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Islandoftiki's Hawaiian adventure!


Islandoftiki

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Stockly's? Glad to see they're still around. I kinda thought they'd close after petco came in. Check out Place of Refuge down south. Great place to snorkel, caught a toby with a 5 gallon bucket for my tank. Also check out Pine Trees surf spot near the Kona airport. Very rocky but some cool tank stuff. I left my live rock with zoas and clove polyps down there when we moved to Oahu. I've lived in every county in the state and honesty Kona is the best place to be. Oh one more thing, find Hyashi's You Make the Roll sushi joint off Ali'i for some fantastic but affordable sushi.

 

Thanks for the suggestion on the sushi. We haven't been game to try sushi here yet. We got so spoiled by the sushi, cocktails and ambience at Bamboo Sushi in Portland that we've been afraid to try the sushi here for fear of massive disappointment.

 

I'm hoping to meet some local reefers here in Kona, but I'm not going to be able to set up a tank until we buy a house... which we've already been putting offers in on. For the short term, we're scrambling to find a new rental before January 15.

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Congrats on the move! Looks amazing there.

 

We're going on a two week vacation to Kauai next summer. Got a house on the north shore. So maybe we'll decide to move to Hawaii after that trip. :lol:

 

And I see you're a Saab 9-3 driver?!

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20141126_162920_zpsc5957108.jpg

 

Not bad, eh? That's like 12 to 15 aiptasia for 30 bucks! Honestly, I think most people collect their own zoas and palys here.

 

 

that's a incredible price for such rare anemones..

 

long live the pest tank!! :lol:

 

when are you going to set up another tank? or did I miss that thread? nvm, just figured out how to read.. good luck on the house!

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that's a incredible price for such rare anemones..

 

long live the pest tank!! :lol:

 

when are you going to set up another tank? or did I miss that thread? nvm, just figured out how to read.. good luck on the house!

 

Man, my berghia would think they'd died and gone to heaven!!!

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Congratulations on the move and your new adventure! Glad everything is going well - fingers crossed for your house hunt.

 

I haven't been to Hawaii in about five years now but used to visit all the time for work and vacation. Your pictures really make me miss it, especially the big island.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey gang, sorry for not posting many updates lately. We've had our hands full with the house hunt, work, etc.

 

So, nothing reef related today, but I'll share with you this picture I took while driving the hour and a half to Hilo to take my ASE Automotive Master Technician recertification tests--of which I aced all 8, thank you very much!

 

Here's a picture of what happens when you mash the accelerator on my Saab going uphill. It leaves orbit and ends up on the surface of the moon! Just kidding, this is a stunningly beautiful lava field up on Saddle road; it isn't really the moon.

 

Saab_zpsf528642e.jpg

 

 

Good news! I'm planning to take my underwater camera out this weekend and do some tidepool videos! Stay tuned.

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Oh yeah, and tomorrow evening I'm going to go hang out and have a couple beers with a local reefer! I'm so excited to talk reef tanks with a local! I may or may not be able to talk about what I've seen...

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Also, my personalised license plates for my car should be in soon. 'ALO'ALO will be my license plate. For those of you who don't know, that's the Hawaiian word for mantis shrimp. Someone already had the license plate MANTIS, but I think the Hawaiian word will be more appropriate. Sadly, STOMATOPOD is way more than the 6 letters you're allowed on a personalized plate. Now to come up with a personalized mantis shrimp related license plate frame. Any ideas?



Oh yeah, and I forgot to post this the other day...

 

Again, not reef related, but beach related!

 

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WHAAAATT?!?! Tiki is out here! Hahaha, I do not know how I missed this thread until just now! Congrats on the move, my girlfriends family is all on big island so I spend a lot of time on that island (except this christmas). You will get use to the cycle of winter and soon the rains and cool breezes will feel like christmas (still much warmer in winter than Florida though :mellow: ). Let me know if you need any tips on finding stuff, I don't have any research trips to big island anytime soon though. I wouldn't have been worried about the parrots they are pretty rampant in the wild here. You should definitely try the fish, but get poke not sushi on big island. If you want world class japanese sushi you will need to come over to Honolulu. Enjoy exploring big island it is truly my favorite island! Mele kalikimaka!

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Mr. Microscope

Fun videos! The sea hare is really something. What happened at the end of that video? It looks like you had to move pretty fast there. Did you get wet?

 

What kind of fish do you think are in that pool? Some sort of damsel or chromis?

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I drove past the port in Kawaihae today and saw our Mini finally arrived on the island after several weeks of delays. Unfortunately, it's going to remain locked up until my fiance gets home from visiting family for Christmas. The port is closed on weekends and I work the same hours that the port is open... and it's 45 minutes away, and I have nobody to drive me up there. So, it stays locked up until after Christmas. :(

 

Mini_zps8b9f3109.jpg



Tell the dude that's running the tide pool in the second video he should run some filter floss

 

I know, right? Talk about deferred maintenance.

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Merry Christmas folks!

 

We didn't get a Christmas tree this year, but here's a picture of a hibiscus instead.

 

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It's been raining hard for the past two days. There was snow up on Mauna Loa, but it was pretty wet and humid down here at the base of the mountain. Luckily, everything started clearing up around 11am and it's freakin' gorgeous right now.

 

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In Hawaii, it's considered good luck to have a gecko in your house. Today, we got one of the more beautiful gold dust day geckos I've seen. This dude has stunning markings.

 

gecko_zps1912c0c4.jpg

 

These little guys being somewhat defenseless bite-sized snacks are very shy and he quickly hit behind the curtains. A couple hour later I got the feeling I was being watched and looked over where he had been...

 

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Ok, this little guy is planning something. I don't trust him.

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Man, all the greenery and warm pics is really making me miss Brazil =(

 

 

These little guys being somewhat defenseless bite-sized snacks are very shy and he quickly hit behind the curtains. A couple hour later I got the feeling I was being watched and looked over where he had been...

 

Ok, this little guy is planning something. I don't trust him.

 

So day geckos actually aren't native to Hawaii, and are an invasive species. I guess most things that look pretty are considered good lol

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So day geckos actually aren't native to Hawaii, and are an invasive species. I guess most things that look pretty are considered good lol

 

I'm going to hedge a guess that 80% of the terrestrial fauna on the island are introduced species.

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yeah... unfortunately like most places, people have donked up the ecosystem.

 

Here's a short list of introduced species that are considered invasive:

Africanized Honey Bee
Apple Snail
Australian Tree Fern
Barbados Gooseberry
Brown Tree Snake
Cattail
Coqui Frog
False Kava

Feral Pig
Fire Tree
Fireweed
Fountain Grass
Fruit Flies
Giant Reed
Glory Bush
Gorilla Ogo
Gorse
Himalayan Blackberry
Hiptage
Hookweed
Ivy Gourd
Kappaphycus Algae
Little Fire Ant
Long-thorn Kiawe
Miconia
Mongoose
Nettle Caterpillar
New Zealand Flax
Pampas Grass
Plume Poppy
Red Imported Fire Ant
Red-vented Bulbul
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Rubbervine
Snowflake Coral

Srawberry Guava
Veiled Chameleon
West Nile Virus

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We bought a house! It's up in the Kohala region. It's a bank owned house and hasn't been inhabited for quite some time, so it needs a lot of work, but has massive potential and much of the work is cosmetic. Except for the kitchen. The kitchen needs to be gutted.

Hit this link to see a bunch of pictures of the house, and most importantly, the view. By the way, it's whale migration season and this part of the island is a major hotspot for whales!

http://s135.photobucket.com/user/circuitweed/slideshow/Kohala%20House

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