I Went Zip-Lining!

Back in September my brother, Chuck and sister-in-law, Jeanette came to visit us here on the Big Island. They had planned many adventures during their stay including snorkeling, parasailing and zip-lining.

I drove them up north to Kohala Ziplines and they paid to have me go along with them! It was awesome! This wasn't my first time zip-lining on the Big Island. A couple years ago I went with some visiting friends and we used another company. The experience was not nearly as good as it was with Kohala Ziplines.

Anyway, the last zipline of the day was a tandem set-up and one of our guides, Tammy, offered to video me from her line as I used the other line. She did an awesome job! See for yourself.

Election Day 2012

Here in Hawai'i, we have early voting so Betty and I voted the Saturday before Election Day. This freed me up to do a little diving on Tuesday. I had a couple of really nice dives but the second one was really special. I found a small Hawaiian Red Lionfish also known as a Hawaiian Turkeyfish (Pterois sphex).

Photo Copyright 2012 by Barry Fackler

This is only the fourth time in twelve years I've seen one of these in Kona. Apparently, they used to be fairly common but they've been over-collected for the aquarium trade and are really rare now. The spines of these fish are very venomous inflicting a sting that is very painful. The last time I saw one was when I was still shooting film instead of digital so that's a long time!

Photo Copyright 2012 by Barry Fackler

Surprises like this are what makes diving so much fun. It's no always the big, glamorous stuff that makes for a special dive. Sometimes a small surprise like this is more than enough!