I am being held accountable tonight for my blog. After exposing Mike for puking at roadside following the helicopter tour, Kelli barely able to hold it together on the flight (she actually held a barf bag in her lap the entire flight) and Bill with his Man Cold it is my turn. I know they will be checking to make sure I give you a full account of today's events.
So here goes....I will start from the beginning. Up early and off to the gym for my morning workout. Seems to get better every day! Came home and made pineapple/coconut pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Delicious! Decided that we would hit Kahalu'u Beach as we had heard there was good snorkelling there. We weren't disappointed. Tons of colourful fish of many varieties and turtles as well. The water was a little rough but totally clear. On my second trip out....first confession....I was feeling a tiny bit nauseous. Some of you may recollect my scuba diving experience here in Hawaii a couple of years back. It was always "my dream" that I would get my scuba certification before I turned 50! Kelli and I took our lessons in Calgary but opted to do our open water dive in Hawaii. I won't go into the full story as most of you have probably heard it but the short version is that I puked my guts out! It takes a bit of skill to puke under water with a regulator in your mouth. Kelli thought it was terrifically funny until we were doing our test and she was my "buddy" for rescue breathing. There I was tossing up breakfast and she was attached to my tank! The good news, however, was that I was a fish magnet! Anyways....fast forward to 2012....almost had a repeat of the same event but this time snorkelling. I did, however, manage to hold it together and get back to shore. Probably because my stomach was empty.
Decided we should go have a good lunch before hitting our evening activity! Snorkelling with the Manta Rays. The special of the day was Mahi Mahi and it was delicious. Had a leisurely lunch in an outdoor cafe looking over the ocean (sorry fellow Calgarians), then headed off to the harbour to hook up with our tour. We took our boat "Neptune Charlie" out for a sunset cruise and on the way out to where we were to snorkel we picked up a school of Spinner Dolphins. There were several and they were swimming under the bow of our boat and were also leaping beside our boat. Very cool! Finally dropped anchor, got on our wetsuits and were instructed to hold on to our rafts. The Manta Rays come to feed on plankton here. The lights attract the plankton which in turn attracts the Rays. We were in the water for 45 minutes and it was one of the most exciting ocean experiences I have ever had. At one point we had a huge Manta Ray swim right in front of us four or five times. I could have reached out and touched him but we were told we were not to do this. Just enjoy the experience with our eyes. And enjoy it we did! If you ever have a chance to do this..DO IT!!!! IT IS FANTASATIC!!! These magnificent creatures live up to 90 years, they have a span of up to 15' and weigh 100 lbs for every foot wide they span. They only give birth about once every three or four years and their babies weigh 400 lbs.! OK ladies, can you imagine having a 400 lb. baby! No wonder they don't mother their young!
Anyways....I am stalling on the ending of this story. About five minutes before we were to go back to the boat I felt that old familiar feeling starting to take hold. Darn! Managed to get myself to the boat "holding it together" but wasn't on the boat for more than a few minutes and I was tipping the sea for the wonderful show! So long lunch! It was a bit of a rough ride back to the harbour.....made a few visits to the railing of the boat. Now, having said all this I will say again....even if I knew I was going to be sick I would do this again. In fact I will do it again and highly recommend it to anyone who plans to visit here. (Seanna....that means you!)
I actually looked right down this guys throat four or five times. Amazing!
What great adventures you are having and sights are fantastic! G.
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