Turtles, Wedding, Rain and More Rain

We finally got to the Hukilau Cafe for coconut pancakes.

Here is Bishop Mahoni with his daughter Brianna.

The wedding reception was huge, in a cricket field, and
authentic "Maori", complete with a haka to
the bride and groom.

Lots of Maori food.

Last Saturday we tried to find the "real" Turtle Beach. We
had to walk over this huge rock field first.

We wondered if we had gone the wrong way. These huge rocks
were easily scaled by the crabs, but were much
harder for us "old folks."

Just when we were about to give up, we came across over
15 turtles on this small beach tucked up in front
of private homes.

We were the only ones here, besides some fishermen
around the point.

There were big turtles, baby turtles and they were
soon joined by 5 more turtles that came out of the
water to warm up on the beach.

In total we were surrounded by 20 turtles.

Afterwards we stopped at the ancient Kukaniloko
birthing stones. The royal Hawaiian women and chiefs
would come here and a woman would give birth
on these stones. The child would then be
whisked away and the mother would not
see the baby until adulthood.

Next stop at the Wahiawa Botanical Gardens.

We found a large variety of huge, lush plants.

There were plants from all over the world.

This giant eucalyptus tree was called a Mindinao
Gum Tree from the Philippines.

This Jade flower plant was also from
the Philippines.

We have  had heavy rain lately with thunder and lightning. I
have never seen it rain so hard for so long, not even at
the cabin on Hebgen Lake. 

Unfortunately, it has flooded Bill's job sites.  

They have been shut down for many days.

The Lunch Bunch and Dolphin Cruise

Here is the missionary lunch bunch. From left to right;
Sister Stephenson, Kathy and Steve Kittelson,  Dave
and Sherry Anthony, Wilf and Tina Mueller.

Our P'day was the Dolphin Star Cruise out of
Waianae Harbor.

We were lucky to see a whale.

And we found a pod of spinner dolphins.

Lots of young dolphins in the pod and they were
the ones that did most of the spinning.

This youngster got some real air. 

Tina Mueller had a great vantage point and
took the whale photo.

They didn't seemed bothered by the catamaran.

Still had to get our exercise and so we
explored a trail behind Laie.

The trail took us up and around a water tank
and then down behind the PCC. 

Kaena Point Hike

It was a rainy day but that didn't keep some
30 senior missionaries from hiking to the
westernmost point of Oahu.

Puddles and mud were in abundance.

Our shoes carried a couple of extra pounds of
mud for a good workout.

There were some challenges taking the less
muddy path along the shore.

Elder Dunham was our fearless leader for the hike.

Soaked, muddy, but happy nonetheless.

This is what we came to see. Numerous albatrosses dotting the hillside
and some sitting on their nests.These birds mate for life and are
larger than seagulls. We even saw some with heads bobbing
as they were doing their courtship .dance.

A bonus was seeing 3 monk seals on the point.

This is definitely the closest I have been
to a seal so far.

Bill as usual was our main photographer.

On the way back we could see the rugged West Shore.

By the time we headed back, the rain had stopped and we
had pretty much dried off.

Our after-hike treat was to stop at the
HI-BBQ chow truck in Haleiwa.

Dirty Dash Hawaiian Style

We started our hike to Maunawili Falls about noon under
cloudy skies. When we saw how muddy the people coming
back were, it should have been a warning.

This gives you an idea of how massive
the thick vegetation was. 

It was stunning.

Is this Jurassic Park?

The jungle tucked up against the Ko'olau
Mountains was lush and thick.

The walking sticks came in handy.

Ron Jones practically ran up to the waterfall through
the stream

We didn't see Ron jump, but wouldn't
be surprised if he did.

Steve Kittelson and Clyde Robbins negotiating
the best way up through the stream to the waterfall.

We were the only"seniors" there.

Nancy Waterfall loves adventure.

Karla Robbins and I.

Started getting muddier on the way down.

The one bonus of the downpour we were
caught in was the numerous waterfalls
appearing across the Ko'olau Range.

Fortunately, no falls for me.

These women all did awesome. Here is Karla.

Some minor injuries occurred. Here is
Bill's leg.

Kathy Kittleson "handling it."

We don't need to do the Dirty Dash. It was a muddy,
slippery hike, but we did it and no "major "injuries.