Exploring the island

Today we woke up to a severe weather alert for high surf on the north and west shores.  As a result all   of the island was on a weather watch.  We considered changing our plans for today but decided to go ahead and view the lava tube again.  There was a lot of swells while we were there resulting in some pretty high waves washing up from the tube.  At one point there was a huge wave that came through and our camera almost got wet.  You always have to be on your guard with the waves as they can sweep you into the tube and out to sea!!

Afterwards we spent some time at the beach. I went swimming in search of turtles but didn't see any. I did however see plenty of beautiful fish.  It was amazing to swim in such shallow water and be surrounded by these beautiful colourful fish.  There were also monk seals in the cove but I didn't see any swim by.  I plan to do this again tomorrow.

 In the afternoon we decided to explore the north shore by the Lighthouse to see how high the waves were.  We couldn't get a good perspective by looking down at the Lighthouse so we decided to drive to Anini beach.  Here you could see how big the waves were.  The news was indicating that the surf was between 12-20 feet high.  It was pretty incredible to watch.

We discovered the way to get to "Secret Beach" frequented mostly by locals and is a well kept secret.  It's a long steep climb down (and up) but worth the visit.  

A quiet day

Today the weather was pretty cloudy when we woke up so we decided to visit a few of the local craft shows.  One was in Poipu which is on the south side of the island and the other was in Princeville on the north side of the island.

These craft shows take place monthly and are an opportunity to see and purchase the handiwork of the local artisans.  It was really interesting to see the different crafts.

When Ralph and I were driving back from Princeville we decided to stop at Anahola Beach which is along the east side of the island.  The beach was full of wood from trees, much the same as the other beaches along this side of the island.  There were a few locals gathering up the wood and starting bon fires in an effort to clear the beaches.  We wanted to help but when the man we spoke to told us that they could get in trouble with the police for doing this we decided not to.  It was explained to us that the wood is coming down from the mountain via the rivers that drain into the ocean. We didn't realize this was the cause of all the wood logs and branches on the beaches.  It really is something to see all the wood and tree's that keep coming down the river.  While we were on the north side of the island - I counted 9 waterfalls in the mountains.  It's been on and off rain most of the time that we have been here (although Ralph and I have been fortunate to miss most of it).

The mouth of the river is at the top of the picture.  This wood is flowing down from the mountain into the ocean.  It's stirring up the water and attracting sharks.  Yikes!!

Starting the cleanup

While we were on the south side of the island we spent some time at Poipu beach.  There were two monk seals lying and soaking in the sun on the beach.  While we were there I was talking with a lady on the beach and she told me that one of the seals had actually swam around her when she was in the water.  How cool is that!!

Ralph and I wanted to photograph the Tree Tunnel which we drive through on our way to Poipu.  There is a beautiful canopy of Eucalyptus trees that line the Maliuhi road which consists of about 500 trees.  They form a tunnel with their branches which is really nice to see. To me it has a story book feel to it.

Port Allen, Eleele and Salt Pond Beach Park

Today was a busy day.  We decided to sleep a bit later as we've been going non stop since we got here.  Sleeping in is 7:30 (lol) but it felt nice to stay in bed.

We decided to drive down to Port Allen and go back to the Glass Beach area which is in Eleele.  It was a beautiful day to be at the beach and to explore the cliffs.

There is an old Hawaiian burial ground here which is really interesting to see.  The inscriptions are really neat and there is moss growing all over the tombstones.

While Ralph walked along the cliffs, I went back to the beach in search of more sea glass.  I was lucky to see my first "monk seal".  It was sleeping really high up on the beach in the rocks.  I have no idea how it got there (maybe with high tide).

It was so much fun walking around on the Lava Rocks along the shoreline.  There are so many caverns and openings where the water could flow into.

The Salt Pond Beach Park was a really nice to visit and we spent some time just relaxing and watching the waves break over a wall that ran along the shoreline.

In the evening we went to a fundraiser/silent auction that was taking place to help raise money for the flood relief on the North side of the island.  In some areas they had 46 inches of rain over a period of 7 days.  Hanalei Bay - which has a really beautiful Pier which is often photographed,  received the largest amount of rain and it caused a major mudslide where the Pier now is no longer in water but surrounded by dirt from the mountains.  Houses are sitting on top of the reef.  This has attracted many sharks into the area.

Entertainment from "Not my last Rodeo" - they were really good!!

Golf Day

Today we spent the day at the golf course.  We played an inland course called Puakea.  What a lovely scenic round we had with the beautiful mountains in the background.  Sadly I have no pictures to share as my camera card got corrupted when I attempted to upload the pictures.  I've spent the last hour trying to recover the pictures but it's too complicated on a Mac so I'll do it at home.  I'm really annoyed though.  Thankfully I had 2 pictures on my phone which I could use.  We were paired up with two other gentlemen.  They were both very friendly (Les and Jim).  We're planning to play another round with Les next week if we can line up our schedules.

A busy day on the Garden Island

What a day!!  We were up early (very early - 4:15) to get our morning sunrise.  With headlamps on we headed to Shipwreck beach where we planned our first stop.  We headed up the trail (passed a huge spider web) to the top of a cliff for our first shots.

This photo was taken using a Neutral Density filter which allows us to keep the lens open for a longer period of time effectively smoothing out the water.  You can also see the movement in the clouds (it was very windy).

We love the reflection of the rock in the water!!

From Shipwreck Beach we went to Wailua Falls which was close to Kapaa where our hotel is located.

Everywhere we go we see Roosters and Chickens...

After viewing the Wailua Falls we went to Opaeka'a Falls.  This was further away and a little more challenging to photograph.

After viewing the falls we stopped for coffee and decided to go to the Glass Beach which is located by Eleele which is on the South Shore.   What a great decision.  This was a beautiful area (a little out of the way and not many people).  We collected glass pieces along the beach and ventured up another cliff and saw the most amazing area for pictures.  There was also a very old cemetery which was interesting to see.  Needless to say we spent most of the afternoon here.

Marian, Ralph and I collected these for you!!

A very old Hawaiian Cemetery.  The inscription on the stones was so beautiful.

Water raising up from the Lava Tube

Looking inside the Lava Tube

Since we were down on the south side of the island we decided to stay and photograph the sunset at Spouting Horn again.  It really is a pretty area and we were inspired by a magazine that we had seen to take some photos with a different twist to the typical shots.  We're quite happy with the results. Sadly there wasn't a lot of colour in the sky.

Beautiful rainbow over spouting horn.

Experimenting with time exposure photography!!

Slowing down the shutter speed

Got it!!

It was a really fun day today.  Ralph and I are both learning how to share (one camera) and have patience as we work together to get the "right shot".  It's been fun and I think we are growing as photographers.