Zodiaaaaaaaaaaaaac

After all that wedding thingy stuff was over the fun could begin. One of the planned trips we had was with Captain Andy's trips and their super fast zodiac boat ride. Heather recommended this for everyone as you get to go all the way round the west coast and then round to the north and the Na Pali coast. Short of undertaking an 11 mile hike this is the only way to see the coast as there are no roads up here.

So we had one of the two boats all to ourselves, full of friends and family. The group safety briefing beforehand had warnings that the seats up front were worse for movement/sea-sickness and if you have any back injuries then now is a good time to think about dropping out.

The boats turned out to be a little smaller than I thought they were going to be! I say boat, but it was more just like a rigid inflatable. The other boat pictured above which towards the end of our 4 hour trip started to get a bit close to us as they tried to splash each other.

Most of our group (where's Murd?)

They armed you with gloves or a glove as you have to grip onto the rope pretty hard with one hand, especially the further towards the front you sit. Basically me and Steve sat right at the front for the outward trip but sat in their "princess seats" right at the back on the way back as we just wanted to relax and what a difference between those two seats!!

So you go speeding along cresting the waves and getting a whole body workout. Then occasionally we'd stop for some coastline photos. The stopping was worse and the boat was being moved up and down due to the pretty decent waves.

Then after a shout of "dolphins!" we slowed right down and began circling as these spinner dolphins began racing the boat and a couple up ahead jumped out of the water spinning round in the air. First time seeing dolphins in action for me, a cool sight.

Shark! We hoped not.

Cool, they jumped. Too slow for the photo though :-(

Then we docked at a little beach. Apparently there are only the two boat companies allowed to land here. They gave us an amazing lunch of pulled pork, noddles, rice, dessert, cold drinks etc. Then took us on a little walk through an old sacred site

and showed us how to shuck a coconut, letting us try some chunks.

Then they led us down to the other beach where there were a tonne of giant turtles resting!

Then, like something out of a prison drama we were led back through the searing midday sun back to the boats for some snorkeling!

Now was the time to utilise that disposable underwater camera we got for $9.
I hadn't been snorkeling for ages and it was a little difficult trying to get the flippers on while the current tried to drag you along the coast!

I got going and seen some fish, some more fish and bits of reef, then after 10 minutes I seen a little dark cave part and lo and behold, out of the darkness came this giant turtle!!
I was so excited to both tell people (impossible) and to take photos (difficult). You get so used to seeing the photo you are taking on a little digital screen that I found it difficult and really humorous  trying to look through the little viewfinder while underwater, while both you and the object are floating, trying to extend your arms as a way of manually zooming. Plus the only way I could tell if the camera was ready to take another picture was by lifting it up to my ear, winding the knob and listening out for the louder click.
Then of course I had to wait until we came home before taking the roll of film to be developed, how quaint, and praying at least one of them came out.

On the way back we stopped at some caves but the current was so strong we couldn't go into the cool one. Another we reversed into ready for a speedy getaway if needed.

Then we sped back to the harbour with our new crew.

Such a tiring day and yes we were all sore the next day especially biceps and back muscles from the constant jumping up and down and stretching backwards and forwards. But this was really one of most fun trips and things I've ever done. It was also really fun sharing it with friends and family. Anne, constantly getting soaked from the other boat, despite moving seats from one side of the boat to the other left both her sons in stitches.

Then later on, a dip in the pool to finish off the camera film!

W Day 2

We spent the next couple of days nipping out for supplies to complete the wedding prep.
Numerous visits to Wallmart, Longs drugstore, Ace hardware etc. Plus we enlisted the help of some creative neighbours to help put the gift baskets together.
I learned that somewhat confusingly it is common to call long standing neighbours your Aunt & Uncle. So they're not related but have been present when Heather and her siblings were growing up.

It was our own fault for leaving it to the last minute but we could barely find time to finish writing our vows and thank-you speech. Time consisted of lots more family drop-ins and soooo much food. I'll have to take a couple of weeks off before I regain my appetite for any beef or rice!

Even in the morning of the wedding I was busy helping wrap the tables and hang the paper puff-balls before retiring to complete my writings while the bride got her hair done.

Heather's dad did an amazing job of cleaning up the back garden and erecting tents and sourcing tables and chairs from various neighbours and friends. For what was supposed to be a low key ceremony/get-together, at least back when it was in the planning stage, it had quickly gathered momentum into a highly stressful but ultimately amazing looking scene.

It all came together so well, the finishing touches came when one of Heather's mum's friends showed up with $000's of flowers for us to use.

The view from the back seats

One neighbour provided her nice wooden bench which Heather's sister then decorated and gave us our throne to sir at!

I had resisted for as long as possible as it was already around 80 degrees but I got my kilt outfit on and once the Scottish trio had decided how to lace up our shoes so we all matched it got underway.
Heather's nephew Kai came in with our little island ring pillows.

Kai, Heather, Helen (mum), Helyse (sister) and Steve

Heather's long time family friend Stephen did a great job with the ceremony especially conveying how this was a family gathering, a mixing of cultures and new friends and families meeting for the first time.

Unusually the groom was the best dressed person there, ha ha! You can see the various relaxed forms of dress. We thought we'd get into our shorts later but the kilts proved too much of a talking point that we all kept them on. "So what do you keep in there?" being the most common one.

"I do".... again

As part of the ceremony, leis were handed out to the important people!

And we're off.... to take more photos.

While everyone else got started on the food, more about this later, we went with Heather's dad to take some photos at a nearby pier.

We got some good smiles and congratulations from the half dozen locals fishing off the pier.

Luckily it was mildly cloudy and combined with my lightweight kilt I wasn't quite dying of heat like I'd thought. Steve wished he'd been given the option of a lightweight kilt!
Pretty hungry by this point but the bride and groom couldn't eat quite yet as when we returned we went through the list of various family photos. And yes there was a list in case anybody was left out.

The Sina family

The Jessiman family

Plus cousins

Neighbours

Finally we managed to get stuck into the food. We had representations from Scotland through (canned) Haggis, Neeps & Tatties and then various Hawaiian and Filipino food including some great Kalua pork and fantastic range of desserts. I made little cards telling people what the dishes were, well, I guess it was mainly to let the Scots know!

Then onto the cake. A two layer vanilla cake, the raspberry filling was nice but the winner was the lilikoi cream layer (passion fruit).

Us!

A few folk found humour in asking us when the Scotland based ceremony would be now that we'd done New York and Hawaiian ones. We were just glad the day was done as the work involved, especially for Heather, coordinating this and the different families arriving at various times throughout was pretty stressful for such a "low key" wedding.

Guest Canvas!

End of the evening

Some floral souvenirs