Nene's

The state bird of Hawaii is the Hawaiian goose or nene, which is native to the islands and is found exclusively on these islands. These were walking around on a golf course where we were looking for the nesting places of an albatross or two. They are a quiet bird very unlike the wild bantam roosters that infest the forests of this island.  They supposedly evolved from the Canada geese a long time ago.

The Kilauea Lighthouse sits on a point jutting into the Pacific. It was built and dedicated in 1913 and was used until the 1980's.  It's not far from here so we had a drive there to see the site and the sights.  It was pretty and pretty dramatic scenery.

There is an island off the end of the point where the lighthouse sits. It's the home of colonies of wild birds who return yearly to nest and procreate. This is the northernmost point of the Hawaiian Islands, about the latitude of the Bahamas. This is a volcanic island like the rest of the chain of islands.  We walked around and found a lot of people looking for humpback whales.  As we watched several - one at a time over minutes - breached and showed themselves a distance off shore, but close enough to be seen reasonably well.

This afternoon we had a trip to the beach.  Here's a pair of septuagenarians after returning from the waters of Hanalei Bay where they had attempted and completed a few rounds of boogie boarding, an easier form of catching a wave without standing up on a board. I admit it was a bit exhausting, but now and then a guy has to step outside the bounds of whatever box he's put himself in. And with the help and egging on of my old roomo it seemed like the thing to do.

NCW and the Hostess From Hawaii (HFH) sitting on the beach relaxing while my old roomo and I were out in the bay pretending to be much younger than we actually are.

We are having fun and eating really well.