Wow, what a day! We rose early with plans to head into Kona and check out the town and the Ironmen. Paul has a friend, Curtis, who is participating. To participate in the Ironman World Championships, one has to get a qualifying winning time from an Ironman race during the year or lottery. He was selected by qualifying in the Legacy Lottery, because at 55 years old, he has competed in 25 Ironmen races! We went to say hi to him and watch the athletes (maybe see a pro or two) practice the swim course, which is 2.4 miles in Kailua Kona Bay. On the ride in, along the Queen K hwy, we saw biker after biker taking a practice run on the 112 mile bike course. There is one hill in particular that is truly intimidating. It is a long, uphill steady climb covering one to two miles. I don't know if it has a term of endearment among the athletes, but I think it should be named the heartbreaker. I certainly would feel heart broken facing that climb. But to these athletes, that is the whole point, to conquer the unconquerable. Town was even more crowded with athletes picking up their participants packets, taking training swims, and training runs in preparation for the 26.2 miles they must compete in the race. Historic downtown Kona is a quaint seaside village with lots of shops, an open-air farmer's market, historic churches, and the historic summer palace, Hulihee Palace built 1838, for Hawaiian Royalty.
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| Hulihee Palace |
As we walked Allii Drive, the location of the finish line for the big race, we passed hoardes of athletes preening and parading like peacocks in their colorful, logo'd triathlon garb. Some were there with family, others with cohorts. Their excited chatter of hopes and dreams, tales of bravado, and training tips and trials permeated the air like the heady scent of plumeria blossoms. Their bodies were stripped of fat, and burnished and bronzed from countless hours of training. It's an exciting thing to be around athletes at their peak and prime. On one hand, the egos and natural arrogance that comes from being the best can be a little off putting, but on the other hand, the overall sense of vim, vigor, and vitality is seductive and awakens and inner drive to become more healthy and fit.
After a couple of hours exploring the town, we decided to go for a swim at a nice beach behind the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel and next to the Kamakahonu Kailua Pier. Opposite the hotel was the Ahuena Heiau, a restored religious site, which sits atop a lava rock platform that creates a breakwater and thereby a calm lagoon, perfect for swimming and snorkeling. The kids swam until it was time for a late lunch because we then needed to head to the Honokohau Harbor for one of the highlights of our trip.
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| Lagoon in Kailua Kona Bay |
Paul and I had decided before our trip that we would take the kids on some kind of sea adventure. We were scuba divers early in our marriage and it's such a amazing experience to swim in and among the sea life. The other day, I mentioned that we did not plan well enough and missed our chance for the shark cage dive in Oahu. Well, we found a replacement....a manta ray night snorkel. We chartered the Miss Mojo for a 4 hour excursion. Leaving the harbor at about 4, we took a 45 minute ride out to an area near the airport where the mantas hang out. We arrived and had about an hour and a half to snorkel before sunset. The first mate, Josh, took us out a ways from the boat following the whistles and chirps of a pod of Spinner dolphins we had seen as we were just coming into the area where we moored the boat. They had been bow riding and leaping alongside us. There had been a couple young calves and 7 or 8 adults but they had disappeared from the surface. So Josh tried to dive down below them to get them to resurface, however, they weren't so cooperative. We did get to see them swimming below us about 15 feet down. We also saw lots of fish life and coral and had a great time. Then we re-boarded the boat to wait for sunset.
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| First Mate Josh and Captain Carl |
Upon sun set, our captain, Carl, flipped on two bright lights on the bottom back of the boat to attract the rays from the depths. Manta rays feed on phytoplankton which floats along the surface within the sunlight's reach. At night the plankton sinks down into the depths. The lights cause the plankton to rise and the manta rays feed on the buffet. They typically eat 2% of their body weight, or about 10 pounds worth. About 10 minutes after dark, the illuminated water was filled with the tiny plankton, (looked like a bunch of parmesan cheese floating around) and from the deck we could see these shadowy, stealth like creatures approach the boat. We put on our snorkel gear and dropped into the pitch black depths and made our way to the lighted area behind the boat. Within minutes we were surrounded by 3 or 4, 8 to 10 foot long mantas gliding, mouths gaping, scooping the plankton. They came within inches, sometimes brushing a leg or arm, sometimes summersaulting face to face with us. These graceful creatures performed their silent ballet uninhibited by our presence. At first it was a little unnerving to have such large creatures gliding by so close, not to mention the unknown creatures lurking beyond our visibility, but quickly we were lost in the awesome experience. We were able to swim amongst them for about 30 minutes. I have to say it was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had, and I think everyone all felt the same. I was so proud of the kids, because none of them flinched at the prospect of swimming in the ocean at night with giant sea creatures. Once back on board, our captain, Carl, had hot chocolate prepared for us and we made our way back in to harbor. As I was talking about our evening with Lily, a jet was making it's approach toward the airport, coming in very low and tipping into a graceful turn, reminiscent of the manta rays we had just experienced.
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| Manta Ray |
So another day down in the books. Tomorrow brings a new day and new experiences...I can't wait.
