There's Chicken Liver Pate' in my pocket.

Moments ago, I was riding a bicycle down Ali'i drive in Kona, Hawaii, in the dark, trying to find a remote gate opener in my pocket with one hand while holding my iphone in flashlight mode in the other. Instead of finding the gate opener there, I grabbed a handful of chicken liver pate'. Maybe I'll get back to that later. Or maybe I'll just leave it there.

Morning at the Hale - easy breakfast and coffee, into yoga on the deck.

After some yoga, we drove north to Beach 69 this morning. It's a wild, natural place, with big trees overhanging the beach, their trunks growing horizontally for a bit, creating private areas in between trees that double as towel drying racks. This is first place I swam in Hawaii, and I was excited to bring a new group of guests here. We plotted a triangular swimming course that included some great spots that we knew from previous swims here in the past two years.

Commandeering a tree at Beach 69.

Hopper, Heather and Ryan lead the charge in underwater exploration of this exquisite reef.

This group is game. Our first stop was a coral reef at the south end of the bay. The water was glassy, the sun came out from behind the clouds, and we glided the half mile to the reef. I swam with guests Jeff and Amy in front. Amy has gotten a lot faster since we saw her last in the BVIS. We arrived at the reef to find very clear water at a depth of about 20 feet. This reef is extremely healthy, bright green coral heads, thousands of fish. Guests Jenny, Leslie, Hugh and Hugh (father an son) followed close behind. Next we rounded a coral/lava rock island, more fish, turtles. Many of us did a second lap.

Leslie after our swim. Beach 69.

Lunch was a very amazing salad with chicken and shrimp. Then, zooom off to the the Pier for an outrigger canoe tour from Kona Boys, a local outfitting and adventure company. They include lots of cultural eduction in the tour, and it sets our week off nicely. A quick swim in the bouncy water on the Ironman course and we headed back to the Hale.

Outrigger canoe lesson and departure.

A short swim on the Pier (IronMan) course is a warm up for tomorrow morning.

Blue Hawaiians for cocktail hour. Ali, the owner/architect of the Hale showed up with his partner Kim, and a we had a party with tons of laughs at the table. Chicken liver pate for appetizer. See above. Tomorrow more adventures in a sea that is getting calmer, which is good, as we will be in it morning afternoon and night….stay tuned.

- Hopper

Amy enjoys her blue Hawaiian, as well as dignified guests Kim and Ali - Ali owns the Hale and designed it from scratch.