Aloha mai e Poliʻahu

Last week I managed to have a day which included both a little walk on the slopes of a snow tipped Mauna Kea (the highest mountain in the world, measured from the ocean floor), and a swim and snooze with honu (sea turtles) on a tropical beach.

Aloha mai e Poliʻahu!

Mauna Kea is the home of Poliʻahu, the goddess of snow. Poliʻahu and Pele are not very friendly to one another. I did find Ohia lehua in bloom on the slopes of Mauna Kea.

At Anaehoʻomaalu bay I swam for a while in turquoise water with at least three honu.  Then I slept for another while on the sand.

When I woke the honu had pulled themselves up all around me.

Another sea creature came fairly close to shore. At this stage I have no idea who it was (though it looked big enough to be shark, but there was no triangle fin). I saw a flash of fish tail and a sizable long dark shape cruising the reef.

This is a picture of a honu coming up for air. Spot the honu in the centre of the pic

My return journey was particularly tedious. I ended up in the pau hana traffic. Teach me.

Who would have thought I would be the first to post pics of snow this northern winter?