Hawaii Day 6/Volume 7 KONA(Big Island) & WHALES!

Up and about around 7:30. We love sleeping on the ship, it's so relaxing with that cloud soft mattress and and waves.

We have arrived on the other side of the Big Island at Kona. This is the only port that we can't dock at so we have to "Tender" out. That is a new word to me but it means a dingy or an old life boat picks us up and takes you back from shore the entire time your there. They run every 20 minutes so unless it's a really busy time it's not a problem.

This was our day we planned to do our "Whale Watching". This is the port where a lot of people go fishing or scuba diving and since were not in to that this was our choice or to stay on ship and rest. The Excursion Lady was MOST unhelpful. First time and only time on the ship that they were. I think it was because they didn't have one so they were not about to set it up with someone else.
Soooooooooo we walked around the ship a bit and waited on our "tender".

It was the first day that it actually felt HOT.. and I'm running out of clothes and what I have is not so cool. Actually laid in the sun for a bit but like I said it was hot that day.

We did finally get our little dingy and headed for Kona.
It's a very touristy shopping place, but of course all of the ports are that is why it's always a good idea to have plans! But boy did I find some wonderful bargains. Got Tina, Lea and Nikki outfits (and wore them all :) )

We found a Whale Watching boat to rent and I think the time was around 1 or so, so we had some time to kill. Had a snack a rest, changed from my uncomfortable clothes in to Lea's outfit and drank a SMOOTHIE!



The boat man arrived. Very nice and enthusiastic about the trip! The name of the large rubber boat was the SEA WOLF. Only one other couple and a single person on the trip. I was worried about being able to get on and off things but it's not been a problem at all. Everyone very accommodating.


We first saw a very large group of Spinner Dolphins. These are much smaller then the dolphins we are use to in Florida. We probably watched them for 20 minutes.

We decided they looked kind of like Sword Fish when then were jumping and spinning. I was mesmerized by them.


We went further our and our narrator spotted a baby humpback whale!

It's so exciting the first time you lay eyes on something like that. Then there was the Mama and another adult. Narrator said it was probably the mother's mother.



We watched them surface over and over again. Easy to see why they are called "Humpback" whales because that's mostly what you see and THEN you see those beautiful tails! Every white under their tails is different. It's like a fingerprint, that's how they identify which whale is which.


We spent over an hour out in the ocean watching and watching. Some of it was very rough, but surprisingly it didn't hurt my back or side at all. the seats are extremely cushioned for that reason. On the way back toward the dock we went in to "The Cove". Not sure what movie was filmed there but there was one. I can't remember. Maybe one of Elvis's? It was a beautiful place.

On the way back I asked the narrator if he ever got tired of going out on these trips.. He said absolutely NOT.. He said every day he sees something new, or he expects to see something new.
He said he saw a baby whale calf just born the week before. He has a real love for them.

We made it back to be last of the day to "Tender" ! That's because we were sailing at 7 I think. When we got to the shore there were lots of people swimming in the water by the dock.
It looked like it would be a good idea that day. It was hot and the only day we did get burned. Me on my face and shoulders and Brownie on the top of his head! He didn't think about sunscreen there!

We had made reservations to eat at the "Western Steak House". So we showered and got all dressed up for our special night at our restaurant. The service at the restaurant was wonderful, the food itself was just so so. Not any better then the free food:)



After we ate we walked on the deck. It's ALWAYS windy :) But it was so pretty out there but this was a real warm evening.

We looked around the ship a bit. We should have gone to a show that night but we were tired. We took some pretty pictures!. Tina did a good job putting me together ~



Thursday we are sleeping in so didn't get clothes ready. We love the soft floating bed!