Who didn't get burnt at He'eia?

Oh Boy, were we in for a treat! Paepae o He'eia was quite the catch, literally, we caught handfuls of Samoan crab throughout the week and lemme tell you they were tasty... looking (we never got to eat them, bummer, but I'm sure they were onolicious). We've been working on this hill behind the Paepae garage, and you'd figure after doing a weeks worth of trail maintenance, we'd be pros at this kind of thing...nope! It's Satan's Slope or something. Just looking at it intimidates us. It's not what we do there that's driving us off the hill it's more like all the slashing away at false taro with knats and other flying creatures eating us alive! So gross and itchy. But remember, our team's strong, and we eventually git'er done ;) That hill was a test of patience/ no fussing. Lesson time: So what's the genius behind this great kuapa (wall that makes the pond)? Well this is a 600 year old fishpond after all and we wanna keep it that way. Pretty mush ancient Hawaiians built the wall to section off a perfect pond for their fish (using the intense math and geography of the mountains to map it) with rocks and ko'a (coral). Then they made gaps in between the kuapa called and made makaha (gates). Here's the genius part: With this gate small fish would get attracted to the pond, stay and feast on whatever, and then when they become bambucha, they wont be able to fit through the gate anymore! Akamai, yah? Yessuurryyy, we got to work in the pond! Nice and sedimenty and salty, nah, it's not bad (especially if you think about how much more public beaches have turned into shi-shi water). We'd split into groups hauling rocks/ko'a onto the gator (golf cart truck) then have others haul those boulders onto a pontoon and into the other. Pontoons don't move themselves and we had to get them across the low kuapa (this u-shaped wall made up of log-shaped cement). Amen when we worked in high tide the waves really helped alot during those pivotal points, otherwise it's the perfect all around body muscle workout! Cheehuu! In the end it's all worth it because we are so blessed, no rain (amen), no fatal injuries (only minor--bc we're tough like that), a perfect view of He'eia pond and Kaneohe Bay, and a great staff at Paepae o He'eia that took care of us while we worked side by side with them (and the new intern friends we made too). We'll surely miss all of you guys With all our Aloha, Team Oahu D wants you guys o know we had a blast, swimming in your pond, grind'n with you guys, working with you guys and just your aloha and vast knowledge of the great He'eia fishpond, MAHALO! Love, Robynne G. (igarot) P.S. Being (dark) brown should have its benefits--so why did I get burnt? I'm sore!!!! So junk :P