Wednesday, August 8th, 2007
….at 4:30 am Colt and soon thereafter Landon decided it was time to wake up and begin the day - it had after all been light for several hours back in Southern California. Not wanting to wake the rest of the condo up, and realizing that being locked in the bedroom with two energetic boys would be torturous, we plopped the early risers in the stroller and headed out for a pre-sunrise walk down the local street. The narrow street parallels the beach and is overgrown by the attempts at landscaping from the residents that call this street home. A few empty lots are overgrown with dense trees. As we walked the sun lined the peak of Haleakala with silver, and out of the darkness some of the local roosters began to welcome the day. Landon and Colt sat upright, listening intently for the next crow from the surrounding darkness. Our morning walk evolved into a rooster hunt, and for the rest of the vacation, any visit to this road, whether by vehicle or pedestrian became another excited search for roosters.
We returned to the condo and joined my parents on the balcony for a quiet breakfast. After finishing our meal, it was almost 7am, so we walked down to the local beach again but this time headed south. A little over 100 yards down the beach is a rubble construed coral reef that becomes exposed at low tides. As kids Justin and I spent hours on this reef turning over rocks anticipating what creatures might swim out and into our awaiting nets. So now some 25 years later I headed out on the reef again, this time holding a bucket and net for Landon while Colt babbled along in his mom’s arms. Before too long we had captured several different fish species which were investigated, kissed, and promptly returned to the water so they could, “go find their mommy and daddy” as Landon would explain. We then chased around a small octopus. I’m pretty sure this was Landon’s first experience with a cephalopod in the wild, so the squirts of ink and instant camouflage color changes continued to surprise and impress him. Eventually the octopus was corralled into the bucket so that mom and Colt could safely investigate. After a few pokes the octopus was also safely released. Soon Landon was hunting for crabs and catching the small ones with his bare hands and excitedly showing off his prize catches. Colt had some difficulty maneuvering on the wobbly substrate and eventually his frustration sent him and Rhiannon back to the condo. I really enjoyed revisiting the reef with my marine science background more developed, and relished the opportunity to introduce my son to some new ocean friends. Landon and I poked around until the morning breeze kicked in and then we too returned to determine our next destination.
It was decided that we would rive down to Kamaole Beach Park II for the remainder of the morning. This beach is a short drive to the south and includes a large sandy beach surrounded by lava points on either end. The southern of these points was our daily morning fishing destination in year’s past. This morning however we left the fishing rods behind, and instead replaced them with sand toys and beach chairs. The water was near 80ºF and the air temperature was slightly warmer. The boys rolled around on the beach and played in the small surf making sure to get sand into every possible nook and cranny. I pushed both of them into a small wave on a bodyboard, an experience that Colt seemed to enjoy more than Landon, although neither asked me to do it again. Both boys also got trips into the “deep blue water” in their dad’s arms, and giggled as the ocean surge rolled them back and forth while they stared at the islands that dotted the horizon line. I swam out for a brief snorkel and marveled at how little the reef had changed. The same coral structures and fish assemblages were present now that inhabited the reef a decade ago. The permanence of these communities, while the rest of my life has changed, provided comfort.
The afternoon was spent relaxing while the boys napped. Rhiannon and I challenged Justin and my dad to a game of bocce ball on the lawn which we handily won. We drank some pog, it was beginning to feel like a vacation.
That evening we journeyed down to the shore south of Makena to a lava encrusted stretch of coastline where we had spent many hours fishing and watching the sun disappear in the past. My cousins Ben and Leah and her daughter Chloe joined the rest of the Buhrs on the trek. We found a patch of sand with a large adjacent tide pool that the boys bombarded with stones. We tried unsuccessfully to get Chloe to catch a fish. A large green sea turtle came within a few feet of the shore grazing on algae, providing an opportunity for everyone to observe the massive marine reptile. Landon recognized the creature from his frequent viewings of Finding Nemo. The sky filled with color as the daylight slipped away and we packed our wet family into their car seats for the short ride back to the condo. Some local food was picked up from Da Kitchen on the way back, and we enjoyed a dinner of kalua pig out on the balcony while discussing the day’s events and the plans for tomorrow. It was a perfect introduction to the trip.
….at 4:30 am Colt and soon thereafter Landon decided it was time to wake up and begin the day - it had after all been light for several hours back in Southern California. Not wanting to wake the rest of the condo up, and realizing that being locked in the bedroom with two energetic boys would be torturous, we plopped the early risers in the stroller and headed out for a pre-sunrise walk down the local street. The narrow street parallels the beach and is overgrown by the attempts at landscaping from the residents that call this street home. A few empty lots are overgrown with dense trees. As we walked the sun lined the peak of Haleakala with silver, and out of the darkness some of the local roosters began to welcome the day. Landon and Colt sat upright, listening intently for the next crow from the surrounding darkness. Our morning walk evolved into a rooster hunt, and for the rest of the vacation, any visit to this road, whether by vehicle or pedestrian became another excited search for roosters.
We returned to the condo and joined my parents on the balcony for a quiet breakfast. After finishing our meal, it was almost 7am, so we walked down to the local beach again but this time headed south. A little over 100 yards down the beach is a rubble construed coral reef that becomes exposed at low tides. As kids Justin and I spent hours on this reef turning over rocks anticipating what creatures might swim out and into our awaiting nets. So now some 25 years later I headed out on the reef again, this time holding a bucket and net for Landon while Colt babbled along in his mom’s arms. Before too long we had captured several different fish species which were investigated, kissed, and promptly returned to the water so they could, “go find their mommy and daddy” as Landon would explain. We then chased around a small octopus. I’m pretty sure this was Landon’s first experience with a cephalopod in the wild, so the squirts of ink and instant camouflage color changes continued to surprise and impress him. Eventually the octopus was corralled into the bucket so that mom and Colt could safely investigate. After a few pokes the octopus was also safely released. Soon Landon was hunting for crabs and catching the small ones with his bare hands and excitedly showing off his prize catches. Colt had some difficulty maneuvering on the wobbly substrate and eventually his frustration sent him and Rhiannon back to the condo. I really enjoyed revisiting the reef with my marine science background more developed, and relished the opportunity to introduce my son to some new ocean friends. Landon and I poked around until the morning breeze kicked in and then we too returned to determine our next destination.
It was decided that we would rive down to Kamaole Beach Park II for the remainder of the morning. This beach is a short drive to the south and includes a large sandy beach surrounded by lava points on either end. The southern of these points was our daily morning fishing destination in year’s past. This morning however we left the fishing rods behind, and instead replaced them with sand toys and beach chairs. The water was near 80ºF and the air temperature was slightly warmer. The boys rolled around on the beach and played in the small surf making sure to get sand into every possible nook and cranny. I pushed both of them into a small wave on a bodyboard, an experience that Colt seemed to enjoy more than Landon, although neither asked me to do it again. Both boys also got trips into the “deep blue water” in their dad’s arms, and giggled as the ocean surge rolled them back and forth while they stared at the islands that dotted the horizon line. I swam out for a brief snorkel and marveled at how little the reef had changed. The same coral structures and fish assemblages were present now that inhabited the reef a decade ago. The permanence of these communities, while the rest of my life has changed, provided comfort.
The afternoon was spent relaxing while the boys napped. Rhiannon and I challenged Justin and my dad to a game of bocce ball on the lawn which we handily won. We drank some pog, it was beginning to feel like a vacation.
That evening we journeyed down to the shore south of Makena to a lava encrusted stretch of coastline where we had spent many hours fishing and watching the sun disappear in the past. My cousins Ben and Leah and her daughter Chloe joined the rest of the Buhrs on the trek. We found a patch of sand with a large adjacent tide pool that the boys bombarded with stones. We tried unsuccessfully to get Chloe to catch a fish. A large green sea turtle came within a few feet of the shore grazing on algae, providing an opportunity for everyone to observe the massive marine reptile. Landon recognized the creature from his frequent viewings of Finding Nemo. The sky filled with color as the daylight slipped away and we packed our wet family into their car seats for the short ride back to the condo. Some local food was picked up from Da Kitchen on the way back, and we enjoyed a dinner of kalua pig out on the balcony while discussing the day’s events and the plans for tomorrow. It was a perfect introduction to the trip.
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