘Aunty’ Vicky. We were exceptionally lucky – Kileaua blew a hole in the ground about 50 m across in March and it was venting gases like crazy – tonnes and tonnes of SO2 per day were going up. This is actually causing air quality problems and again we were a bit lucky as the plume was blowing to the SW away from us so we were allowed to visit the museums and to have lunch at the Volcano House. Aunty Claudia talked about the earthquakes and the hot spot that makes Hawaii (actually, we still do not understand that much about it).

Then before we head back down the hill we explored the Thurston Lava Tube. The whole island is basically riddled with these lava tubes – the lava runs through them and after the source quits it is so hot that it keeps flowing and just empties out. You could see roots coming from the ceiling and previous marks on the walls where the lava had run.

In the early afternoon we headed back down to the Hotel to collect ourselves. Then back on to the bus to go for a hike. The magma is running all the way down the mountain right now – but most of it is not running on the surface – it is lava tubes and they were emptying right into the ocean. They would not allow us to get very close (this was hard for Dr. Schmitt who had ‘played’ in the stuff years ago). But is was still impressive – a big toxic plume of glass shards, HCl (from the mixing with the salty ocean water), and steam! The county had it well organized and there was a trail across the Pahoehoe (the smooth lava that is easy to walk across as opposed to the A’A which cuts your shoes and feet up!). We had our picnic of a bento box that had rice, a bit of fish, teriyaki SPAM (yes, really), and beef.

We could all see the liquid lava pouring right into the ocean. Every once in a while we could see
an explosion of steam sending rocks and debris around. It was pretty impressive even if we were quite far away. Suzanne actually captured Pélé, the goddess of the volcano. Take a close look at her picture to fine here eyes, nose, and mouth! Pélé pretty much gets what she wants on Hawaii!

The sun went down then we could really see the lava pouring into the sea. We hiked back out with our light sticks, got on the bus, and went straight to bed.

Pearl Harbour - a day that will live in infamy

The first thing we did was get on the bus and off to Pearl Harbour to learn some history. We got tickets for the U.S. Arizona Memorial trip that included a film first about the things that led up to the attack on Pearl Harbour by the Japanese navy on December 7, 1942. This of course brought the U.S. into the war the next day (of course Canada had been in it already since 1939).

On the right is the Arizona Memorial and the left is the USS Missouri - the last battleship.

There are only a few pieces of the Arizona's superstructure sticking out of the water. Oil also continues to leak up to the surface a little bit at a time. Basically, the ship was destroyed once its ammunition blew up killing everyone on board.




Then we visited the USS Missouri. This ship was in construction before Pearl Harbour but it did not make it to the war until its end. However, it was the ship upon which the surrender of Japan took place. It was actually in and out of use and the last action it saw was in the Gulf War where it shelled a number of targets in Kuwait. However, the day of the battleship was pretty much over and it was decommissioned and finally made it to Pearl Harbour to be a museum.





















Finally, we returned to the airport and caught our flight to Hilo. They met us at the Hilo Airport with leis. The end of two days of travel. Off to the Hilo Hawaiin Hotel for the next few days and off to bed. Everyone was taped in for the night - but some were so tired that when I checked on them no one answered because they were all asleep already!

Next post - the volcano!!!