From the Archives: Agent C's Secret Hawaiian Mission Part 3

 To:  Spy Team Leader 

CC:  Mission Commander 

From:  Agent C

RE: Mission Update

In this beautiful paradise there are so many things to appreciate, and others that keep you aware that it is still real.  One thing your parents have been amazed at is the constant battle with bugs!  Anytime you prepare food, or brush your teeth, or do practically anything, you have to make sure to thoroughly clean the surface you used or within 30 minutes you will find a swarm of ants.  A blessing in the area of bug help are the geckos.  They live everywhere, inside and out.  In fact, last night when dad went to open the door to the porch, a good sized gecko was waiting to be let in, like a cat.  I’m not sure how your sister would handle these helpful lizards, but your parents enjoy them very much.  They eat as many of the nasty little bugs as they can get to.  They are very illusive creatures, and would make excellent members of your spy team.  I spoke with this little guy and he seemed open to the idea.  Should I pursue recruitment? The only problem I’ve found with them is that, like everything, they poop.  I have found gecko poop in every room of this house!

Today, your parents headed down to the south shore in search of sea turtles.  It was very important to your father to see these impressive animals and so they did some research in the morning and set out on a quest.  They had to stop along the way for a little shave ice, but eventually they made it to the beach! The first beach they visited, Maha’ulepu, (don’t even try to pronounce it, your parents haven’t been able to say any place names right since they got here) was gorgeous!  There were lots of rock, in strange shapes from the way the water had worn them down.  And the sand was finally like sand from home. 

Did you know that there are lots of different kinds of sand?  Your parents didn’t either until they came here.  Each different area on the island has different types of sand.  In the north east, where they have spent most of their beach time, the sand is coarse, like gravel.  The individual grains are like small rocks instead of the fine powder you see at Ocean Shores.  And when you step in it, your feet sink!  Especially if there is any water near by.  Look what happened to your mom the first day they were here!

The only problem with this beach is that there were no bathrooms and your mom had to go!  There were also too many people for her to use a bush ;). 

 

They headed back along the south shore to Poi’pu beach park where there were SUPPOSED to be bathrooms.  It turns out that the bathrooms had been closed for remodel (for years it seemed) and there were only port-a-potties.  Your sister would have exploded at this point because Hawaiian port-a-potties are way grosser than Washington ones.  But Mom was brave and took care of business.  They stopped and spoke with a very friendly lifeguard who pointed them to several areas that they could find turtles.  Mom found a comfy spot to park on the beach and Dad took off in search of adventure! 

He found a Hawaiian Monk Seal sunning himself on the rocks.  Don’t worry, he’s not dead, just taking a snooze! I found a few critters along the way too, do you know what this is?

Finally, Dad found the object of his quest!

The turtles were having a blast in the water, finding a bite of lunch and surfing.  Yep, they were actually surfing in the waves!  It looked like a lot of fun, I wished I could join them.

Next, they went down to the Spouting Horn.  It was a cool place where God had formed a hole in the rocks where the water would woosh through and shoot high into the air when the waves crashed against the shelf. Just before the water shoots out, there is a strange moaning sound.  Here’s a story about where the sound comes from…

Legend has it that the entire coastline in this area was once guarded by a giant female lizard called a mo’o.  She would eat anyone who tried to swim or fish in the area.  One day a man name Liko went fishing.  The mo’o went to attack Liko, who threw a spear into the mo’o’s mouth.  The angry mo’o chased Liko into the lava tube.  Liko escaped, but the mo’o became trapped in what we now call Spouting Horn, where its cries of hunger and pain can be heard to this day.

 

As they headed back to the car, they saw dozens of chicks with their mothers.  Most of the mothers had hunkered down with their chicks nestling in their feathers.  It made mom miss you guys a little more, so we had to show you…

Once they were back on the road, they stopped at Verde, a Mexican inspired restaurant, where Mom called you guys!  Then home and to bed.  Hope you are enjoying your time at Homeschool Co-op, and I can’t wait to see you!

-Agent C

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To:  Spy Team Leader 

CC:  Mission Commander 

From:  Agent C

RE:  Mission update

This morning, I found one of the geckos checking out Dad’s surface. I think he was wanting to see what kind of equipment we had available.  They seem really interested, should I try to recruit them for the spy team?

Mom and Dad got moving pretty early this morning, started some laundry and had breakfast, then headed out to try a hike.  They walked part of the Wai Koa Loop Trail that goes through a Mahogany farm…

Here’s what it looked like…

At the end of the trail is a really cool organic restaurant.  It is a lot like the comfort food café.  Mom had a curry chicken wrap and Dad got a grass feed beef burger.  They both came with Hawaiian sweet potato fries which were pretty cool because they were purple!

As we left the restaurant, we saw that it was actually on a farm where they grew much of the food they served!  How cool is that?  In the orchard area, they even had some pretty cool sheep…

Next, they drove West to Limahuli gardens.  This is kind of like a nature preserve for plants.  Over the last 200 years, many new species have been introduced to Kauai from all over the world.  Many of these species of plants have taken over, crowding out the native ones.  Now, only 10% of the plants you find here are ones that were here a long time ago. 

The first part of the gardens showed how ancient Hawaiians cultivated the land in terraces. They did this to take advantage of the fresh water streams that were flowing down the mountain.  On each step, they would plant plots of Taro, or other food.  The Taro is the starch that they would make into Poi that I told you about from the luau.  Because it is winter, not as many of the fancy flowers were blooming here, but there were a few pretty cool ones… 

 Here is the Limahuli stream that feeds these gardens.

Even in a fancy garden on Kauai, guess what you will find?

Yep, chickens are definitely the most prevalent species on this island!

I even found a tree just my size!

The view from the top of the garden was pretty amazing!

What was behind us was pretty cool too.  Kind of neat to be sandwiched between the mountains and the ocean!

After the garden, we headed down to Ke’e beach the end of the road on this side of the island.  The surf was pretty high so they had some warning signs up.  There were also three lifeguards on the beach.  In Hawaii the lifeguards are a part of the fire department.  Sounds like kind of a neat job, eh?  Just to be sure we were safe, I tried out the rescue vehicle.  I think I look pretty cool on it, what do you think?

Again, who do you think I found on the beach?  Heh, is this guy following me?  I hope he’s not on an enemy spy team!  What do you think?

Here’s a picture of mom on the beach looking out on the Napali Coast 

There were a couple of cool caves along the way back down the road.  The first one was a wet cave and the second was a dry cave.  We pulled over to the side of the road to get a picture of the wet cave, but Dad wanted to explore the dry one further so we parked at a nearby beach.  Dad checked out the flashlights he had and then he and mom went on in.  You know how creeped out Mom gets in dark places like that so it was pretty hard for her to go in, but she did.  When they got to the back of the main cave part and Dad wanted to go further into the really dark creepy part with a low ceiling Mom chickened out and headed back to the car while Dad finished exploring.  I’m glad she did because I want her to have a good time here, but I think Dad thought she was being pretty silly. 

 

Dad stopped to take a few more pictures on the way back, but then they stopped in a town called Hanalei for dinner at Tahiti Nui.  They were here when you guys called and Mom talked to you the whole time they were eating dinner.  Dad got a little frustrated with her for that so I think next time she is going to try to call you before they go out to eat.

Well, this update is getting pretty long so I’d better sign off now!  Hope you guys are having a great day!

-Agent C

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To Be Continued...