Fat Tuesday

Ever since I was in elementary school I was a fan of Fat Tuesday. Growing up I had friends from NOLA that taught me the ways of a solid Mardi Gras. I have tried my best to bring the spirit of NOLA to the various cities I have lived since my childhood. This year I was all too excited to celebrate in Honolulu. I went shopping to collect the proper materials for my outfit. I did not want anyone else to have the same mask as me, small island and all. So I decided I had to create in original.

I was more than happy with the final outcome of my mask. I met up with some friends, handed out some beads and walked down to the party. I could not find any King Cake but that was only a minor speed bump in the night. Everyone was full of energy and ready to celebrate. We walked around people watching until the small kine parade parted the masses.

I made it an earlish night as I still had to work the next day. But overall not a bad way to spend an island style Fat Tuesday.

Out of Hiding

Aloha Friends!

I know I have been on hiatus for a while but that doesn't mean nothing has been happening on the island. After a phone call with a good friend I remembered that I have been lacking on my updates. 

Here is the quick review of what has been keeping me from the computer:

• New car (truck to be exact)
• New job (company got bought out)
• New house

Since today is one of those rare cloudy Hawaiian days I feel okay sitting inside at my computer. After all the change and stress in my life I needed some time underwater time to rest myself (ocean therapy). I called up my friend with a boat, grabbed my dive bag and threw tanks in the back of my new truck. 

Our original dive spot was off limits due to the Marine Corps base firing range being hot. For those of you that don't know this means they were firing machine guns in our general direction. Since we had 4 pressurized tanks and 2 gas tanks on the boat (as well as the coast guard telling us to move) we felt it was best to find a new dive spot. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because as we were on our way to the next site I saw a whale spout (it is whale season in Hawaii). We decided to head toward the spout to see if we can get a closer look. Little did we know the treat we were in for. We watched as the whales jumped out of the water for 9 half body breaches and a full body breach finale. 

(Look close and you can see the water spout, I was not able to catch a pic of the breaching)

We made it to our dive site, anchored and back rolled into the water. The site we were at is known as "bird shit island", the name is very deceiving. I saw the highest volume of fish in hawaii that I have seen since diving here. Multiple schools of colorful fish swimming around our bubbles. A spotted eagle ray even glided by to say hello.

We popped up on the boat and started planning out our next dive. We had both heard of a plane wreck off the coast but neither one of use had ever been able to find it. We were officially on the hunt. It was our day of good luck diving because I tossed the anchor off the stern of the boat and it landed on the wreck. 

(notice our anchor line)

It was a crazy shallow dive so we were able to stay down for over an hour. This allowed me time to hunt for shells. I found some beautiful cowrie shells. I was like a kid in a candy shop. The wildlife was not as abundant at this site but the ocean gave me other treats to keep me happy. I kept my eyes peeled for a tako (octopus), I found an eel instead.

On our way back to the harbor we were blessed with more whales. This time they did not breach but were swimming about 300 feet off the stern of our boat. We saw a tail the size of the boat flip through the water.

A rejuvenating day on the water.....that is why I moved here!