Swimming with the Turtles

Yesterday on our P-Day we were able to swim with the
turtles at where else, Turtle Beach?

This big girl (#32) came up on the beach to warm up in the sun.

There are turtle docents that rope off the beach when the
turtles hit land to protect them from onlookers. We were
able to snorkel with them also, just had to keep
our distance. 

After we got home we road our bikes out to Turtle Bay to check
on the monk seal mama and pup. We couldn't believe
how the pup had grown since we saw him last. 

Mama seal is also shrinking as she nurses without eating
for 6 weeks. What a way to lose her baby fat? You can
just see the seals to our right.

Sunset Pillbox Hike

What better time to hike Sunset Pillbox than at sunset with the Dees?
They are our leaders of the BYUH missionaries and do so much for
all of us. We are so glad they are here.

Marsha Dee and I on the way up to the top.

From the top of the pillbox.

It is a popular place at sunset.

One of my favorite things to see  at the PCC is the canoe pageant.
Saturday night we took tickets again for the Island Buffet. The student
workers called me "auntie". That is common here to call senior ladies "auntie"
and shows respect. In many island cultures such as Tonga, the auntie is
revered and respected. The girls can't cut their hair while their father is alive
and only then if their auntie (their father's oldest sister) cuts it. At wedding
and baby parties the auntie gets her pick of any gift she wants. They know
that the woman is definitely "The Boss."

Turtle Bay Biking and Monk Seal and Pup

Here we are with 2 other bike riding missionary couples; the Edgars
and the Dees. 

We were lucky to come upon this mother monk seal and pup.
She gave birth in this same pool where she was born years ago. These monk
seals are only found in the Hawaiian Islands and are endangered.
There are only 52 left and so they are tagged and closely monitored
personally by volunteers from 7am-7pm. They try to keep
people away from them as they are very protective of their young. Think
of them as a 600 pound mama grizzly that can swim over 20 mile per hour.
A few weeks ago a new mom body slammed a swimmer in the water against
the coral bottom. Their whiskers can sense movement yards away.
That's how they catch their prey; octopus, squids, etc.

Our group minus Sister Dee in front of our
favorite banyan tree.

This is Elder and Sister Waterfall, avid bikers who have biked
through Europe. We took them on the same ride the next week
and the mom and pup had moved down the beach aways. You
can see them on the right. The mother seal stays by here pup
for 6 weeks and nurses him without eating herself and can lose
a lot of her body weight, before she teaches her pup how to
forage for food. 

Our same favorite banyan tree. You can see how tall it is
by looking at this young climber.

Nancy and Scott were up for continuing down the North Shore
and a stop at Ted's Bakery.

The Hukilau Marketplace in front of the PCC had the bird guy come.
He brought lots of parrots and this is Sister Meuller with one of
his Macaws.