Step aboard… experience the WONDER. Witness the world’s largest concentration of humpback whales, as we cruise along our beautiful coastlines. Steam through the passageway of 12,000 year-old icebergs as they arrive after breaking off from the Greenland ice shelf and slowly melt into our frigid waters.
Book a tour on IcebergQuest.com, kinda think you’re gonna see – well, icebergs. Oops, wrong season. No icebergs, no puffins, no whales. No discount either. BUT still the BEST way to see St John’s, Newfy’s harbor-nestled capital on the North Atlantic.
Downtown walk, easy to locate: Water St to Pier 6 (street parallel to restaurant-littered George). Knowledgeable upbeat crew – ALL with the Newfoundland accent. LOVED it! Sailed thru the Narrows into the cold expansive Ocean. Can’t imagine how our Pilgrim ancestors stomached the voyage OR had the courage. Blank landscape/nothing but grey rocking waves. Looked back on the North American continent: Greenland north, Ireland due east. Cool/constant breeze kept me easy, stomach steady. 2 other tourists not as fortunate. Crew comforted with trash bags, exchanged ‘em often. Uck.
Cape Spear, Signal Hill, Cabot Tower, Fort Amherst. Capt’n spouted lotta Newfy facts, furthering my O’ Canada knowledgeable. Tuned in bit more than normal, dug his pseudo-Irish brogue. ‘Round the active lighthouse on Cape Spear, then circled back to town.
Marathon tomorrow but not before dinner. Ya’ll know I’m a foodie 😊 Seafood’s what’s cookin’ in St John’s. Tops here? Mussels & cod. Heard it, lived it: LOUD & CLEAR. Cod chowder starter. Cod tongues app. Steamed mussels dinner. GREAT local eats.
Transportation fail. Bowring Park, Monday’s Huffin’ Puffin start: FIVE miles away. Taxi to the airport, last-minute car rental. These boots are tired of walking ♫ ♬ ♭ ♮ Whew!
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- downtown St John’s
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- National War Memorial (WWI)
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- Jellybean Row
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- city tour on the North Atlantic
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- the Narrows
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- Signal Hill Historic Site
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- Fort Amherst
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- Bald Eagle
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- Cape Spear
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- North America’s easternmost point
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- GREAT local eats!
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- far far from Colorado
Newfoundland Island
While Sis & Paul, Ash & Tom vacationed on thru Friday, woke Wednesday morning to MY last Big Island sunrise.
UP & out – headed to the ocean. Jogged/hiked/walked nearby trails, trekked alongside the ocean, stopped & watched paid dolphin encounters in the Bay, ran thru a Japanese garden. Waikoloa walkabout. GREAT day start!
‘Last day’ plans? Lazy pool day 🌺
Sis (& Paul) joined us poolside with a deck of cards (after birthday breakfast & paddleboard yoga). Game of the day (new to me): Kings in the Corner, a Greco family tradition. ADD guac PLUS coladas – bestest end to an active Island vacation.
Food, FAMILY, FUN & a whole lotta LAUGHS.
Listened to the community conch shell – blown long & steady, recording the day’s end. Sun burned pink, dipped into the ocean, completing its rotation ’til morning next. Aloha & Goodbye, Hawaii. Whatta holiday!
Red-eye flight back to Denver, play time over. Well, almost – shared an hour of LOVEs with my Ro (aka. the World’s GREATEST Pup) before reclaiming the previous nite’s sleep. GOOD to be HOME. LOVE LOVE my Colorado life ❤
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- ocean Paradise
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- Waikoloa walkabout, barely broke 50ft elevation — LOL>
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- cards & Piña coladas
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- Goodnite sun, Goodnite Hawaii
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- Reunited w/ Ro, the World’s GREATEST Pup ❤
Aloha & Goodbye
Never once to Hawaii, now twice in 2 years. Sis’ celebrating her big 5-0 Birthday this week AND running a 50K all-UPHILL ultra-marathon in our 50th state.
[Can’t believe you have a sister turning 50? Just smile & say: Nope I can’t believe it either. No need to share she’s my younger sister ❤]
Boarded a direct flight to Kona (United). 7 hour ride, 5 of it over the vast Pacific. Kept my shade shut & movie-binged. Caught up on the latest Planet of the Apes prequel – don’t be a hater. NOW we know why Nova couldn’t speak in the Charlton Heston version. LOL>
Open-air airport, no walls – just like Maui. Rental car pickup. B&B overnight in Kona. Palm trees, flowers – and chickens, crazy amount of chickens free-ranging in Hawaii. Tropical, temperate Hawaii. Sis might be planning ALL future family getaways.
Woke super early (time difference). Morning hill trek before Saturday’s 50K. Road climbed high above Kona, beautiful view of the ocean. Easy 2-mile run that got away from me. Garmin read 5.12 [miles] when I returned for fresh fruit & papaya pancakes. Paradise.
Late road start to Hilo for tomorrow’s 50K registration. Sis beat me there (retrieving lost luggage) & managed bib pick-up. Afternoon FREE, too early to check-in my bougie condo in Waikoloa – beach DAY. Detoured north: Laupāhoehoe Point Beach Park.
80° & sunshine. HUGE turquoise waves lashed the Park’s volcanic-rock shore. Laid back in lush green grass & closed my eyes. Ocean breeze, surrounded by Palms, secret quiet paradise. Big Island drive home (digged on the Hawaiian names).
Laupāhoehoe ⇨ ʻŌʻōkala ⇨ Pa’Auilo ⇨ Honoka’a ⇨ Waimea ⇨ Waikoloa
Lunch in Waimea, dinner in Waikoloa, both with a pig theme. 500,000 wild hogs on the Big Island – I went with fish 🙂
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- Sis’ 5-0 destination BIRTHDAY
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- tropical CEMETERY run
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- secret quiet paradise
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- HUGE turquoise waves
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- ocean breeze, surrounded by Palm
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- Laupāhoehoe ⇨ ʻŌʻōkala ⇨ Pa’Auilo ⇨ Honoka’a ⇨ Waimea ⇨ Waikoloa
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- 500,000 wild hogs on the Big Island
Laupāhoehoe Point
Hawaii’s feral pigs have history in their genes
“It has always been believed that the pigs were likely brought by famed explorer James Cook when he discovered the islands around 1778,” says Anna Linderholm, assistant professor of anthropology at Texas A&M University.
“He almost certainly brought pigs, chickens, and other animals with him. But our findings show that the wild hogs there today were introduced much earlier than his arrival, by hundreds of years at least. They likely came from European or Asian descent.”
Texans love their cattle, and Hawaiians love their pigs. Millions of visitors to the islands have attended luaus where a roasted pig in the ground is considered a must-see event, and Hawaiian lore has it that pigs were associated with various Polynesian gods and they were treated with great reverence and respect.
“The ancestry of feral hogs in Hawaii today can be traced back to Polynesians, and their colorful island history and legends are embedded in the state’s culture and many traditions,” Linderholm says.
