Fiddlesticks! Volcanoes National Park – Part II

When we left off, we were at one area of the park where were got our first view of Kilauea! It was amazing! We left there and found ourselves at the Thurston Lava Tubes. The area: A rainforest!

We found ourselves feeling like Alice did in Alice in Wonderland, finding ourselves as tiny creatures amongst the biggest ferns I think I have ever seen.

A perspective on the size of the plants

My husband is in this photo on the bottom left corner. The fern emerges directly opposite him!

Fiddlesticks? The emerging fern leaves are called fiddles, and were were amongst some of the biggest I have ever seen!

One big fiddle!

These ferns were so amazing, and I took loads of photos!

A glorious fern fiddle

The center of a giant fern

Up close and personal

The colors are quite amazing as these things open up.

The fiddles as it opens

The red in the leaves of the ferns was used by the earlier Hawaiians as a dye.

Newly opened fern leaf

I hope that you enjoyed these ferns as much as I did! They are part of the rainforest here surrounds that surrounds the Thurston Lava Tube where we will head in Part III!

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Volcanoes National Park – Part 1

There is so much to see of Kilauea, that I decided to break this down into parts. So this is part 1 of our journey through the Volcanoes National Park!

Entrance to the park

Our first stop took us down a trail that leads to the one of the viewing areas of Kilauea.

On the way to see the Kilauea caldera

We walk around a corner of the trail and there she is: Kilauea!

First view of Kilauea

The opening to the is pretty big, so I took a couple of photos and stitched them together. I used my zoom lens for this shot. Be sure to click on the photo to see the details in this panoramic view.

Kilauea

My favorite author, Mark Twain, visited the volcanoes. There is a plaque that takes an excerpt from his book “Roughing It.”

Mark Twain was here

What is really interesting is watching how the sulfur plume changes.

The sulfur that pours out is continually changing

The smoke thickens

Next we head towards the Thurston tubes, which is a tube that lava once traveled through! So, stay tuned!

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Black Sand Beach

It is 96 miles from where we are staying in Kona to the Volcanoes National Park. One of the spots that is a must see stop is Punalu’u Black Sand Beach. So, take my hand and let’s take a stroll, shall we?

The first thing one notices, aside from the amazing color, is the graininess of the beach. The sand is made up of crushed lava rock, and it comes in all shapes and sizes. At this beach you can swim with the sea turtles!

One view of the black sand beach

The palm trees that line the beach sway gently in the trade winds that come off the ocean.

Swaying palms

Look carefully and you might see a sea turtle.

Sleeping Sea Turtle

Walking a bit further down the beach we come across an area that has tide pools. In one of the inlets we are lucky to see this big guy!

Coming up for air

The sea turtle looks for a way to get up onto the lava rock.

Looking for a place to lay in the sun

Let’s head back to the car so we can continue on the see the volcanoes!

Another view of the beach

One final look back…

From the water

Next stop: The National Park!

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Jackson and the Geckos

Life on the Hawaiian Islands can be found everywhere, and the little creatures flaunt their beauty! I love the geckos here as they are an assortment of colors. On this trip I was introduced to the Jackson lizard, which is just as colorful!

The Jackson lizard has a longer snout than the more compact face of the gecko. It can change colors, blending in with the black lava rock, and when it challenges it turns a beautiful green. Plus it does push ups too, and when it does it throws out a bright red bib under its chin. I approached a Jackson, and it did this a couple of times but was very shy the closer I got.

Jackson Lizard

Here he is a bit closer.

Jackson close up

We had gone to breakfast at The Coffee Shack, which has excellent food at a reasonable price, and dining is outside. It is here that we found numerous geckos traveling along the railings and the posts. What is unique here is that they feed the geckos with the jelly containers that you would normally use on your toast, and they seem to love it!

Gecko eating jelly

They are really quite beautiful.

Up close with a gecko

This next pair were getting a bit amorous! Thankfully I do not have to censor this photo!

A beautiful pair

Next we head off to the sacred grounds of one of King Kamehameha’s compounds!

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Hawaiian Flora

I should be in bed right now, but I wanted to you to see today’s discoveries! I hope that you enjoy these photos. I got home today and found that I had taken 274 photos. It is hard to go through all of it in a short period of time, so I picked out a few and may post more later! Give me your hand and I will take you through a bit of the Hawaiian garden that I discovered today!

Hawaiian Avacados

Mangos

Honeybees on Hibiscus

A graceful native

Big Leaf Philodendrum

Papaya

Plumeria

Red Ginger

Seed pods of a native vine

Next post: Geckos and the Jackson Lizard!

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The Hawaiian Fishing Story

It was to be a day on the ocean! I am so excited to be going out fishing today, and also that I am taking you with me! So, pop a couple of Dramamine and let’s get going!

We arrive at the marina just as the Sea Wife II pulls into the pier.

Sea Wife II

We draw numbers for the fishing rotation and I get my lucky number: Three. There are six anglers today. Captain Kent takes us through the safety drills on the ocean before we head out. Our first mate is Reese and he is busy setting up the rods and lures. Captain Kent fires up the engines and off we go! As we leave the marina we are greeted by a pod of Spinner Dolphin.

Spinner Dolphin

As we head out, Reese gets the lines and lures out into the water. The ocean is calm with swells of about a foot.

Looking back at the Kona shore

We were out for about an hour when the reels started screaming! Stations 1 and 2 both had hits! The two anglers were fighting to bring in the fish. Unfortunately for angler number one lost his fish, but number two was struggling! Standing behind him and watching the line I spotted the silver flash of the fish as it darted under the boat. Reese grabbed the gaff and the fish was brought in! How exciting to see this 10 pound skipjack tuna!

Bringing in a fish

Soon we hit an area where the rain started to come down pretty good and we were all dampened by the rain.

Caught in a storm

Captain Kent turned the boat away from the storm and into deeper water. Looking back at the shore we see Moana Loa.

Moana Loa Volcano View from the Ocean

We were heading to what Kent called the abyss. The drop off there: 6,000 feet!

A View from the Boat

Fishing is a waiting game and I got to know some of the other anglers.

Barb - The Salmon Fishing Queen

Reese had put the big guns out there. Huge reels with lures that resembled squid. I sat in the chair and waited.

Patience is a Virtue

The lures attracted a tropical frigate bird that hovered and then dove down towards to squid lures.

Tropical Frigate Bird

We passed by an area where they are raising Amber Jack tuna.

Amber Jack Fish Farm

Well, the rest of the trip was uneventful. But then that is why they call if fishing and not catching! We headed back to the marina.

Coming back to the pier

Even though I did not catch anything today, I still had a blast on the boat and look forward to my next fishing adventure, wherever that may be! Thank you for coming along!

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Hawaiian Sea Creatures

I wanted to entertain you with a few photos that my husband took of some of the sea life. We are heading out in a couple of minutes to go deep sea fishing.

Chitons - I believe

Colorful crabs

Greetings from the sea turtle

Got to dash! Aloha!

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Aloha from Hawai’i

I woke up this morning and took a walk with my husband on the beach. We found ourselves overwhelmed by the beauty and so again, come and take a walk and discover with me the wonders of this beautiful island!

Red Hibiscus

Unknown flora

The Beach Up Close

A little wave action

Shell of a dead crab

Breadfruit

Native Dove

Gosh – there are so many more photos! Let me leave you with this one.

Para-sailing

Tomorrow the SalmonFishingQueen goes deep sea fishing! Stay tuned!

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Off to Hawaii

Come and fly with me! My blogs on this trip will be one day behind! I wanted to share with you some of the photos that I took on our travel day. It was a long one starting out at 7:30 a.m. PST. The trip: 11 hours due to a layover in Honolulu.

I hope that you enjoy the photos!

Storm cloud on takeoff

Over the ocean

Remainder of a Bloody Mary

Newest salt and pepper shaker for my collection

Molokai from the air

Approach to Oahu

Honolulu

If you click on this photo of Honolulu about mid photo on the right you will see the USS Arizona Memorial!

Our trip to Kona had us on the wrong side of the plane for photos. I am not sure where the wind will blow us today. Be sure to tune in later as I take you around the Island of Hawai’i!

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Life in the Hawaiian Foothills…

This week, the Sierra Foothills is moving to the Foothills on the Island of Hawaii for a much needed vacation! Would you like to see what a lava tube looks like? Or, what it would be like to be on the deck of a fishing boat fishing in the deep sea off the Island of Hawaii? Have you ever wondered what the coral reefs look like close up? How about the fluorescent blue, hot pink, fluorescent green gecko right in your face? What about coffee plantations and where King Kamehameha lived?

How about taking a trip with me and my husband to the Island of Hawaii? Interested?

771px-Hawaje-NoRedLine

Tune in as I will be doing a daily blog and hopefully the internet connection will work with me!

Our base camp will be in Kailua-Kona.

Hawaii National Parks Map

Kailua-Kona is on the eastern shore midway on the island.

I hope that you will join us on this journey, and that you will enjoy the trip as much as we do! So let us start the count down! The first blog on this Hawaiian adventure will be posted on Sunday, March 25th! See you then! Aloha!

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