Earthquake, Dolphins and a Tsunami Siren

New Years Day, Ann and I went to the airport to exchange our rental car for a new one.  We had some small problems to deal with concerning the rental contracts and so we had to go back to the car rental agency on January 2 to get things straightened out, but it all worked out. 

After leaving the airport, we drove to the Waikoloa Beach resort area for lunch.  After lunch, the girls went to the King's Market as well as the Queen's Market within the resort, for a little shopping.  Craig and I went for a long walk.  We walked through the Marriot Hotel complex and then went and found the Shores at Waikoloa condominium complex where we had stayed for a night with the kids, years ago.  The Waikoloa Beach area really is a beautiful place.

After having a quick supper back in Waimea, we drove up to the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station which is 9300 ft above sea level, but only part way up to the summit.  After dark, volunteers at the center set up some big telescopes for us to use.  I was really thrilled to be able to see Jupiter so clearly.  Here is a link to the visitor information center.  Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station 

Wednesday January 3, 2012 is a day that I will remember for a very long time.  I was having a hard time sleeping that night and as I was laying awake in bed, shortly after 3 am, the bed started vibrating and things were  moving in the room that should not be moving.  It only lasted a few seconds but there was no doubt in my mind that I had experienced an earthquake.  After that, I slept like a log until my alarm got me up at 6 am.  I asked Craig if he had noticed anything and he said that he had and that he had already checked online and found information about it.  Of course, wouldn't you know it, the girls slept through the whole thing.  Hawaii Earthquake Website

Last week, just before visiting Kona Queens, we drove a half mile down the road from there, to the boat launch at the end of Napoopoo road.  This is where people launch kayaks into Kealakekeua Bay.  We met a local gentleman named Peter Alu.  He is a retired policeman who owns a licensed kayak rental company.  We chatted for awhile, he gave me his business card and then we left.  On January 2nd I gave him a call and reserved some kayaks and I'm so glad that I did.  I had looked into other places to rent, and they all required transporting them down the road somehow.  For the same price as these other places, we met Peter at the launch site at 8:30 am.  He had the kayaks already set up for us at the launch, with backrests, life jackets, and a dry bag for our valuables.  They even helped us into and out of our kayaks.  Great service.

Craig in his own kayak, Allison and Jenna sharing a double kayak while Ann and I shared one too.

And so, away we paddled, heading across the bay towards the Captain Cook Monument which is a well known area for snorkeling.  However, part way across the bay, we encountered a family of dolphins showing their fins every once in awhile.  We tied our 3 kayaks together and while Ann stayed with them, the rest of us put our snorkel gear on and jumped in to see if the dolphins would swim with us.  What happened after that was something I'll never forget. I couldn't see them when I first got in.  I knew that I could never chase them down, and so I just sat there in the water, just hoping.  After a few minutes of me just sitting there relaxing in the water, the dolphins swam to me.  Perhaps is was because I wasn't thrashing about and making a fuss, but a couple of them swam right up next to me.  It was amazing. 

Tying our kayaks together

Dolphins in the distance with their fins out of the water

I love how you can hear the dolphins vocalizing under the water

After playing with the dolphins for awhile, we continued paddling up to the Captain Cook Monument.  There is a fairly large and deep reef there and we enjoyed it.

Allison giving the peace sign

To me, Parrot fish look like silly cartoon characters

                               The sound that parrot fish make when they eat is always amusing.

                             This is a video of Craig pretending to be a dolphin.

I don't know what kind of fish this is but it looks like a child drew him with some crayons.

The Captain Cook Monument

Heading back across the bay

Happily paddling away, not knowing that we are about to be almost scared to death!

Just after the above photo was taken, the Tsunami warning siren started blaring across the bay.  We were about 3/4 of the way back across the bay and we told the kids to just paddle as hard as they could for where we had launched.  We gave it everything we had, of course Craig was way ahead of us, but the girls were with us and we just kept encouraging them for what seemed like an eternity.  Eventually, the siren just slowed down and stopped.  We didn't know what the hell was going on and so we just kept going for shore.  To make a long story short, nobody told us that on the first Monday of every month, the Tsunami sirens are tested all across the state o Hawaii.  Since Monday was a holiday, they did it on Tuesday instead.  This following link shows exactly what the siren sounded like.  It was terrifying.  Hawaiian Tsunami Siren

Once we discovered that it was safe, we went back out into the bay and found a spot to just lay back and relax our worn out muscles.

Craig, exhausted but happy to be alive

We were worn out after trying to outrun a tsunami and so here we were in this video, just relaxing in the bay, trying to rest our sore muscles.

We finished kayaking around 1:30 and by then we were starving.  We stopped at a little hamburger stand right across the road from Kona Queens.  Kalama's is the name of the place and the husband and wife team running the place were very nice.They have a reputation for having the fanciest shave ice treats around.  Their burger selection was fantastic.

Right across the street from the Kona Queen Company

This honeybee kept trying to steal Ann's Rootbeer

Each of our shave ice treats had a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the bottom, then you choose 3 different flavors of shave ice, and then it was all topped off with coconut milk.  Fantastic

January 3, 2012 was an incredible day for us and we will never forget it.