Wednesday, May 14, 2008

We arrived at the Kona International airport on the west side of the island of Hawaii in the early afternoon. It is commonly referred to as the Big island because it is the largest of the Hawaiian islands. We were met by our hosts who came prepared with Lei’s for everyone. First order of business was to meet up at a marina close by so that we could have a welcome beer and just relax for a moment. The marina is home to many of the fishing boats that go out to fish for marlin, and other large fish.

Afterwards we went home with our hosts to get ready for a get together at The Kona Brew Pub where we met other rotarians and the local Rotaract club.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

The day began by with Sabrina, Mikkel and Stephan going snorkling for a couple of hours. Sweet! Meanwhile Louise was on a vocational visit. Afterwards the team met up to give a presentation at the Rotary Club of Kona at their lunch meeting where about 50 people attended. Since Stephan had had his laptop stolen, Louise now had to use her computer for the presentations. Luckily everything was on a usb flash drive so nothing of the presentation was lost. Lucky? No just young responsible people .

After the presentation and lunch we went to get a presentation at NELHA – The Natural Energy Lab of Hawaii Authority. This was really interesting as they have some unique facilities due to the surrounding nature and some of the technology that they have installed. Part of the facility includes an advanced pumping station that can pump up cold deep sea water from a depth of 2,000 feet. The idea behind this was to harness temperature difference for energy use, but today the cold water is used for algae farming, fish ponds and exclusive bottled water for e.g. the Japanese market.

In the evening the team with the exception of Sabrina went to a barbecue at Henriks hosts – Bill and Gabriella. Sabrina had a cosy evening with her host family were she met the whole family.

Friday, May 16, 2008

This friday there was no official schedule and our hosts decided to take us to a place called “The place of refuge” where we could both relax and see a historic sight. We started out by snorkeling and relaxing for a bit. While in the water we saw many colorful corals and fish, but we were also so fortunate to see three white tipped sharks firsthand. Not all of us were pleased .

After lunch were took a walk around the place of refuge which got its name as it kind of functioned as the old Hawaiian tribes’ “prison” system. When someone had broken one the basic rules e.g. blocking the shadow of the Ali’i (royal), then they were automatically sentenced to death without trial. However, if the person was able to reach the place of refuge before they were caught they would spend a certain amount of time there and then be off the hook.

In the evening the whole team including hosts met up at a local restaurant and enjoyed a great dinner.

Thursday, May 17, 2008

The last day in Kona was spent with our hosts. First we went to visit Mikkels host Benno who apart from having a very nice house has a “small” botanical garden and a coffee plantation. We were treated to a tour which gave us the opportunity to see most of the plants that grow in Hawaii and have our very own guide.

We then proceeded to Louise’s hosts Anne & Norm Goody who is running an animal sanctuary for endangered and exotic animals. Here we also got the grand tour of their Three Ring Ranch which we must say was an amazing experience. It is not everyday that you see a “farm” with zebras, turtles, flamingos, eagles, lamas, a black swan and more. After the tour we had lunch with representatives from the next club.