Back in town

Uzee and I are back from 10 great days on the North Shore of Oahu. Much relaxation was to be had, of the staring-at-the-waves variety, also sea birds, lizards, strolling on the beach, snorkeling, Mexican food etc. We found killer snorkeling in Shark's Cove, home to a quartet of sea turtles that we hung out watching for a while, and also cuttlefish (i.e., little squid), tons o' butterflyfish, Achilles tang, and numerous other things. No sharks or rays, though, too bad, and only one little eel.

Here are some pics:

This is me looking bad to the bone at Shark's Cove. There aren't really sharks there, apparently, it's just a name that sounds cool. I'm not sure why I'm glowering, since i was having a really good time on the days we were there. Maybe the sun was in my eyes.

We rented a cabin on the water, and right out front there were these great tidepools full of little fish and crabs and things. For Uzee and myself, this is pretty much an invitation to sit and stare for a while. Be sure to include the sighing winds and sloshing waves in your mental re-creation of this moment.

No, she's not staring at the sunset, but at the turtles who were crashing around in the surf, up against the lava rocks that formed the tidepools. Apparently there's tasty morsels for the turtles to eat, because we observed a lot of this behavior at various points around the North Shore (from both in the water and on shore). I tried taking pictures of the turtles too, but that was pretty much hopeless.

Without a doubt the highlight of the trip was our 4-hour hike to Kaena Point, the northwesternmost tip of Oahu, a very rugged and undeveloped area. In the winter you can see whales offshore. We didn't see any whales, but we did spot a few albatross fledglings who had not yet taken to the air, and then, at the very point of the Point, a pair of monk seals sloshing around in the water. Playing, fighting, flirting, I don't really know. But they were mighty comfortable and we ended up watching them for 45 minutes. These creatures are critically endangered, so this was a gift...