Kailua-Kona

Still on the big island of Hawaii, we moved today to Hawaii's western city, Kailua-Kona. This was our only destination where they was no port for the ship and therefore our day started with a tender ride to the shore. Once ashore it was a divide and conquer day. Dawn went off on a land excursion to learn about the history and culture of the island, while I headed back out on the water to do some snorkelling. Because we've been relying on telephone connections to write and post the blog this time - and I've now resorted to composing with my phone - we can't access the photos Dawn took with her IPad, but she did see sea turtles which I didn't and she got to taste many types of Kona coffee. She also went to the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau Park focusing on traditional Hawaiian life. While she was doing that, I rocketed off in a zodiac to explore the beautiful shoreline. On our first stop we encountered a pod of about 15 spinner dolphins. These are the smallest of dolphin, but until they jump or cavort you'd swear that dorsal fin belonged to a shark. Further down the coast, a final 20 kilometres from our ship, we swam with the colourful fish amongst the coral reef . This was the spot where Captain Cook landed and was eventually killed, thus the memorial. It was another hot sunny day with ocean temps in the low 80's F. By the time we met up again at the dock I was exhausted from the sun and swimming , but fortunately not sunburnt thanks to numerous applications of sunscreen. The Pride of America sailed away from Kona at 5:00 headed for Kauai.