Hiking to Chinaman's Hat

CHINAMAN'S HAT HIKE

We love our service at BYU-H but we try and
make the best of our P-Days. This is the
brave group that decided to tackle Chinaman's Hat.

You can see where the island got it's name.  

We walked-swam in 2-3 feet of water for
about 614 yards to reach the island.

I wasn't so sure I wanted  to go to the top
but with a little encouragement I forged ahead.
At least there were some "handholds" in the
rocky crevices.

Here is where I was holding on for dear life. I tried not
to look down. I hope the view is worth it on top.

Here is the crew that made it minus one taking the photo.

Elder Dunham led us in some yoga poses. Here is the
tree pose.

Warrior pose.

Maybe flying back would be easier than going down the
steep rocky cliffs.

I think the view was worth it.

All safely down thank goodness.

One more thing before we headed back to Oahu.

Elder Wollenzein (Wally) recited some very
humorous cowboy poetry

He was very entertaining.

Heading back to Oahu.

Go Red Raiders

Our local Kahuku football team is ranked in the top 20 teams in the US.
It contributes more players to the NFL than any other high school. They
go "cuckoo" in Kahuku for football . When they win a championship
it is like the Fourth of July with fireworks, but bigger. I will be
sure to wear a red shirt to the next game.

Our neighbors, the Tregaskes moved into Laie and asked to trade
cars for a couple of days. You can see why. We had a lot of fun and
Bill relived his young adulthood. 

We put nearly 200 miles on the car and seeing the beauty of the island
with the top down was amazing. 

We even drove up to the Pali Lookout at sunset
which was breathtaking.

Update on the seal pup. he is getting big! No sign of the
transplanted female.

It has been fun to watch him grow up. He may not
stick around for much longer. We check up on
him on our weekly bike rides. 

Walk to Goat Island

Here are the senior missionaries that joined us on the walk to
Moku'auia or Goat Island. A few more arrived after the photo.

Bill has always wanted to do this since he read about
his grandfather doing it in the late 1890's in his
grandfather's journal. It was low tide when we started,

but it was also quite windy, so we all got pretty wet and
had to fight a few waves to trek the 720 feet.

This is the other side of the island. You can see the temple way
behind us in the background.

Sister Waterfall found a couple of sea cucumbers that we
held for a bit.

Sister Thompson built an elaborate rock shrine.

 A interesting historical tidbit was that a lawyer lived on the
 the island in the mid 1800's with his 2 mistresses. When
the King of Hawaii heard about it he wanted to have him
arrested. After some research the lawyer found
out the island wasn't recorded on the king's maps and so
he declared himself king of the island and remained.
The day was a fun adventure with about 17 missionaries.

My Brother Dave and Mary Lou Visit

It was so fun to pick these two up at the airport for a visit.

The first day we took them to Turtle Bay to see the mama
seal and pup.

Also to the point for the great views.

Next day the Lighthouse Hike. 

From the top there are spectacular views of the East Shore.
You can also see the other islands on the way up.

Of course we had to take them to the PCC to meet some of our
students. Here is Alma from Fiji next to Mary Lou.

It started to pour for the next several hours while at the PCC,
but it didn't stop us. We just waded through the streams.

Great snorkeling day at Three Tables where we saw
many colorful fish and a turtle.

We did some work for some of Grandpa
Peter Anderson's family.

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.