Whale Watching v2

We went out again today to film for the whale watching commercial Ryan and I are making. I took my camera today so that we didn't have to worry about getting the nice camera wet. It was great to use my camera because I had my rain cover, and could have used my underwater case if things had gotten too serious! The second trip deserves another entry because we saw some things that we didn't see last week. As we left the harbor, we went right through a pod of spinner dolphins. Those things like jumping all over the place! Its obvious how they get their name, when they come out of the water they spin, doing full barrel rolls. Its crazy!

We also took a detour to go see some sharks. A shark encounter boat had stopped, and so we watched them and drove around. There were heaps of sharks swimming all over the place. There was even one guy hand feeding the sharks. I definitely need to get in the shark cage while I'm here. They were Galapagos sharks, according to the captain. Here they are hand feeding the sharks. Pretty crazy how they do that, kinda like the crocodile hunter except with sharks!

We saw some whales from a close distance again today. At one point, there were a few whales following us. Apparently they are curious, so they were following the sound of the engines. We saw one whale breach really close to us, and then we saw about 12 or so breaches happen about a mile away. It's always incredible to witness them doing that!

Photo credits go to Dolly today. I didn't even take my digital camera out, just my video camera so it was good to have a backup. Faafetai lava!

Culture Night '08

Last night was culture night, an annual event where each club has the opportunity to present a dance or cultural performance. I was in the Samoan club, and we did a dance called the sasa. We've been practicing now for about 2 months. Maybe someday I can put a video clip of this online, but for now, just after the fact photos. I was definitely the only white guy dancing in the show. Contrast that to the BYU Luau in Provo where there were more white people than actual Samoans. I did so so on the dance. I missed two key practices because I've been so busy with school, so I forgot a couple moves and was freestyling a bit! Ha ha! It was great fun! Many people told us ours was the best. The Samoan club usually is, according to the locals. Maybe thats why they saved us for last! I reckon that's exactly why! Marvin, Lilly Lafaele (I was her Zone Leader in NZ), Matu (me), Dolly

Me and my roommate Lenny. This is the first picture we've taken together I think!

Lucky me! Sitting between Dolly and Flora after the performance and food.
Right at the end of the performance.

Whale Watching Trip

Yesterday, Ryan and I went on our first whale watching excursion for a freelance video we are producing for a whale watching tour company. The company takes 3 tours a day. One in the morning, afternoon, and a sunset cruise. We went for the afternoon cruise. The boat is a catamaran sailing vessel. I don't think I've ever been on a sailboat before. I was excited because it reminds me of the Iosepa canoe here at the school.

Our first whale sighting shocked even the captain and crew. We almost ran right over a mother and her calf. The calf rolled over and waved its fin at us. We saw those two several times through the day. We saw them leap out of the water a few times, and even saw their tails as they went for a deep dive. It was incredible to see these large humpback whales leap clear out of the water. Scientists are actually not sure why the whales do this.

We will probably be doing some other excursions. I am rather excited to try going on a sunset cruise. This is going to prove to be a fun project that may lead to other fun trips, including snorkeling excursions. Camera's are a ticket to a fun time!

Even though I didn't take many photos since I was doing video, I did catch this one whale in a photo.

Kauai'i Day 4

This morning, Ryan and I got up early to see the sunrise. The last time I made an opportunity to watch the sunrise was on the top of Mount Timpanogos, clear back in August. It was quite beautiful. Clouds were blocking the sun as it came over the horizon, but it still turned out to be pretty good. We filmed the whole thing and I may do a time lapse shot for the video I will edit.

We had a huge breakfast this morning at a place called the Kountry Kitchen. I had 3 pancakes: one chocolate chip, one banana, and one macadamia nut. It was accompanied by bacon, eggs, fresh papaya, and guava juice. The wait to get in was 30 min, so in the meantime we went to a waterfall called Opaekaa Falls. It was just off a road, basically you turn off the road and look at it. You cannot hike down to it, apparently people have died trying, but it was a very pretty falls. It looked like the water must have been lower than usual due to a lack of rain in Kaua’I for a while. It was very pretty though!

When we got back to the hotel, I got ready for church. Before we went to church we went and saw one more waterfall: Wailua falls. This is another one you just drive to and look at. Apparently the falls are taller than Niagara, but obviously not with the same amount of water. It was another short visit before we went to church. Church was in the neatest little chapel. The chapel is separate from the rest of the church building. It’s walls are all glass, so you can see outside, which is kind of cool. After sacrament meeting we took off (terrible, I know! Ha ha!) and got lunch and then we picked up the band and went to another chapel where they were going to do a fireside. We hauled all of their luggage to the airport, checked it in, filled the vans with gas, and basically got it ready so all they had to do was get in the vans and go straight to the airport. Worked out well!

We were in flight for about 19 minutes this time, the pilot made it a quick trip! We got back to La’ie right on schedule at 10:00, and I unpacked and went straight to bed. It felt great to get away from it all for a while. But, I’m right back in it now, with tests and homework on the horizon.

Kauai'i Day 3

This morning I woke up at 7:30 and went for a quick swim over on the beach in front of our hotel. There were actually quite a few fish in this man made cove. The fish were obviously conditioned to being fed, because they would just swim up to you and surround you. We took off pretty early to go to the Kukui Grove Shopping center. I got an acai cup from Jamba Juice…who’d have thought they’d have local tastes! The concert was really long…I think they played every song they know. But, it’s the last one we have to film! Hooray!

Our first sightseeing spot was a lookout over some cliffs, complete with lighthouse, called Kilauea Lookout. We were there for about an hour waiting for the band to show up. Unfortunately, it was rather overcast, so the photos aren’t too killer, but what can you do? My batteries in my digital camera claimed to be low, but they are still working even now! After the choir came, we let them view the site briefly before heading to Hanalei Bay.

Hanalei Bay (see top photo) sits in the middle of some lush green mountains. The north side of the island is much prettier than the south west sides. We just hung out for about an hour and a half. I was getting bored until someone pulled out an ukulele. I patiently waited my turn, and then let out a few jams! It was great fun! We ate at a place called Bubba’s Burgers. Big greasy burgers! I’m sure we’ll be eating later though. It was my first real meal today. I have been living off of “Cliff Bars”, an energy bar thing that Ryan and I bought.

On our way back to the hotel, we saw an incredible sunset! Lawrence did this crazy U-turn on a blind corner move so we could stop and see it, and it was WELL worth it! We didn’t actually see the sun, but the colors and the surroundings were incredible. It was probably one of the best sunsets I have seen. Now, its just time to go to bed early, I plan on getting up for the sunrise tomorrow!

Again, if you would like to see more photos, you can look on my facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=32003&l=3ce94&id=784221928

Kauai Day 2

Oh it felt good to get a good nights sleep! I still could have used another hour or so, but such is life. We had to leave up early to meet up with the band, since we are staying on the opposite end of the island. After we met up, we went to Waimea Canyon, aka "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific". I should say we got lost for a little bit because we missed the turnoff to the canyon. As we were lost, I saw more whales in the water from our car. This is just whale week on the Devin Channel! Bro Lau, the driver and film director, was rather upset that we may miss something, and once we found the road, we were soon speeding up the canyon. It is a VERY windy road, and I was basically holding on for life. We finally convinced him to slow down a bit. We didn't even miss anything!

We drove clear to the top of the canyon, where we were supposed to see some really cool lookout onto the ocean over steep cliffs. But this also happens to be the wettest place on earth (36 ft of rain annually), and it was clouded over. So we instead went to look out over the canyon . We were able to see the island of Ni'ihau. The canyon is quite spectacular. There was a very large waterfall running down one part of the canyon that was incredible. Here's me and Jeremiah. Gotta get a family photo while you have the opportunity! Better email this to Grandma!

We had lunch at a neat little park with heaps of chickens all over the place. Then we headed down to get ready for the last concert. We had dinner at a chapel, a potluck provided by the members. We have been taken care of by members! Tonights concert went well. The bands sounded really good and we got good video and our sound guy got a great recording. Here I am preparing for shooting some great footage. I am excited for another great day tomorrow!

If you want to see more photos, you can look at my facebook album at this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=32003&l=3ce94&id=784221928

Kaua'i Day 1

I didn’t sleep at all last night because I had to finish a paper due today before I left for Kaua’i. We left campus on a bus at 4:50 am. That’s a little early. Then we had to go through all the security hassle all for a flight that lasted only 20 min or so. When we arrived, we immediately went up to Kapaa High School for the Salsa Orchestra and Brass Quartet’s first concert. The drive is beautiful. Kauai’s terrain reminds me of

the east side of Oahu, with sharp mountains and beautiful beaches. The music groups have great talent, and play a variety of fun songs. They play a lot of music from different countries. Just a side note, I was required to wear blue jeans and closed toed shoes as part of the “uniform”. I had to borrow some jeans, because I don’t have any here with me in Hawaii, and wore my Keen’s. I felt very claustrophobic, or just hot. I’m not used to it! We went from the high school to the Aloha Beach Resort near Kapaa. We were only there for a few short moments, but it looks really nice. I’m sure I’ll be comfortable tonight.

Our first tourist attraction was Kipu falls. It’s a neat little falls not far off the highway. I was thinking that Laie falls was such a long hike for such a pathetic falls, but Kipu falls was a short hike (5 min) but the falls were awesome! It looks like it could be the set for a Tarzan movie. It’s very jungle-ie and green. People were diving off the waterfall. I just climbed down a ladder into the water! This one kid was crazy, he was climbing up on a tree limb way up above the water, then swing so the branch was bending big time, almost to snap, then he used the momentum to throw himself in the air and then did a crazy backflip maneuver. Some poeope are insane. After I was dry I wanted a good view of the face of the waterfall without getting wet so I could get some photos. I ended up scaling this 20 ft vertical wall that was covered with roots and vines which were very stiff and made great holds for your hands and feet. I got a view that very few others got, that’s for sure!

After Kipu falls, we went up to a chapel in Kekaha. The groups performed for a ward who is now going to let them sleep over and such. They had a potluck dinner for us. I was really running out of energy. The music they play is really good. Sometimes it makes me want to play drums again when I hear the cool rhythms they play.

Three Tables Sunset

Last night, I needed a break from midterms and Dolly needed to learn a song on the ukulele. So, we made both plans work with a ukulele session at Three Tables beach on the North Shore. It looked stormy when we left, but I said I’d already prayed about it and that it wasn’t going to rain! Ha ha! The weather ended up being perfect. Just a very slight breeze, beautiful sunset colors, and great location. I haven’t been to this beach before, and it was a good one. The grains of sand were much larger than other beaches, which made it easier to brush off.

As we walked up to the beach, I looked out into the water and saw a spray coming out from about 300 yards off shore. It seemed odd to me, and then I saw a tail, and realized I was seeing a pod of humpback whales! I didn’t even realize they existed in Oahu. I had heard they come around Maui, but I didn’t realize they perused Oahu also. It was the first time I have seen whales in the wild, and I was rather excited as you could imagine.

It ended up being a pretty fun evening!