Yesterday we went snorkeling twice! One time was at the hotel off the beach, and the other was the manta ray snorkeling. Regular snorkeling was fun because we saw turtles and lots of coral. There was brain coral and finger coral of all sizes! There were two huge schools of fish that I saw.
Two words for the snorkeling with the manta rays: amazing and cold. It was at night in a little bay just off the airport. We took a catamaran (a boat with two hulls) and then got our snorkeling stuff on. We jumped into the water, and we nearly drowned at how cold the water was. After five minutes in the water, I was already shaking. After everyone got in, we all grabbed onto this surfboard with handles on the side. The strangest thing was that there were lights on the bottom. We swam over to this huge area of light in the water, which I thought was the light from lava coming out of the ocean floor. It turned out to be a huge set of spotlights facing straight up. The guide told us that the light attracted plankton, which the manta rays eat.
You can see where this is going; ten freezing people in the water, holding onto a surfboard that attracted plankton. After a few minutes, what looked like a bunch of dust was swarming around our lights, and that's when it came at me. I thought at first it was a shadow. The shadow came right at me, and I started to get worried that it was a shark. It turned out to be a manta ray because it came right at the lights with its giant mouth wide open. The manta ray started to do back flips, catching all the plankton around our board. It kept on coming right at my face, which made me scared. These things aren't the cute cuddly stuffed animals that you would probably imagine. These were ten feet wide with mouths about four feet wide. The manta rays are really amazing though. I would describe them as a giant underwater bird stuck in slow motion. It would flap its fins just like a bird's to move, and its fins kind of moved in the same way too.
This went on for about thirty more minutes; us being cold and amazed, while the manta rays had a feast. Finally we got back onto the boat because the manta rays had eaten all the plankton, and all the humans had frosted over solid and could be used as ice cubes! Then I found out that my brother was scared of them, so he didn't get in and got to sit on the boat cozy and warm. William does not really like large animals in the water, and I don't blame him. They got inches from your face and it could freak you out.
Written by Charles October 11, 2013
We went snorkeling again and saw the same awesome stuff today. We are leaving Hawaii today and going to New Zealand! After snorkeling, we rented paddle boards and played around on those. Later we did school work for two hours, like everyday, with the same horrible wifi. (I'm in an online school, so I need good wifi.) After that we packed our suitcases and said goodbye to Hawaii.
Do you want to hear something confusing? If yes, keep reading; if no, shut the computer down because this is a head spinner. On the flight from Hawaii to New Zealand we get nine hours in the air. You might say "so?" but just keep reading. We have to skip Saturday completely! Yup, completely. I think it will be the only time in my life I can say its Friday and tomorrow's Sunday. So that means that I'm one day younger or something. In my head its all really confusing.
It has to do with crossing the dateline near midnight, and you skip a day going west. Going east, you lose a day, so there I guess there is what I call some funny business going on here. (My brother usually does all the funny business.)
A Quick and Funny Story:
In 1990, there was a volcano threatening to erupt on Hawaii. A vulcanologist found the lava tubes that were supplying the volcano with lava. The vulcanologist told the military where to drop bombs, and they did. The military stopped the lava flow and saved a city. The US can remember that day as the day that the US claimed victory over Mother Nature!
True Story!
Written by William
We went on a boat ride to snorkel with the manta rays. I was really excited until I saw one, and it was really big! I got nervous...five years ago when I had my bone marrow transplant, the doctors told me I coudn't go within 100 feet of an animal because I had a high risk of infection and dying from it. Since then I have been scared of animals. I stayed on the boat with my dad and watched from above. There were some other boats with divers and snorkelers, and we noticed a light mast with red and white lights to indicate there were divers. We saw three manta rays, and we heard all the snorkelers going "oooohhhhh" and "whoaaaa!" when the manta rays were passing.
William, Miabelle regretfully has the same fear, since her transplant experience. And your dad will tell you that Oli has fear of dogs, and he did not have a bone marrow transplant. So big or small we all have fears. No worries, with time you will conquer all fears.
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