Hawaii Day 4-- Morning on the Big Island

We woke up at about 4am to catch a flight over to Hawaii, better known as the Big Island. The pace of life on this island is more what you think Hawaii should be. There are much friendlier people, and the snarls of traffic are missing. Basically, our plan was to drive around the Big Island over 2 days, stopping to see the sights along the way. Our first stop was at the Kona LDS Temple. We didn't know there was a temple here until the day before we left, so we didn't plan a session. Also, it is a small temple meaning no rentals, and we didn't bring our duds. Also, sessions are practically "by appointment" it seems. They only hold a few sessions per day-- just 2 on Wednesdays. The grounds were beautiful, though, and we saw a real wild animal. I was surprised to see a mongoose running around the grounds. It turned out to be the first of about 10 mongooses we saw on Hawaii.

I know--it's not the best picture, but it is the only picture that we got of a mongoose.  They are so fast!

We also stopped for breakfast at a beach side restaurant. This seems pretty unremarkable unless you were there. We sat right on the pier over the ocean and listened to the shorebirds as we sipped orange juice and ate egg burritos and yogurt. It was beautiful and peaceful. A pleasant change from the chaos of Honolulu.

Eating by the beach.

After a stop at Snorkel Bob's to rent some gear, we went snorkeling at a popular bay called Kailua Bay in Kona. This snorkeling excursion was much better than the last. Though there were hundreds of people in the small cove, the water was far clearer, much shallower, and had many more fish. Within a few seconds we saw a sea turtle swim by close enough to touch (though that is a federal offense). The fish were far more diverse, and we shot another roll of underwater film. In addition, the coral was brighter and had sea urchins and we even saw a small eel hiding in the rocks. The most impressive thing I saw were 2 large purple/blue/yellow fish. They must have been 18 inches long and 8 inches "tall." We spent over an hour snorkeling here, and may have stayed longer, but Natalie swam into some coral again. Snorkeling was number one on my list of things to do in Hawaii, and this second experience was exactly what I had hoped.

The fish were definitely not afraid to be right next to you.

I thought this fish was so pretty with all of its colors.

An urchin

I loved seeing the sea turtles.

Randy snorkeling.