Aloha

From Colorado. Yep, we're home. We got home a few days ago but it's been a rush of catching up and I didn't have pictures to share with ya'll so I figured I'd wait till I got them to post. So now, here it is, a short picture tour of Hawaii, Farm Fam Style.



This was the view off our balcony (or lanai) at the hotel, the very night we got there. After five hours of delays in Denver and an eight hour flight, it was the most beautiful thing in the world to us, even though it was dark. Especially considering we weren't wearing coats. In January. At night. Oh Gawd why did I come home?

Another nifty perk of our room was the it was directly above the waterfalls on display at the front of the hotel, so when we'd get back to the room of an evening we'd sit on the balcony and listen to the waterfalls and stare out over the city for a while. So very relaxing....

On Thursday we went to the Sea Life Park, which is cheesy and touristy and quite a lot like a cut-rate Sea World except without the whales. But, we were tourists and they do some nifty dolphin and sea lion shows and there's plenty to see, so we went.

First up was the Ray Ballet:

Considering what happened to Mr. Irwin I think this chick is both brave and smart. She climbed into a tank with huge stingrays, but she brought bribes. I figure it's kind of like working with the mob when they're running a protection game. Pay em off, and you don't get hurt.


The rays of various types were quite cooperative when it came to showing off for the audience, and it was beautiful to watch them glide around.

Then, the sea turtles, right at the exit from the ray tank. This is what happens when you throw all the food in one area during feeding time. It's a slow motion feeding frenzy, a turtle pileup:


Since they sell turtle food (lettuce and broccoli) in the gift shop, the turtles are quite willing to wander over to anyone in the vicinity of their tank when they're not getting their big meal, and pose for pictures in the hopes of getting snacks.


Of course, no sea park is complete without sea lions, and in addition to the Miss Sea Lion Hawaii show in which they showed off their tricks they had an area where the sea lions just kind of hung out. It's not hard to guess why this guy wasn't involved in the choreographed show, since every time someone would walk by he'd make his opinion of tourists well known:

They also have a quite unusual animal at the Sea Life Park. I didn't know it was possible, but apparently dolphins and whales can cross breed. This one is the result of an accidental breeding, born right there in the park. She's called a whalfin and she was the star of the show:


A lot of the rest of the trip was sightseeing and enjoying the views. I have a ton of pictures, but to keep this short I'm breaking part of it off into another post and giving you one of my favorite vistas:


Also, the (in)famous Waimea Bay, which is reportedly normally a surfer's paradise, but which was flat as the Colorado plains the day we visited:


On our last day, we checked out of the hotel, checked our luggage, and got some more quality beach and park time in. I was pouting about having to leave this beautiful place, and one of the local birds came to console me. Or see if I would break the rules of almost everywhere in Hawaii and feed it. One of the two.