Adventures With Albatross

The best adventures always start way earlier in the morning than you want them too. Just ask Savai in her Early Expedition post from an adventure we had in Haida Gwaii.

So we woke up at 6:00 am and piled into an old blue minivan with our dock neighbors from SV Whey to Go. We raced our other boat neighbors from SV Tango and SV Volpaia over the long and moderately trafficy highways of Oahu to the North Shore and Ka’ena Point, home of the fabled Laysan Albatross.

When we arrived at the trailhead we were taken aback by the huge surf and beautiful rocky shoreline of the Point.

The first half of the hike was on a dirt road along the shoreline. When we stopped to take a water break, our friends from SV Volpaia surprised us with some impromptu acrobatics. Savai took part in the excitement and loved it!

After our acro-water break and a little more hiking, we arrived at the mongoose/cat/rat-safe fence around the nesting site. These guys are the predators to the huge but helpless albatross who’s nests are on the ground, with eggs in easy reach of a sneaky rodent or feline. We walked in through the gate and began our search for the elusive albatross. We soon found this guy hiding in a beautiful little field.

After some more hiking, we reached the tip of Ka’ena Point. Here are some photos of what we saw along the way.

At the point we explored the tide pools and yours truly went swimming in a particularly deep one. We saw a lot of fish and hermit crabs and one eel in the pools.

After a long hike back to the car and a long drive back to the boat, I still had enough energy to cool off in the pool. Splash!