Gawkers, Slow Walkers and Pot Tokers

The day is only half over and already we have had several nice doings. We started out with a walk on the Manuka State Park Nature Trail. We checked the Trail Guide box as we did the 1st time we hiked this trail. Still empty. We did though, encounter two couples and each of them had trail maps in their hands from previous trips out here. (The Hawaiians really do take recycling seriously). One of the fellows we spoke to identified himself as an entomologist. He knew the latin name of one fruit Mari asked him about, the Thimbleberry. Also known as the West Indian Raspberry:

http://wildlifeofhawaii.com/flowers/892/rubus-rosifolius-west-indian-raspberry/

Mari also asked him about the small, red, apples we see along the trail. "Oh, he said, the Strawberry Guava."

That's a tasty fruit. I've had dozens on them already.

The first time we did this trail we were the Gawkers. Today, we were out for exercise. I felt guilty passing up the gawkers and slow walkers, but we had a different purpose today: Exercise.   We did cross paths with Girly and Pierre. We met them our 1st time out. Pierre lives in the area. Girly is a pound mutt. Nice dog. Pierre's ok too. So, we did stop and chat a bit, until we heard Girly getting in a fight with the dog the Pot Tokers had with them. We met them at the big hole in the ground at the top of the trail. Interrupted their mellow perhaps. Still, we had a nice chat about the dolphins and then we headed on our way. Now I think Girly really did Marsh their Mellow.

Now down to the end of the trail where we stopped to talk with a young couple picnicking on the grass. They both just got their 2nd degrees from the Univ. of Hawaii, (Counseling and Sociology), have just moved over to Kona from Hilo, and are hoping to buy a house soon. We met their two young sons at another picnic table as we walked to our car. Nice boys.

Everyone is so friendly here...

This afternoon we took a brief tour of the National Park here called the Place of Refuge. Its a real-life version of a game we used to play as kids where if you made it to the base then you were safe:

Imagine you had just broken the sacred laws, the kapu, and the only punishment was death.  Your only chance of survival is to elude your pursuers and reach the Pu'uhonua, a place of refuge.  The Pu'uhonua protected the kapu breaker, defeated warriors, as well as civilians during the time of battle.  No harm could come to those who reached the boundaries of the place of refuge.

Place of Refuge

After that, more snorkeling at the beach just outside the park boundaries. We saw the Spinner Dolphins! We haven't seen them up close yet or gotten any video of them, but that's our dream. They rest in these calm bays all day after a night of feeding. Here's someone else's video of them:

Dolphins in Kealakekua Bay


"Spinner dolphins are carnivores. They eat fish and squid. At night, spinner dolphins travel to deeper water to eat. In the morning they move back to shallow water to rest."


That's all for today.