Wednesday April 10 - water and photography adventures

I slept in until about 6:30 this morning, then tiptoed around gathering my film gear to go out and enjoy some pinhole photography.

Pinhole in the wild - shooting the lagoon from our deck.

I finished a roll of film in the P.120 and started one in the Kodak Hawkeye before it was time for breakfast.  D and I enjoyed some coffee for a bit, then I collected G and we headed over to Bizot for breakfast.  

A couple of families had checked in during the day yesterday, so breakfast was more populated and slightly more lively.  We also determined that there must be some kind of system with notes on the guests, as different waiters/waitresses know our previous orders and also approach the table saying "I already know about your allergies."  

I ordered the plantain/peanut porridge again, along with steamed callaloo and roasted tomato for a bit of savory flavor.  The veggies were filling enough that I don't think I'd really need the porridge next time.  Fresh coconut water and coffee round out the large breakfast.

After breakfast, G and I wandered the grounds with our film cameras and I ran through a couple more rolls, taking advantage of the Button Beach area while it was empty.  The water in Snorkler's Cove was calm and inviting, and G hadn't used her underwater camera yet, so we headed back to the room to cover up with sunscreen and head out for a swim.  I was surprised to see no other people in the cove when we arrived.  We picked a couple chairs which were partially shaded, put down our gear, and headed into the water.

I should have been more disturbed by this "water centipede" than I am.  What is this?

Along the edge of the water, both in the lagoon and the cove, are thousands of these tiny fish.

THOUSANDS.

This fish looks solid blue with the naked eye, but the camera captured the Avatar-like lighter blue dots on its nose and back.

Just beyond the cove the ocean opens to some amazing coral structures completely filled with a massive variety of fish 

Can you see the fish next to the tentacle-like seaweed?  The coloring on the fish reminded me of Eric Carle illustrations, which I find intriguing.

Here is the same fish (with a buddy) away from the seaweed, where it stands out better.

I could pretty much point the camera at any coral structure and grab a photo of a variety of fish.  

After about a half an hour in the slightly bumpy ocean water, we settled back in on the chairs to dry off.

My view of the cove from the chairs.

G - "There will be no sunburns on this trip!"

The salt water does a number on G's hair, and although they have freshwater showers to rinse off, her hair still felt too sticky, so we swam in the pool for a bit, then rinsed again, and dried off before heading to lunch at Bizot.

Swimming makes Red Stripe taste better.  I had the peanut/red bean soup and a side of fries today.

After lunch we showered off the remaining ocean feeling and relaxed around the cottage for a bit.

My view as I backed up my photos at the table on our deck.

I had a bit of work to take care of, then headed out again to capture a few more pinhole photos of the lagoon area.  The lighting looked good out at the main beach where the lagoon meets the ocean, so I spent some time working on photos out that way.  As it was the hottest part of the day, I headed back to the cottage to cool down.  Now I realize why they provide us with fresh towels twice a day, we could take five showers a day and not run out of fresh towels.  

Tomorrow we plan to switch to a slightly larger cottage on the beach for a change of view, so I thought I'd take advantage of the personal kayak while I can, and I went out to take a few laps around the lagoon.

With each lap, I'd stop and say hello to G and D.  Here is G from the bedroom doors of the cottage.

While we've been told that it is possible to tour Ian Fleming's house as long as it is unoccupied, I have not yet found out if that will be possible on our trip.  So, since I had the kayak, and the water seemed relatively calm, I decided to paddle out of the lagoon to the ocean and take a quick peek at Fleming Beach.

It looks pretty calm out there in the open ocean.  No problem.

Fleming Beach is just outside of the lagoon.  There are several large coral structures in the water which made me hesitant to paddle any closer, as I didn't want to run aground or hit anything important with my paddle.

Once I snapped a few photos, the water picked up into a series of small waves.  I turned to face them and bounced over them with no trouble as I paddled back to face the entrance of the lagoon.  I picked a poor spot to turn, however, as I was directly in line with a shallow spot.  As I turned toward the lagoon a small wave hit the coral, crested, and splashed right over the edge of the kayak.  I was in no danger of tipping, but I did end up with a fresh dose of seawater from the elbows down, which meant another shower before dinner.

After cleaning up, and taking some more time to edit a few photos, we made our way down to Bizot for dinner.  I had hoped to capture the sunset before dinner, but we arrived about 5 minutes too late, so I made a note of the time for next time.  The staff had set tables out more by the sea wall for dinner tonight, so G and I picked a spot while D was engaged in a game of dominoes at the bar.  

My drink: Black Passion - Blackwell rum, passion fruit juice and fresh orange juice.  I prefer this over the Goldeneye drink because it is less sweet.

Looking back to the bar.  There were actually several tables filled with people tonight, but they all opted for outdoor seating so the place looked empty.

Dinner - grilled lobster and callaloo (the dish is normally served with fried zucchini, however I can't eat the batter on it, so they gave me my favorite veggie instead.

After dinner I stayed up in the "tent" long enough to work through our snorkeling pictures, then turned in for the night.

Tuesday June 26, 2018 - snorkeling and park photography time

 On Tuesday we woke early and walked into the mall next door for a lovely breakfast at Island Vintage Coffee.

We arrived just before opening, and were among the first people inside.

The coffee was lovely, and the acai bowls delicious.  I had the "Moana Acai Bowl", with granola, banana, mango, and lilikoi sauce.

Comfortable and casual seating in the courtyard of the mall.

I had read that Black Rock - located just a bit north up the beach from our resort - was a great location for snorkeling, so after breakfast we gathered our snorkel gear and walked up the beach.

Along the way we stopped to admire a lovely full rainbow.

Black Rock juts out into the ocean from the beach, creating a bit of a protected coral area at the base of the cliff just off the beach.  It didn't take much swimming to find a multitude of larger fish.

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

Humu and a Parrot Fish from above

Trumpet Fish - perhaps one of the oddest looking fish we encountered this morning.

I followed this school of Yellow Goatfish for a bit

G snorkeling with her underwater film camera.

There are five fish in this shot, going counterclockwise from the upper left corner:

Humu

Yellow Tang

Convict Tang

Brassy Chub

Butterfly Fish of some kind (difficult to tell as it is facing the camera, so the side marks are hard to match to my guides.)

A school of convict tangs 

The fish were easy to find in relatively shallow water.

I had read that sometimes snorkelers hear a "sizzle" sound in the water, which is attributed to the shrimp which live in the rocks, or fish grazing on the coral surfaces.  Throughout my snorkeling I could hear several layers of "sizzle", from the fish to fellow snorkelers, to the sound of people plummeting from Black Rock down to the ocean near by.  After a short while I noticed my snorkel vest seems to be low on air, so I sat up to add some air through the tube, and continued on my way.  The second time I stopped to add air, I realized that the most prominent "sizzle" sound I was hearing was the air escaping from my vest from a tiny hole.  It was not a bad enough leak to put me in any danger, however it did concern me enough to decide I should replace the vest with something else after this outing. 

After about an hour of swimming about, we decided to swim back to shore and take a leisurely stroll back down the beach to the condo.  Once we were all free of the salt-water coating, I gathered my camera gear and we headed south to Lahania to find lunch.

The town of Lahaina was extremely warm this day (it was later that we discovered "Lahaina" means "Cruel Sun")  One of the restaurants we were interested in was not open for lunch, so we meandered to a lower level of an outdoor mall and decided to give a walk-up called "Down the Hatch Tacos" a try.

I found a table in a shady spot, where a lizard observed us from a nearby plant.

The tacos were rather bland, and though it wasn't necessarily a bad lunch, we all decided it was not worthy of returning to.

While waiting for our lunch, I set to work to research places that might carry a replacement snorkel vest.  It turned out that inflatable vests, while handy for packing, were not particularly popular for area stores, and nobody in the vicinity carried them.  One snorkel store offered a one week rental of a snorkel belt for $20.00, the shop was located within a mile of the condo, so that seemed like a good solution, though I was skeptical having never used a belt.

Our appetites satiated for the time being, I loaded up my gear and we walked a few blocks down the street to Banyan Tree Park.

Planted in April of 1873 when it was just 8 feet tall, the Banyan Tree in Lahaina now measures 60 feet high and has stretched outwards, producing a dozen major trunks in addition to its core, and shades over 2/3rds of an acre of land.  Throughout the day the park's benches are filled with people taking refuge from the baking sun.  In the evening the branches are teeming with flocks of Common Mynas, a local bird, making a racket worth of a Hitchcock movie.

While G sought out an interesting subject to sketch in her book, I set up my tripod and began loading film into my two film cameras for the trip.

I began with my vintage Kodak Six-20 balanced precariously atop my tripod.  Although it does have a tripod mount built into it, the tripod mount is not flush with the camera body, so extra care needs to be taken to get a flat horizon line.  I am not always successful with this.

The primary center of the Banyan Tree

A section of particularly interesting expansion trunks.

This section of trunk looked like a giant squid to me.

I was having some difficulty getting the Six-20 to shoot properly, specifically the shutter release kept sticking.  I suspected the humidity was affecting the mechanism (it is, after all, an 80-or-so year old camera) though the shutter fired just fine if I clicked it manually rather than using my cable release.  I had intended to exclusively use the cable release to ensure camera stability, but after a few frustrated attempts, I gave it up and stuck to the "hold your breath while you trip the shutter" method of shooting.  This, combined with the 95 degree heat and repeated swapping of cameras on the tripod, became very tedious very quickly.  

My other film camera for the trip is my P.120 panoramic pinhole camera.  This camera worked like a dream, humidity be damned! The massive tree structure was the perfect subject for my 120 degree camera view, giving me endless options of images to frame.

This extensive trunk is supported by posts along with its own root extensions.

Looking up into the green canopy and the blue sky above.

From the center trunk looking out and up, the tree stretches ever-onward with lazy vines hanging in the breeze.

On our drive back to the condo, I sketched this impression of the center of the Banyan Tree.

We stopped at the nearby snorkel store on our way back to the condo to pick up my snorkel belt rental.  The belt was essentially a large piece of black foam, round in the middle with narrow sides to wrap around the waist, and an adjustable nylon belt and plastic buckle for attaching.  It is not for keeping your head out of the water, like a life vest, but rather it keeps your mid-section floating so that you can put your face in the water without worrying about sinking.  Being overheated from the Lahaina outing, and excited to give the belt a try, we hopped down to the beach in front of the condo to go for a swim.

The belt was exceptionally more comfortable to wear than any snorkel vest.  Floating face down was a fearless breeze, and if I tried to sit upright the belt kept my head and shoulders just above the waterline like a buoy.  I wondered where has this been all my life? 

G and I took turns trading the belt for her snorkel vest and both agreed that the belt was far superior in comfort.  Having achieved a state of refreshingly water-logged, we all cleaned up and began to discuss dinner.  None of us had a desire to get in the car again, so we put our names down for another restaurant in the mall, Monkeypod.

(the exterior of Monkeypod, photo is from their website)

The menu at Monkeypod ended up being rather limited for me, and I discovered I could not drink the mai tais due to their special "lilikoi foam" which contained egg.  I'm thankful they listed that right on the menu, but a bar handling egg foam is a bar I don't want to order a drink from.  Most of the preparations of fish included sauces or breading I am allergic to, so to be safe I opted for the simple Margarita Pizza.

While waiting for dinner, I sketched my impression of a Humu.  Thus far I had seen one every time I hit the water.

It was a decent pizza, but not one of my favorites.

Dinner eaten, and still on mainland time, we headed back to the condo and I turned in for the night.