Category Setting off

Wednesday, January 29

Jan 30.2020 / / / Setting off.

Hilo, day 4

A great day of diving.  Back to the same spot—Leleiwi—and the conditions even better than the prior day.  According to Bill, these the best conditions in months.

The first dive navigation, the second dive identifying fish.  Clear water, likely ~60’ visibility, so many beautiful colors and fish varieties, a few turtles gliding around.  And our skills were perceptibly improved over the first day; the effect on fatigue and air consumption obvious, and a real sense that we’re improving our skill set.

Am absolutely bringing the GoPro tomorrow, and hope its use will be ok, as is it’s anything like today, it’s got to be shared.

After our class, we saw that the farmer’s market next door was enormous compared to other days...

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Tuesday, January 28

Jan 29.2020 / / / Setting off.

Hilo, day 3

Up early to get downtown for the first day of our scuba class.  Advanced Open Water isn’t ‘advanced,’ as much as a step towards advancing skills a bit.  Just Pattie and me are working with Bill at Nautilus Dive Center here in Hilo.  Bill’s done this for a while—certified in ’71, teaching since ’84.  “Deliberate” is a good description for his pace; and he wasn’t immediately terrifically sociable.   He’s got a definite way of doing things, and has very helpful hints along the way, for sure. 

We went to Leleiwi, about 15 minutes/5 miles east of downtown, driving in Bill’s truck with him...

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Monday, January 27

Jan 28.2020 / / / Setting off.

Hilo, day 2

The last few days in Kona, many conversations with Marc (our AirBnB host in Kona), with several shopkeepers who located in Hawai’I from the mainland (curiously, many from Idaho), meeting and getting acquainted with more folks here in Hilo, I’m taken with the lifestyle of

A day of writing.  Eager to jump into the texture of “it burned,” so got going on that in the morning and stayed with it all day.  I like what I’ve got, but am afraid of its difficulty in execution. 

Pattie relaxed here all day, reading and catching up on correspondence and phone calls.  The pacing of this trip is really such that we needn’t feel pressed to ‘do’ every day.  Plenty of time to relax and live, write, etc...

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Sunday, January 26

Jan 27.2020 / / / Setting off.

The day started with the pleasure of being cool with the windows open here in Hilo.  Coffee, writing, birds, slowly dawn…doesn’t get any better.

As the day got going, we headed to the farmer’s market downtown—open seven days a week—and got some fabulous fruit and veggies.  With a full kitchen here, we’re looking forward to making a proper dinner this week.  We brought our goodies back to the apt and headed out to Akaka Falls.

As the falls is only ten miles from town, we took every scenic route option; the first a four-mile road towards the Onomea Trail, which lead to botanical gardens.  Gorgeous views of a lush waterfront, now the green vegetation along with the black lava rock.

A stroll down a short trail to the rocky shore—the water so clear, but churning.

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Saturday, January 25

Jan 26.2020 / / / Setting off.

Kona to Hilo

A good night’s sleep, and a quick prep to leave.  All was pretty much packed, so got things into the car, and ready to roll.  We got a little breakfast bowl by the waterfront, then went for a quick stop to the grocery store for drinks/snacks for the drive, and a little cooler for some of our perishables. 

There are several ways to get from Kona, on Hawai’i’s west coast, to Hilo, on the east.  There’s the ‘saddle road’, which takes about 1.45, and there’s the options along either the north or south coast.  Everyone recommended the north coast drive, so that was our heading.

Waimea was our first town, just under an hour from Kona, after endless expansive views of the Pacific coast, and road-bordered black lava...

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Friday, January 24

Jan 26.2020 / / / Setting off.

Kona, final day

Our last full day in Kona was a thoroughly relaxing one.  Slow to get going after a morning’s work, we strolled into Kona’s ‘downtown’ waterfront area—Ali’I Drive—to succumb to the tourist magnet.  We’d stopped in to a few places here over the week, but today strolled the length of the strip from the Marriott Hotel north of the Iron Man’s start, past the farmer’s market, to condos beyond the hotels.

Lots of little shops to browse, spots to stop into to grab a bite and/or drink, and basically everything you’d expect on a waterfront tourist strip. 

But this strip has the Kona waterfront, which is just gorgeous.  Some beaches loaded with the black lava that’s everywhere, some beaches ‘cleaned’ of it and more typical sand...

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Thursday, January 23

Jan 23.2020 / / / Setting off.

Kona, day 5

Lots of business today.  Surf City almost seems to be readying to move ahead, and we almost believe the rebuild might even allow us to be there in late March.  That’d be good, otherwise we’ll be staying in Greenville with family, or in a hotel…late March in Surf City is as wonderful as anywhere, and we’re rooting for that, of course.  It’s a long haul since the storm in September, 2018, so we really miss being there.

Laundry, heading to Lowes to confirm some choices for Surf City, sending another box of overpacking home, taking care of professional obligations.  A busy day, but very pleasant weather and just gorgeous to be here.

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Wednesday, January 22

Jan 23.2020 / / / Setting off.

Kona, day 4 (pix forthcoming)

A fabulous day of diving got going early, with our 7:45 call at the Kona Honu Divers boat slip.  A completely different crew than the group we had on Sunday, and they were every bit as helpful, engaging, and just plain professional as the other group.  Cannot recommend this outfit highly enough. 

The first dive was at “Golden Arches,”  a 45-60’ reef with lots of wonderful viewing.  An easy dive, still clear to me that my skills need lots of honing.  No problems, just using up air quicker than I’d like.

The second dive was at “Suckemup Cove,” so named b/c as you pass through a little lava tube “overpass,” there’s sometimes a bit of a ‘pull’ from one of the tubes that pulls you into a rock (ouch)...

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Tuesday, January 21

Jan 23.2020 / / / Setting off.

Kona, day 3

A work day here, with no exciting excursions to relay…  Attending to writing, other professional stuff, Surf City reconstruction matters.  Sunshine and lush greenery all around made for a great office space.  We also fit in more of our study for next week’s scuba class.  We’re both done with what’s required now, and are doing other elective “courses” because they’re free and we can.

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Monday, January 20

Jan 21.2020 / / / Setting off.

Kona, day 2

Exhausted from yesterday’s dives, we slept in.  Good, good sleep. 

Some good writing, and getting a lot of help via feedback from James.

Later morning we drove around a bit; Pattie got some pampering, and I had a great long phone call with a colleague, then got in some studying for the AOW certification course we’ll take next week in Hilo.

We hit the Ola Brewing Co for lunch, then drove a bit to retrieve some highly-acclaimed cookies at Mrs. Barry’s.

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