Missing the Ocean...

Take a walk along the beach with me... I'm missing the ocean very much. If there were one place that I could say always makes me happy, enriches my soul, feeds my body, it would be at the edge of the sea. 

Green Sand Beach, Hawaii

Ho'okena tide pools, Hawaii

Mexico

Northern California coast

Bahamas

Bahamas

Bahamas

Bahamas

Bahamas

Bahamas

Santa Monica, CA

Santa Monica, CA

Mexico

Mexico

Mexico

After reading Shannon's blog, I realized that I wanted to take a trip down memory lane, as I currently live a bit of a drive from the ocean. I needed to remember the sound of the waves crashing next to me.... or the sweet susurration of the gentler waves against soft sand... shhhhh... shhhhhhhhhh... shhhhh.... I've always loved that sound. The little treasures of Mother Nature tumbling along the water's edge, leaving a lacework tracery for the sea birds to follow. Rich and pungent sea weed sending its organic smells into the wind... all these things make me indescribably happy!


What places make you feel the most happy, the most "at home" and balanced? For me, it has always been walking at the feet of the ocean, or in her arms, floating, swimming. I hope you've enjoyed your walk with me along many edges of her vastness....    

Kauai continued! A Trip to Hanalei Bay...

View from a back road near Po'ipu

Menehune Fish Pond

 I had forgotten to include the photos above in my last post. These views were from the south end of the island, near Po'ipu. There's a Hawaiian legend that talks of the mythical Menehune people. They're little magical people who bring luck, much like Irish Leprechauns. The ancient Hawaiians said that the fish pond, over 900 feet long, was made by the Menehune about 1000 years ago, in one night. Archaeologists actually surveyed the pond and found that it actually was rather mysterious! It was built in an engineered fashion, more advanced than the people at the time, and had mysterious markings carved into it. The information on it varies, depending on where you hear it, as some people say it was built before Hawaiians lived on the islands, and others say that it was built during the time of the Hawaiians, but was much more advanced than what they were capable of at the time. Who knows? It's still there, but is no longer in use, as it's privately owned. 

Kilauea Lighthouse

Nene birds with their babies

Hanalei - taken from the pier

The creek that runs to Hanalei

Very shallow beach

Stop on the way back

So the day after our first Kapa'a visit, we wanted to continue further up the coast, heading north from the eastern town of Kapa'a.  On our way, we stopped at the Kilauea Lighthouse and wildlife refuge. There were an amazing number of migratory birds there! I didn't even know the names of most of them. Some of them were albatrosses, which had an island out off the tip of the coast, so we didn't see them up close. There were egrets and all kinds of geese and ducks. There were the Hawaiian Nene, which had hatchlings following them around! So cute! It was very breezy there, but also scorchingly hot somehow. We didn't stay long, as we were excited about seeing Hanalei Bay.

I had been to Hanalei Bay before, almost 20 years ago (before Hurricane Iniki) with my mom and sister and my mom's friend Chuck, and remembered it as a calm and lovely place to get some sun. It was also the meeting place for rafting tours to the Napali Coast. (You can only reach it by ocean, air or if you hike in. No roads go to the coast in order to keep it pristine.) I hadn't actually realized quite how lovely it is! Everywhere you turn, the sun is hitting the surrounding mountains in just such a way as to dazzle you! And standing at the end of the pier made you feel like a mermaid able to balance on the ocean's water. You're able to look down on the waves and surfers passing by... it's really fantastic! I loved the shallowness of the water, which allows you to walk very far out to look for seashells, without having to get your hair wet, if you don't want to. Contrary to my photos, there were a lot of people here, but not so many that you had to watch where you walked or anything. A lot of people were barbecuing out by their vehicles, parked higher up on the sand. Many surfers come out here to surf, and hang out, but they have a long way to walk to get to the deeper part of the ocean.... though that's part of the lovely journey, isn't it?

Kauai continued! A Visit to Kapa'a

Lydgate State Park Beach

A lot of drift wood!

Playground designed by the children of Kauai

Opaeka'a Falls

Old Hawaiian eating implements

Mating dance of the peacock

Male peacock

Mermaid's Cafe in Kapa'a

Yummy ahi nori wrap at Mermaid's

On my first day off the resort, we drove up the east coast to Kapa'a, making a few stops along the way. Our first stop was Lydgate State Park, which is right on the coast. It has a beautiful beach that's littered with a ton of drift wood. The waves here are intense, but they have a small reefed cove for people to safely swim in. There's also a children's playground on the mauka (mountain) side of the park. The playground was designed by the children of Kauai, and built by the people of Kauai. If I were a kid, I'd want to play there!

Afterwards, we drove up to Opaeka'a Falls, which is really only a view of the falls, but there's a lot of pretty flora and foliage at the viewing pull-off. And just a little drive further and you can see the Kamokila Hawaiian Village, which has peacocks all over the place, as well as all kinds of the various fruiting trees that Hawaiians, including the ancients, used and ate from. 

Then we drove up for lunch in Kapa'a, and ate at Mermaid's Cafe, on the recommendation of Yelp. (So glad I had my iPhone!) Their ahi nori wraps were so delicious that we went back another day to get another one! Their pad Thai was delicious, also! Seats are limited, and it always seemed to have people lining up, but it's totally worth it. They use locally caught fish and fresh local produce here. YUM!!

And while we were in downtown Kapa'a, we walked around and did a little shopping. There are some cool stores here, which we ended up returning to another day. It's really a cute little town to visit! Lots of shops and nice little restaurants to check out, and it has that comfy island-feel to it that I love! 

Hawaii - Kauai Adventure!

Carved from a truncated palm tree still in the ground

You know you're in Hawaii when you see a tiki totem in the ground! I am still reeling from my wonderful trip to the island of Kauai, Hawaii! It was beautiful, warm, wet, sunny, friendly, and full of amazing toasts from Nature to Us! I don't even know where to start, really! There was just so much to love and enjoy in this beautiful landscape so verdant and alive!

Swans in one of the ponds on the grounds

Gorgeous flora in the gardens

The amazing pool at the Marriott

The twilight view from our lanai

The beach in front of the Marriott

So I'm starting with the resort we stayed at... the Marriott Resort and Beach Club. It was beautiful! The food was delicious, the views were lovely, the people were very friendly and open, and the rooms were wonderful with comfy beds. I loved how quiet our rooms were! I also loved checking out the view at different parts of the day & night. It was so pretty!

View down the resort's beach

 We saw several interesting animals here, too! Geckos, sea turtles, a family of feral cats that reminded me of mine at home, and lots of tropical birds... as well as wild chickens and roosters!

A frog in the walkway

Koi after feeding time

One of the many roosters walking around

Koi asleep at night

Green gecko by the pool

 I'd like to point out that the roosters were EVERYWHERE on the island. My respect for them has grown as I noted that they somehow managed to survive so well. I saw maybe one that had been hit by a car, and if you knew how many there were running around, you'd really be surprised by this. I saw them avoid traffic, up in trees, scratching out food and finding fresh water to drink. They're a bit smarter than we give them credit for! 

We visited another resort, as well: The Hyatt in Po'ipu. That's where I got some photos of other creatures that I liked...

Black swan and koi

Hyacinth Macaw at the Hyatt

The black swans (there were four, two pairs on each side of a bridge) were very sweet and had interesting vocalizations. The females had a standard call, but the males had a deeper, booming call. And they were very sweet-natured... I was in love with their curly tails and gentle approach. The Hyacinth Macaw was the sweetest! She loved having her picture taken and cooed and preened for us. Some of the other macaws would chatter and do acrobatics when we took their picture! The Hyacinth (I think her name was Neru) was just the sweetest of them all.

I have more photos to blog about tomorrow... hope you enjoy this first installment of my trip to Kauai!! I totally recommend a trip to the islands. The Big Island of Hawaii and Kauai are my absolute favorites!