Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Whale Watching

So the whales are here. Every year blue whales end up in Hawaii and you can watch them from the beach, a restaurant or your own lanai (patio). It's truly amazing, and I'm addicted to my binoculars. We always eat on our lanai and the binoculars are always there to catch glimpses of spray, tails or bodies glinting in the sunshine. Pretty much all of our adventures this week involved whales in some way or another...

So, sadly, Karilyn and Graham made their way home last week. But not after some action at the airport. Their overnight flight to Kona, Seattle and then on to Victoria went mechanical and 9 hours later after sitting in the airport making friends (as only K&G could do under these circumstances), the airline shipped them off to the Maui Prince Hotel in Wailea. So they had another day in paradise, sitting by their luxurious pool, sipping pina coladas and being treated to what seemed like their own private whale show right off their ocean-facing lanai. (And yes, as a matter of fact, we did crash their pool.) They were able to ship off that night with no incident, and made it home safely.

So the next week we had to ourselves, before my sister and her family arrives. It was weird at first, the house seemed so empty! But we made sure we got out of it and headed out for some great picnics in some of our favourite spots. The first spot was for lunch at Launiopoko Park, just south of Lahaina, which is a good beginner surfing spot and has a great little lagoon for the chitlins. So after lunch, as Neil surfed (my ribs are still too sore to lay on the board to paddle), and the girls played with new-found friends in the water, I watched the ocean. And not 100 yards from shore, a mom and baby whale were playing around. And then, just as people were pulling over off the highway and everyone at the beach was taking pictures, they breached (came right up out of the water), putting on the most spectacular display I've ever witnessed. Truly one of the highlights of this trip.

A couple days later we headed to Makena Landing, an awesome cove quietly tucked away, we set up a bbq dinner and went for a little swim before cooking up our smokies. And as the sun went down in a pink and blue sea of light behind the empty island of Kaho'olawe, we kept our eyes on the ocean, which intermittently erupted in spray as the blue whales also said goodnight to the sun.

And now we are awaiting the arrival of my family. It'll be loud with five kids 5 and under; but ridiculously fun, as we watch our nephews and niece (and sister and brother in law) learn to boogie board, negotiate the waves and build some awesome sand structures. And, most wonderfully, through their eyes, see the whales and Maui for the first time...