Can't believe I've been here two months! It's been the best time of my life but it's going by so fast…My last day is August 12 and I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to everyone.
Everything working in the field is going well, we've had lots of nesting activity and lots of new turtles coming up which is a great sign! This project started in 1989, and this is when we're finally starting to see if the project has been successful or not. Based on the amount of new turtles we've had it's looking good! I've gotten used to the 4 hours of sleep and the hiking, this past trip we did 48 miles in 4 days! I've learned what it feels like to give it your all day in and day out even when you're physically and mentally exhausted. On tough hikes or when you're on day 6 of a trip in the field and your hot and dirty and haven't showered and sleep deprived, I just look around me at these insane beaches I get to work at and the people I've been able to meet and it makes it all worth it. I feel like our fun adventures on our off days with the turtle crew are well deserved and we're all so grateful for the opportunity to work in such an amazing place protecting such a cool species.
The coral-lined walkway at Apua Point
Sunset at Apua with Mauna Loa in the distance
Hiking around the caldera on a day off with Brandon and Cameron!
This past week I had 4 days off, so my coworker Mackenzie and I ventured over to the Kona side of the island for a few days. We didn't have plans to do anything specific, and I don't think it could have turned out any better. We went to Hilo and picked up a rental car and some coffee for the road, and drove through the middle of the island on Saddle Road to Kona. The drive took about 2 hours and it was beautiful! It took us in-between the mountains and then along the west coast of the island along the ocean. By the time we got to the coast the sun was just beginning to set, we couldn't believe how beautiful it was.
We stayed in a little hostel 10 miles south of Kona in Captain Cook.
We checked in and dropped off our stuff, and then ventured out to Kona to find a spot for dinner. We ended up at the Kona Brewing Company, and we had some amazing pizza and tacos. Definitely recommend this spot if you're ever in Kona!
Stole Mackenzie's beer for this picture...
Then we headed back to the hostel and came up with a rough game plan for the next day.
That morning we went snorkling at a place called Two Step. It's called Two Step because there's two giant steps made from lava rock that you step on to get into the water. The snorkeling there was unreal!! So much color and crystal clear blue water.
After swimming for a couple hours we stopped at the hostel for a quick shower and then headed to the main downtown area in Kona. But before shopping we stopped at the Kona Brewing Company for lunch (yes, again, it's that good). We did some shopping downtown and checked out the local farmer's market.
A sweet old man making lei's gave us some flowers!
Had to get smoothies of course!
Got a henna tattoo…maybe a real one will be next ;)
Then, we drove around and found a good little beach! We probably shouldn't have taken out little rental car down this lava rock road….but we made it and it was well worth it!
Then we found this cool little harbor and watched the sunset.
For dinner, we ventured back into Kona and found this awesome beach front place with live music. The tables were literally in the sand and there were tiki torches everywhere, and we kicked off our flip flops and watched the waves.
We loved Two Step so much that we went back the next morning and we were in the water by 6:30am. There were so may fish and we even saw some turtles!! After that we started our trip back home to Volcano. We decided to go along the North coast, and we stopped at Waipio Valley and Akaka Falls on the way. It couldn't have been a better trip!!
Waipio Valley overlook
Akaka Falls
Random field next to a gas station with beautiful horses!
So before I forget, I totally forgot to mention in my last
post that there was a big earthquake here! We were in the field at Apua and our
supervisor called us around 11:00pm and said, “Hey guys! Did you guys feel the
earthquake?!” And we immediately looked at the water to make sure it wasn’t
receding, since tsunamis shortly follow earthquakes. Thankfully we didn’t feel
it down at the beach, but the epicenter was in Volcano Village, which is less
than 2 miles away from our house in the park. It had a magnitude of 5.2 with
two aftershocks around 3.1 and 3.2. But if we had felt it on the beach, we
would have had to evacuate and get inland as fast as possible, which would have
been pretty crazy in the dark over all the lava rock. I guess at the house the
blinds were shaking and it was pretty strong. Hawaii is so beautiful but you
always have to be careful when you live next to the most active volcano in the
world.
This past week Brandon, Jeddy, and I spent 4 days in Pohue,
one of our favorite beaches. We had tons of turtle activity which is great!! We
had at least one turtle come up each night, and out last night we had four
turtles, which is extremely uncommon. But having turtles come up definitely
helps keep you awake since you get such an adrenaline rush when you see them
emerge from the ocean. At first you just think it’s a big black rock, but then
you realize it’s moving towards the vegetation and we turn off our red lights
and hit the ground and start crawling towards her and hope she nests.
Unfortunately none of our turtles nested this trip…Some just came up and dug
around for a few minutes and then went back to the ocean, and some dug around
for 4 hours (we were up until 3:30am with one turtle, that was a rough night
and waking up at 6am was brutal).
Some other notable stuff:
-The waves this trip were crazy! Brandon and Jeddy tried to
do some boogie boarding and they got tossed around a lot. Watching some of the
locals ride the waves was so cool, I could watch that all day.
-We celebrated the 4th of July in the field,
well…technically it was on the 3rd of July but we wanted to
celebrate at the beach so we all brought some food and had a cookout. Brandon
made some sausages and Jeddy made mashed potatoes and hummus and I brought
chips and pickles and then we also had smores with cookies and reeses. Usually
you don’t get too fancy with food in the field, so it was extra special. I even
took our sarongs and made a tablecloth and put out plates and had some country
music going, it was perfect.
- I made my first trip to the urgent care this summer…I
think I got sand or dirt under my contact lens and scratched my eye…It was
super painful and really red but it’ s getting a lot better now. I was also
running on a total of 12 hours of sleep over the span of three nights, so
having some time off and being able to sleep is helping too.
- This last trip was just super peaceful. It was pretty easy
to stay up at night this trip since our conversations were so good. It’s just
been awesome getting to know everyone so well and listening to their stories.
Sometimes we’d spend an hour or so just listening to music and watching the
stars and the waves crash on the beach.
-We’ve been spending a lot of time hanging out with other
volunteers in the park! There’s lots of other houses and there’s such a
community feel with everyone. It feels like the first few weeks of college
where you always meet new people and everyone is always down to go explore or
hang out and come over for dinner, I love it! About a week ago we had a big
cookout at the USGS house with our friend Hannah (she’s doing work mapping
Mauna Loa). Lots of turtlers were there, and some bird people and more USGS
people. We had chicken and rice and sweet potatoes and kabobs, super yummy!! I
just can’t express how friendly and inviting everyone has been here.
-Yesterday Brandon and I were sitting on Hannah’s porch to
use their wifi, and a new volunteer who we hadn’t met yet walked out looking
confused and slightly concerned and asked us if we needed anything…Must have
been weird for her walking out and seeing two random people she’s never met outside
he front door with their computers out. But then we introduced ourselves and
explained we were friends of Hannah and then she mentioned that she was going
to watch the USA world cup game and if we wanted to join. Of course we said yes
and it turned into a great day! We went from not knowing this person at all to
me cooking lunch in their kitchen and watching the game and having an awesome
afternoon and getting to know each other. Just one example of how easy it is to
hang out with other volunteers.
-I have three more days off so my coworker Mackenzie and I
are gonna go to Kona on the other side of the island for 2 nights and explore!
I think we’re gonna do some snorkeling and check out some of the other beaches.
I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and videos and talk about them in my next
post.
Brandon also made a really cool video from our trip!
