Tropical Fun

Still having a great time here in Hawaii. Of course I guess that is to be expected. The tropics do that to you.

A week ago I went out for a ride with some new friends, a motorcycle ride that is (and yes, I was wearing a helmet). It really put into perspective just how small this island is. We went around along the coastline for the most part, and it was just an afternoon ride. We didn't go around the entire island, but that was probably due more to the fact that there isn't a road that goes all the way around.

I've also been doing loads of other stuff. I camped out for a night on the beach, in the sand, without a tent. Had there been rain that might not have worked so well, but it was a clear night. Most of the moisture encountered was from the morning dew, and of course swimming in the ocean. Even at night the air and the water are warm enough to enjoy the salt water.

I went for a hike with Red out to a point where there are no roads. We didn't manage to make it all the way to the end, but that wasn't because we didn't want to. Turns out the point is used by birds as a breeding ground, and since we had the dog with us there was a point at which we had to stop. Along the way I saw some pretty interesting spiders, a small centipede (which I thought was quite large), and water being forced through the blowholes of a pod of whales. We had no binoculars though, so we couldn't see the actual whales too well.

As for the small centipede, I learned why the one on the hike was small back at the house. Those things get HUGE. And the bigger they get, the scarier and uglier they get. Apparently they are capable of stinging, so out of our desires to not encounter such a thing, a can of Raid was used liberally in both cases that I saw one around the house to take out the creepy-crawly creature. Cockroaches are another thing that the Raid is good for, and though they don't get as big as the centipedes, they too get much larger than any that I have seen before. On top of getting bigger than what I consider to be normal, they fly too, and my first experience with a roach in the house involved one attempting to land on my head. Once it was no longer a threat, I still continued to shudder at the thought of it landing on me for a good 10 minutes.

Today was the first good rainfall I have seen since arriving two weeks ago. I am in what is considered to be the "dry" part of the island. Most clouds release all their buildup in Honolulu before coming further west to where I am. It didn't last too long, but there is still cloud cover, so I am hoping it will rain some more.