Invasion of the 8th Graders

One hundred fifty 8th graders from Hawaii Baptist Academy descended upon Pu'u Kahea last night. This is the 100th time their leader, Rob, has brought large groups of students here for retreats. He's a brave man. :) Hawaiian Baptist Academy is one of many, many private schools in Hawaii. We've been told that there are a lot of problems with the public school system here.

These students are having a great time being involved in small group sessions, games, and activities, and they are very polite and well-mannered.

And they LOVVEEE mealtime...

Today, we had less than two hours between cleaning up after one meal and going back to prep for the next.  Art washed piles and piles of pots and pans and... well, I did everything else! :)

And the day's grand finale... Art got to be in charge of lighting the bonfire. Woo Hoo!!

We have a couple of days off coming up, so stay tuned for more adventures!  :)

Our yard

One of my favorite flowers here is Plumeria.  There are so many different colors, and they smell wonderful!  On our property, we have large bushes of them, but I've seen small trees, too. The flowers are used a lot in Hawaii to make leis.

We also have these beauties...

There is a pretty prayer garden down by a canal. The garden has a stone path through it with a lot of unusual plants, including one that's a carnivore!  There's a bench, and it's a really nice and quiet place. We'll be working on it today to help keep it looking good.

Everywhere outside, and occasionally inside, there are geckos. They're shy and don't bother anyone, but if you're not expecting to see them, it's a little startling when you catch one staring at you!

I love this little gathering spot.  There's a fire pit in the center, and groups use it a lot when they come here.  Art gets to start the bonfire for the next group this weekend.  You know he likes that!

        

The Plantation Hale is where groups have their meals and sometimes meetings.  There are also guest rooms upstairs.  There are first and second story lanais on three sides of the house.  The top ones have views of the ocean and mountains. The house is over 100 years old, and it's the centerpiece of the conference center.  I love it!

Right outside our apartment door, we have a Mango Tree and a Skunk Tree.  The Skunk Tree has flowers in early spring that smell really horrible.  Fortunately, they were gone when we got here and we only have these cool heart-shaped seed pods. They have black seeds, and are red at first and then turn brown.  We are hoping the mangos will ripen after they fall, because they're way too high to pick.

Yardwork isn't bad when the weather is so nice.  Aloha!

Time off

Today was our first day off, and we made the most of it.  :)

We got up early and hiked the Ka'ena Point trail.  Our friend Ramona went with us, and we were on the trail at 6:30 am.  The coastline road that goes around Oahu ends at Yokohama Bay, and there is only a trail for several miles. It's almost 3 miles to the most western point of the island, and the hike along the ocean is beautiful. We loved walking along the rocky coast, and we saw humpback whales spouting water in the distance.

When we got to the point, there were Laysan Albatross nests along the trail, and we had to be careful not to step on them because sometimes the nests are in burrows. Since they only nest once a year, we were excited that we got to see them.

We hiked back out to the car, and rushed back to make it in time for church.  Waianae Baptist is right beside Pu'u Kahea.  They open the sides of the building on Sunday mornings, and the breeze blows right through. Ahhh... Oh, and we enjoyed the service. :)

After church, we drove to the north shore to enjoy the rest of the day.  One of our first stops was at a little beach where we saw these guys...

And a nice lady took our picture.

At La'ie Point, a 1946 tsunami punched a hole through an island to create this arch.

We had fun watching a brave soul jump off a high rock.

We stopped at a few more beaches on the way back to our apartment.  It was a wonderful day!

Yes, we are.

For those doubters who thought we wouldn't be working very much while we're here on Oahu (and you know who you are), let me assure you...we're working.  :)

So far, we've worked at least eight hours each day folding sheets and towels, sweeping and mopping floors, scrubbing showers and toilets, doing yard work, and installing bathroom fixtures. Starting tomorrow, we'll add setting up for meals, serving food, and washing dishes because we have a group of fifty people coming.  Next weekend, there will be 150 eighth graders here.  Now that should be fun!

We're enjoying the people we've met so far, and are happy to be a part Pu'u Kahea.  When the work is done, we take off walking or riding to explore this part of the island.  On our days off, we'll be able to venture out a lot more.

Last night, we walked with four others to the closest beach to see the sunset.

It was so pretty...

Tonight, our new friends Steve and Sue rode with us to where the road ends on the west side of the island, Ka'ena Point, stopping at another beach or two on the way.  We also also poked around in Makua Cave.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow.  It'll be great to have visitors on the property.  They will definitely enjoy the beautiful, peaceful atmosphere.

Pu'u Kahea

Yayyyy!!  We made it to Hawaii, and have spent the day exploring and settling in.  There will be 3 other couples volunteering here this month and we've met 2 of them.  The last couple will be here tonight.

                     

We are living in a little efficiency duplex apartment for the month.  LOUD birds woke us up this morning.  Also, there was a strange noise that we found out later was the sound geckos make.  

Above is the inside of our humble abode.  

This is the view from our window. 

There is a big plantation house on the property - Plantation Hale.  We're having a breakfast staff meeting on the porch in the morning.  We'll be finding out about what we'll be doing around here to help keep the conference center running!

We walked to this pretty beach this morning in 5 minutes.  There were just a few other people there.  

We are excited about being here, and are looking forward to living in Hawaii for a whole month!

It's so grand...

We enjoyed our time at the Grand Canyon so much!  We spent two nights there, and loved our little cabin with one blue door and one green door.  :) The rim of the canyon was just steps away, so the view was amazing.

                                                                      

Sharon and Tim had been in Phoenix for Caroline's graduation, so they joined us on Friday.  We had so much fun hanging out together for a whole day in such an amazing place!

Today we spent the morning riding the shuttle and hiking from point to point along Hermit's Rest Road, and we saw some gorgeous views.

   

And ten of these guys standing in the trees... 

Tomorrow we plan to go to the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead area.

Woo Hoo!