We had a grand hike along the rugged coastline of the leeward side of Oahu today. It was about a 2.5 mile hike to the point where the Ka'ena Point National Wildlife Reserve is located. After a great walk along the amazing coast with gorgeous water and huge volcanic lava flow beaches we were treated to courting and nesting Albatross and a couple of chicks as well as Monk Seals at the very end of the point! It was a gorgeous day with great breezes off the water. We also saw a good number of Black Noddy's on one of the cliffs. The tide was out when we started and coming in when we were walking back so the sea urchins were beginning to be covered. The difference between low and high tide is fairly small here so you don't have the extremes we're used to. Also the tidepools tend to have only small fish and an occasional urchin or coral. The reefs however, are quite another story. This weekend they were having a fishing contest so there were lots of fishermen and sons out. It was interesting talking to them. Most were native Hawaiians and they shared alot of their culture with us. Very nice folks. We returned home after a brief stop at the lagoons and chilled the rest of the day. It's certainly fun getting exercise around here!
