Hawaii: The Final Days

Day 6: Up too early again, do some ineffective pic blogging, coffee and cereal, go back to bed (it’s very overcast and humid, so no early snorkel). KBM and EBM head off to do some island touring.

DB and THB head down even though gloomy, then magically it starts to clear up and it is our best snorkel yet. We get out, and LB shows up, so THB goes out again...no, THIS is the best snorkel yet.

Lunch on the lanai, and then a bit after 2pm, THB and DB head out for another snorkel, excellent. We get out and KBM and EBM show up, so THB heads out for his 4th snorkel of the day: 3 different partners, one gigantic turtle, 3 large schools and one humongous school of different fish, many individual large fish, great clarity, and even some very vibrant fish that have escaped from aquarium hunters, plus 2 redlegs. Somehow, after spending several hours a day in the water, THB gets a bit sunburned on the back of his legs today...

Dinner of pupus and drinks, plus desserts and wine sourced by our island tourers.

No pictures taken today!!! Phew, that solves the potential pic posting problem…

Book Review: The Queen of the Tambourine, Jane Gardam (novel): Unfinished. Silly. Not near as good as the Old Filth trilogy (though there are incredulous moments in Old Filth, they have some character basis). Letters from the same demented woman about her neighbors. Not recommended

Day 7:  As usual, up early, and snorkel early. Huge turtle within 10 feet of shore, in about 3 feet of water. Lunch of grilled sausages back at the condo.

Three of our five in the water on Day One; the water is actually very warm

Another snorkel in the afternoon, very short: THB has finally hit the snorkel wall. 

And, for something adventurous we take a sunset cruise. 

The Hula Girl

The giant cataraman is over half empty, we have plenty of room to roam; a round of drinks, a pretty sunset 

and after attempting to eat dinner at these huge Lahaina restaurants, we decide instead of waiting we’ll drive back to  Montages (they manage the residences in place of Ritz-Carlton, who gave up around 6 months ago) and have pupus and drinks in the bar.

Packing and organizing: tomorrow we head home, however briefly, so packing and organizing is the new theme for the next few days.

Book Review: Silence Once Begun, Jesse Ball (novel): the author, in the guise of a journalist, tells a fable within a fable, set in Japan. The story of a man who manipulates others into a series of actions in order to make fools of society. The actions take place in th 1970s, the story is being told much later. Neutral

Day 8: THB practically sleeps in, up at 6am, to enjoy one last sunrise. Actually, we can’t see the sun rise, we’re a bit below the main building. Second breakfast at Leoda’s (KBM and EBM scouted this place earlier in the week) for a berry cobbler (individual size, excellent) and some to-go biscuits and muffins for THB.

Drop off of rental cars, through security, and only two hours until boarding. One of our ground rules for the week: whomever wants to leave earliest, that’s when we go  and no complaining from anyone else (at least, not out loud). We’ve used it on other trips, works very well.

You can't tell we're celebrating our 175th, can you?

Day 9: Earthquake at 3:20am local time in Emeryville (12:20am THB body clock time?), and THB tries to sleep through, DB awakens him to give the news, and the concrete above us is rolling from east to west and back again. Fortunately, the structure holds (or how else would THB be adding another day onto this blog?) and nothing is amiss.