Waikiki - ok!

The best shaved ice on the island! I had a Passion fruit-orange-guava and haupia (Hawaiian coconut pudding dessert) flavor combo. Yummy! The shaved ice is sooo soft, like snow!


And, of course I had to eat here, because Obama does! It is also like the best deal - not really expensive compared to the rest of the island, and lots of food! I got the combo plate with BBQ beef, chicken katsu, mahi mahi, rice and of course mac salad, ha!

Aloha!

While being a tourist, I found a bit of wildlife in Waikiki!

Too hot for Penguins!





Flamingoes:


Some sort of heron:


...?


Juvenile green turtles that will be released on our cruise to the NW islands!


King of the Menehune!

Ready-Sette-Go!

Here is the Oscar Elton Sette, the NOAA research vessel that is going to take us to the NW Hawaiian Islands. This ship has real-life sailors working it! We loaded most of the hard stuff on Friday, like liquid nitrogen dewars, solar panels, pelican cases. Of course the smaller girls were there doing most of the loading...for some reason experienced field people find something else to do on loading day... I found my bed, I am staying in the bunk room with 5 other girls, we have our own bathroom/shower. I met the cook, she is a local lady who is supposed to be a great chef. We should finish loading on Monday, and then ship off on Wednesday morning! First stop will will be French Frigate Shoals, about 2.5 days, and then another day or so to Laysan!



Big radar ball thingys: