Whale Day!
Whale dayyy–Halle
We woke up in the morning to glorious sun and blue sky! Dad went and sat on the beach for a while in the morning and then came to get us so we could all hurry to the beach and soak up the warm sunshine. The beach was right outside our resort and we had chairs from the room. Dad and Blake went on a mission to go rent paddle boards while the rest of us lounged in the sand. The paddle boards were so fun and tricky to get the hang of in the ocean so we all went down multiple times. The snorkeling was beautiful and we saw Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa, many fish, and could hear whales and dolphins calling underwater. Then mom and I went back to the beach for more reading and relaxation while the boys stayed and played out in the water. We went back to the room and had legendary ham and cheese sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls, then quickly got showered and ready for our whale watching tour!
We were originally supposed to split up with snorkeling and diving but the dive got cancelled due to unsafe weather conditions 🙁 so we changed to all be on the same whale watching tour. Our boat guides were really knowledgeable about the whales and happy to share all of their fun facts. These whales are Northern Humpback Whales who migrate back and forth from Alaska. They don’t eat while they are in Hawaii and are only here to mate and for the females to give birth to calves. We followed a group of three whales in a competition pod where they were rolling, jousting, and wrestling to get the attention of females. It was wild to see these giant animals come up out of the water right near our boat then just disappear completely underwater. They would go under for a while and then pop back up and everyone would get really excited. Their beautiful tails coming up and smacking the water was the best part, everyone would just gasp in amazement. It was over too soon and back to the harbor we went.
Mom knew of a close shave ice place and dad said that we should just walk to it, but that proved easier said than done. There weren’t a lot of sidewalks and we had to cross so many crosswalks but we made it to Island Cream Co. Josh and dad had a SPOSHY, a magical treat with ice cream, shave ice, and mango + strawberry purée with fresh fruit and boba balls on top. Mom and I had some amazing ice cream sundaes but the SPOSHYs won the popular vote.
Dinner was at a local food truck market where a bunch of food trucks all sit together in the same place. People had burgers, fish, and teriyaki but it was all just a solid good. Mom, Blake, and I also got long-lasting temporary henna tattoos from a girl who could do designs totally free hand by just looking at her phone. It was fun and they turned out really cute (Blake’s smeared in the night which was sad–and it got everywhere. It was on his leg and he was wearing pants!) We decided the adventure wasn’t over yet and went to Dukes for Hula Pie. And it is so incredible even though we were done in form all the other rich food and treats we had. Well worth it. I ended the night watching an older episode of Stranger Things, but everyone went to bed and I turned it off after being too tired. We pack it all in when we travel and I love it!
