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Bye-bye, Kauai
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Oahu's northwest cape; note gigantic waves
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Desolate west coast of Oahu
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Honolulu sprawl
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Pearl Harbor, Battleship Row, Missouri and Arizona Memorial
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Next up: Molokai
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Molokai southwest coast; we'll see the splendiferous northeast
coast via heli later; even lower and slower
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Over desolate and sparse Lanai now
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From Lanai to Maui...10 miles? 5?
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On approach to Kahului; Lahaina, where the boats are
headed, is where we'll stay |
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| Hawaii is not paradise for everybody; Vicki read Michener's old Hawaii, and read parts of it to me; the tale of exploitation and oppression by US imperialists, well into the 20th century, is shameful |
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| "Ceci n'est pas une pipe"? |
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| Garden hose snake at the National Tropical Botanical Garden |
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| Mele Kalikimaka |
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| Mele Kalikimaka, Kauai-style |
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| Us at the Grand Canyon of the Pacific |
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| Marie, Vicki, and Bob, at Kalalau Lookout |
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| The Kapa'a Shores; thanks again, Bob and Beth |
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| Kapa'a beach |
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| Till we meet again, Kauai...cockle-doodle-dooooo! |
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Looking south on huge, beautiful Major Beach
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Looking north
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We shared the miles of open beach with two surfers and two
fisherpersons
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Niihau, the "forbidden island" in the distance
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And its neighbor, uninhabited (by humans) Lehua
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| Because of Marie's keen eyes, we all got to see a whale-- maybe a mile away, flapping its tail and then breeching once or twice; always a thrill; the picture above could be the whale... |
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Also under the heading of "seldom seen Kauai," here is a
sunny and absolutely clear and calm view of Kalalau Valley
from Kalalau Point in the higher country; doesn't get any
better than this; the boats and helicopters and ultralights
were out in force
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Dawn's rosy fingers over the Mai Tai-dark sea |
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A lone paddle boarder off Kapa'a |
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Veteran sunrise watchers know that there is relatively full light well before the sun actually rises |
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Thar she blows |
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More |
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Still more |
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Done |
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Main building/gift shop
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Weird tropical fruit
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The whole place is a couple hundred of acres, up from a
beautiful cove |
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More weird tropical fruit
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South Florida, where I was born and raised, is loaded with
tropical vegetation; but Hawaii has the best hibisci
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Vineyard, sort of
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Staghorn fern, like one my mother had (until it was stolen)
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Oozing orchid
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Who can resist orchids?
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Who can resist orchids, 2
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Who can resist orchids, 3
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An heron looks for lunch in the stream, surrounded by
papyrus |
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Mapplethorpe plant
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Lipstick plant
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Kauai waterfall and pool |
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Waialeale...the big one...see below |
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Not the rainiest place on earth, by inches of precip, but by number of annual days of precip...360 |
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Kilauea Lighthouse |
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We drove up around the top, shopped at Hanipepe, and visited the beginning of the Kalalau Trail and the Na Pali coast |
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Norm and I got as far as the half mile marker; enough, considering... |
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The view back down the trail; although it had rained lately, the trail did not seem nearly as slippery as in February, 2009, the last time I was on it; nor was I carrying all our backpacking stuff... |
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Looking toward the Na Pali and more of the trail; I have some seriously conflicting feelings about this place... |
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One of the big wet caves near the beginning of the trail |
