After yesterday’s bouncy swim that kicked off our trip, I was happy to wake to the sounds of birds, rather than wind whipping through the Kiawe trees, telling me that the water would be calm. It was, and we set off for a dramatic reef at the mouth of our little bay. We were greeted there by one little turtle and one big turtle, and we checked out the local urchin population. I’d never noticed this before, but some of the urchins wear hats. They pull pieces of shell onto the top of their bodies, perhaps to protect them from UV rays, our resident marine naturalist and guide Heather surmised. She’d read an academic paper about it after noticing large populations of hatted urchins in Greece last year.

We swam across the bay, enjoying the healthy coral and schools of yellow tang. The coral is of particular interest to us this week, as the world is experiencing a significant bleaching event due to rising ocean temps. We’ve been witnessing the steep decline of reefs in the Caribbean over the past several years, and we are hoping the remoteness of Hawaii and the deep waters surrounding will spare the coral here. We’ve been enjoying refreshing and appropriate ocean temps here of about 77 or 78 degrees, which is a relief after the heat we experienced in the BVI last November.

Our guests lounged on the punee for a bit post-swim, and we made sandwiches from a big platter that Clare brought over.

*Myssie bought this cute little dancer at the local ABC. A foreshadowing of the special evening we had ahead.*

Another drive down the magic road brought us to Kona for an afternoon swim on the Ironman course. Only 4 of our 6 swimmers decided to do this swim, so we had a 1:1 guide to swimmer ratio; as nice for guides as for guests. Ryan paddled on his SUP in a bright yellow shirt while Kekau swam with us. He competes in several open water swimming races throughout the year, and has a fluid and powerful stroke. Some spinner dolphins leaped out of the water to do their signature spring move, but stayed a few hundred yards away from us. We swam about 1.2 miles, a practice session for our full course 2.6 mile swim here later this week.

Back up the magic road with incredible magic late afternoon light to our hale, where our evening’s entertainment was already setting up. The local Halau is a group of traditional Hawaiian musicians, storytellers, and hula dancers that visit with us every year. Their performance roots us to this place, immersing us deeply and meaningfully in the story of Hawaii and her people. I’ll let Heather’s photos do the rest of the talking here.

Chef Dan has a 4-step process for making Kailua pork, and the results are mouth watering. He and Clare set us up with a Hawaiian luau, a celebratory meal akin to our thanksgiving table, but a lot more colorful. Curried blue sweet potatoes, pink lomi-lomi salmon, purple poi, and bright white rice was heaped upon our plates along with the pork and cabbage. Green tea ice cream with Waimea strawberries for dessert. We've had a lot of Hawaii today, and I sink into bed feeling very grateful for this place and its people, and the way they continue to welcome us with all there is. That’s what Aloha is all about.

Hopper

After sunset and dinner, we take to our beds. Beside mine is a special lei made of Pua kini kini. I was told to leave it in a bowl of water and it would emit its intoxicating scent for days. Perhaps this is why I’ve had the best dreams here. Aloha. - Heather

Monday: Soaked in all things Hawaiian.

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