A Wild Rest Day
We rested today by getting up at 6 am to get ready to go on a boat outing. There were 14 of us from Austin (6 from our group)that rendezvoused ina little community south of here. We were headed out with Dolphin Discoveries until noon.
Denise and Kristen had arrived last night so theu jumped right into the action first thing this morning by walking over to our condo to pack up and go. They got their first dose of Alli Drive, Kona's main thoroughfare for vehicles, bikes and runners. Picture a 2 way paved Barton Springs at its busiest weekend moment with a line of traffic moving down the center and pedestrians, joggers, bikers and runners sharing the space as they move surfside through the Kona Village area. Many are clad on the latest team gear, compression gear and are speaking a different language as they run and bike from industry tent to industry tent, sampling and needing the latest fuels and recoveries that companies have streetside for you to try. Quite the Ironman training circus but definitely part of this annual Kona scene.
We all left our condo aboit 7:30 and headed to the docks. We gathered up, got our gear together and plopped into the ocean destined zodiac. As all sat floating off the coast of Kona, rolling in the swells, surrounded by the amazing beauty of the coast line and pounding surf, we were given our fins, snorkels and marching orders. Denise, with her fins already on, mask sealed around her face and snorkel in place (but soon to be corrected) piped out her snorkel tube "We are going to see dolphin in the wild?" :-)
So off into the 'wild' we went. Our marching orders were to basically all bail out at our boat driver's command...so like a bunch of dumb, trusting tourists, when she went from 20 knots to zero and said "Jump" we all did. Off the side of a perfectly good boat, in big rolling swells, offshore into the indigo blue, bottomless looking pacific.
With heads above water (in the wild), it was a little disarray. There were snorkel tips, air flapping flippers, splashing water....and little gray dorsel fins....everywhere. "Follow the girl with her hand up." Ok. But that requires me looking above water in the wild. What is below this wild blue abyss?
Putting my mask beneath the surface, blocking out the surface chaos, there was a neverending world below the surface. Deep blueness that went forever...with dolphins 'in the wild' swimming everywhere. They were all coming in from their deep dive overnight feedings in the 600 foot waters to our west. The shallower shores here offer them rest and respite for the day. As we were told, 'in the wild' these mammals come here to shut half their brain down so they can rest, moving slowly or circling, while the shut down brain rests and the awake half of the brain keeps them surfacing for air. These were spinner dolphin, mommas and little babies, and above and below the water they were putting on a show. Some would surface and throw multiple spins, while others calmly made their way from surface to deeper places and back. This pod of 50 or so dolphin were choosing to co-exist with us and the hour or so we did 'in the wild' was a magical experience for all.
When they decided to relocate, so did we. Back into the boat we all very gracefully went with our snorkels and fins (not) and headed south along the shoreline. Wasnt too long and again, in the wild, we were in the midst of another 50 or so dolphin heading south. This pod was moving faster so we followed the show again as they surfaced, jumped, spinned, and played with each other, mommas and little babies included. They all seemed to be moving on, so our driver maneuvered ahead of them and again shouted "Jump"and off the side into the dark, deep pacific 14 trusting souls went again. It was a quicker swim this time but just as beautiful, experiencing the power, strength, yet seemless effort these magnificent creatures display. This pod was a bit more 'chatty' as their whistles and echosound were alive in the waters. Swimming with them as much as we could while they were inpursuit of a destination was definitely wild!
We pulled stake again and enjoyed some more coastline scenery as we went to a snorkel area. This particular reef shelf was the one that the 'set' of Nemo was created after. We never found Nemo but there were many amazing fish and eel all over the reef. It was beautiful!
We loaded back up and with fresh golden pineapple and papya in hand, we headed back to the cove we came from. It definitely made for an amazing, wild rest day with some great, wild friends!
Denise and Kristen had arrived last night so theu jumped right into the action first thing this morning by walking over to our condo to pack up and go. They got their first dose of Alli Drive, Kona's main thoroughfare for vehicles, bikes and runners. Picture a 2 way paved Barton Springs at its busiest weekend moment with a line of traffic moving down the center and pedestrians, joggers, bikers and runners sharing the space as they move surfside through the Kona Village area. Many are clad on the latest team gear, compression gear and are speaking a different language as they run and bike from industry tent to industry tent, sampling and needing the latest fuels and recoveries that companies have streetside for you to try. Quite the Ironman training circus but definitely part of this annual Kona scene.
We all left our condo aboit 7:30 and headed to the docks. We gathered up, got our gear together and plopped into the ocean destined zodiac. As all sat floating off the coast of Kona, rolling in the swells, surrounded by the amazing beauty of the coast line and pounding surf, we were given our fins, snorkels and marching orders. Denise, with her fins already on, mask sealed around her face and snorkel in place (but soon to be corrected) piped out her snorkel tube "We are going to see dolphin in the wild?" :-)
So off into the 'wild' we went. Our marching orders were to basically all bail out at our boat driver's command...so like a bunch of dumb, trusting tourists, when she went from 20 knots to zero and said "Jump" we all did. Off the side of a perfectly good boat, in big rolling swells, offshore into the indigo blue, bottomless looking pacific.
With heads above water (in the wild), it was a little disarray. There were snorkel tips, air flapping flippers, splashing water....and little gray dorsel fins....everywhere. "Follow the girl with her hand up." Ok. But that requires me looking above water in the wild. What is below this wild blue abyss?
Putting my mask beneath the surface, blocking out the surface chaos, there was a neverending world below the surface. Deep blueness that went forever...with dolphins 'in the wild' swimming everywhere. They were all coming in from their deep dive overnight feedings in the 600 foot waters to our west. The shallower shores here offer them rest and respite for the day. As we were told, 'in the wild' these mammals come here to shut half their brain down so they can rest, moving slowly or circling, while the shut down brain rests and the awake half of the brain keeps them surfacing for air. These were spinner dolphin, mommas and little babies, and above and below the water they were putting on a show. Some would surface and throw multiple spins, while others calmly made their way from surface to deeper places and back. This pod of 50 or so dolphin were choosing to co-exist with us and the hour or so we did 'in the wild' was a magical experience for all.
When they decided to relocate, so did we. Back into the boat we all very gracefully went with our snorkels and fins (not) and headed south along the shoreline. Wasnt too long and again, in the wild, we were in the midst of another 50 or so dolphin heading south. This pod was moving faster so we followed the show again as they surfaced, jumped, spinned, and played with each other, mommas and little babies included. They all seemed to be moving on, so our driver maneuvered ahead of them and again shouted "Jump"and off the side into the dark, deep pacific 14 trusting souls went again. It was a quicker swim this time but just as beautiful, experiencing the power, strength, yet seemless effort these magnificent creatures display. This pod was a bit more 'chatty' as their whistles and echosound were alive in the waters. Swimming with them as much as we could while they were inpursuit of a destination was definitely wild!
We pulled stake again and enjoyed some more coastline scenery as we went to a snorkel area. This particular reef shelf was the one that the 'set' of Nemo was created after. We never found Nemo but there were many amazing fish and eel all over the reef. It was beautiful!
We loaded back up and with fresh golden pineapple and papya in hand, we headed back to the cove we came from. It definitely made for an amazing, wild rest day with some great, wild friends!
Comments
Post a Comment