To the Other Side

Yesterday, Slav and I took a big, fancy trip to the other side of the island. There are things to see and do along the way, but also I was going a bit stir crazy and it was sunny over there.

I thought that we were going to be able to see more lava at the top of Kilauea Volcano, but it was not visible. We did see a lot of desolation and steam, though. Here we are. Slav is only pretending to be happy because there is something (or some things) about the volcano that makes him ill.

See? Lookit the volcano!

Here, I am demonstrating the unusual feeding practices of the nene, the Hawai'ian state bird.

I finally found some sandals on the cheap, and here I am modeling them on the black sand beach. The lighting is weird; my feet are not actually glow-in-the-dark.

In addition to foot modeling, a popular thing to do at this black sand beach is sea turtle viewing.

Me, foreground. Slav and sea turtles, background.
Whenever I see (or think about) sea turtles, I am always reminded of one of my favorite childhood movie, Milo and Otis. There is a sea turtle Otis rescuer in that movie, in case you are not in a position to remember.

Outside of Kona, there is a shave(d) ice stand at which you can win free shave ice for hula hooping for 1 minute. Last year, I got a bad start or cracked under pressure or god knows what and I did not win the shave ice!!! Now, anyone who has been in a hula hooping contest with me (and battle in the case of Annie the intern) knows that a 1 min hula hoop should be no big deal for me. I also know this. So, I had to set things right! Here is a historical reenactment of me winning the shave ice glory! I didn't get any live shots because the pressure was already so great.

Here I am with my shave ice trophy!

Also, thanks to the wonders of new technology and the fabulous new computer that my parents gave me for Christmas, I can share video now! Here is a short one I shot at the sea turtle beach. And believe me, for sea turtle viewing, this is a lot of action!

It is amazing how different things are over on the other side of the island: all different kinds of plants, a different looking landscape and a much more touristy culture. In Kona, we went to the Kava bar for some yummy Hawai'ian food and, of course, Kava, which makes your mouth go tingly and is kind of relaxing. All in all, it was a pretty good trip, even though the stellar smoothie stand we were hoping to enjoy was closed, and there is something about Kona that makes us both irritable.

Today I am planning to (finally) take a bike ride, go to the farmers' market and get at bit of work done on my grad school application.