They have 8 African blackfoot penguins sharing an encloser with little turtles. After watching them play for a while Lisa, one of their caregivers, comes to give a short presentation about the penguins. During the presentation she picks up one of the penguins and sets it on the ledge with her.
She tells us Icarus imprinted on people as a baby and that's why she doesn't act like a normal penguin; she won't bond with another penguin, but she enjoys being around people.
Then, something totally unexpected; we get to pet her! Sandy LOVES penguins so she is super excited
And for those of you wondering .... penguins are surprisingly soft!
Then it's feeding time and everyone crowds around to get some.
Next up, the turtles; Lisa hands out little pellets that we get to throw in the water for them, but the turtles being turtles are slow to get going so the fish end up with a belly full of turtle food as well.
One of the turtles scaling a waterfall ... that was actually quite impressive. I kept waiting for him to tumble down, but he made it to the top without incident.
It's still early so we take a quick peak at Waikiki Beach in the morning light -- much quieter now.
After our outrageously expensive dinner we choose a more economical option for breakfast; an all you can eat buffet for $7.95. It was ... eh ... pretty scary! But cheap haha. I wonder if there's some logic to this? Like, you get what you pay for?
Marina seen from the room (although heavily cropped - there are two big highrises flanking it)
Today we're exploring the North Shore. We follow H1 to H2, onto Kamehameha Hwy and the scenery is along the way is pretty amazing.
Welcome to Hale'iwa!
Thanks to Groupon I snugged a great deal on surfing lesson with North Shore Surfing Adventures, but it's early when we get there, so we decide to check out some of the nearby beaches. The sand is so coarse it looks like my feet are coated in sesame seed haha.
Finally it's time for my lesson and we meet up with my instructor Bobby. The lesson is held at Puena Point, where the waves are mellow and safe for beginners. The picture shows the channel where the waves don't break so no, they're not THAT little.
Fun fact of the day: apparently in surfing the rules of the road are pretty straightforward; the person on the wave has the right of way, so if you're paddling back to the line up and they run you over you owe them an apology (after you get released from the hospital they way Bobby says it lol).
We start by going over the basics on shore.
Fastening my leash. Can you tell how excited I am?!
The first two times I go straight into my same old bad habits, but with Bobby's advice I'm up riding waves every time after that. And what nice waves they have here! It's just me and one other girl so we get a lot of waves.
Down I go ...
Got a couple of really nice long rides in!
The only downside is that the further you ride it in, the longer you have to paddle back and when you're not used to it it's quit the work out. The fact that I can still type at all is kind of a mystery because on my last run I almost couldn't find the strength to lift my arms out of the water to paddle. What a workout! No wonder Bobby is ripped.
As an extra bonus a big sea turtle glides past within 5 feet of us as we're paddling back to shore. Wow!
On our way back we decide to have lunch at the place we met with Bobby; Jameson's-by-the-Sea, where we get to sit outside on the patio. I don't know if I can be considered an objective judge after just buring a bazillion calories in the water, but my bacon cheese burger is super yummy! Sandy's fish sandwich is tasty too.
Before we move on we snap a few pictures of Hale'iwa where the surfing vibe is ever present.
Stuffed to gills we drive north to Ehukani Beach park to watch the big wave surfers at work. These are not swimming beaches ... the current is strong and deadly.
Here's a small selection out of the nearly 100 pictures I took.
Wipe-out!
The boogie boarders (or spongers as they're called here) are getting some nice barrels!
Some of these waves are just unreal!
Watching them dissappear through the wave
Flying high!
Riding on top
Nice spray off the lip
On the way out we notice that they're putting up signs for a competion that will be held around the time we're back on Oahu. Hmmm ... to be continued?
We stop by Sunset Beach as well, but the waves aren't as impressive, plus they're breaking pretty far out.
Instead we start heading back and visit an area with tidepools that I noticed on the way in. I think the area is called Shark's Cove.
It's a little tricky to make your way down to the tidepools, but the view is gorgeous. After wading for just a few feet you start seeing little fishes. They're so cute!
Every once in a while rogue waves crash onto the rocks protecting the tide pools sending water spilling over the top in rivers of angry white water.
There's a rock shelf a little further out and when we walk closer we notice a tiny blow hole (slightly off-center to the right in the picture).
It's getting late so I talk Sandy into staying to watch the sunset and it is soooooooo beautiful! Pictures don't do it justice.
Back at the hotel we're waiting for the elevator when suddenly there's a loud bang followed by more rumble. Now, the other elevator malfuntioned yesterday and the maintaince man had said something like "It's probably something simple, but we don't want any cables to get cut, heh heh" ... so we experience a brief moment of panic. Then suddenly I remember that I'd read something about a weekly firework show at Hilton so we rush back into the room and sure enough, there's fireworks lighting up the sky!
We wait until the show has finished then we make a quick stop at our local ABC Store, kind of like a Hawaiian convenience/tourist store. I'm really growing fond of this store fast! Tried some yummy Hawaiian Maid passion fruit juice.
Mileage for today: 82.6
1 comments:
Hello,
That must have been something,to pet a penguin,just a one's in a lifetime experience.
Could you resist the urge to scoop her up and give her a big hug Sandy.
Funny picture of the sesame seed feet.
You look like a pro on that board Cat.
The big waves are really frightening.
Is there a reason why they called it Shark's Cove?
Love and xxx
Joeve
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