Aloha, part 3

I could actually have ‘Aloha, parts 1-500’ the amount of photographs I have, but I’m going to try and cut them down to 5 posts. I don’t want to get boring…

In the meantime I have 3 posts to go so sit back and enjoy the stunning garden isle of Kauai for the 3rd time! *said in my best David Attenborough voice* British friends, I’m SO jealous you get to watch Planet Earth 2 – I have no idea when US Public Television will pick it up here.

Back to piccies – this first one is of the Waimea Canyon, also known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It is a large canyon, approximately ten miles long and up to 3,000 feet deep, located on the western side of Kauai. The road runs right along the side of the canyon with handy ‘Stop here’ lay-bys (paved areas you can pull your car over Americans. I never actually realised you don’t call them lay-bys until I confused an American friend by talking about them.) Anyway trying to whittle hundreds of photographs down into my favourite one was really hard.

Waimea Canyon

Driving up the road admiring the Canyon on the right hand side we saw a lot of cars stopped and people climbing over the fence on the left. So being the nosey types we parked the car and climbed over. So glad we did. A pretty little waterfall in the red-dirt made for a fun mini-hike and some good photo ops. I tried to find out if the waterfall had a name, but could only find it referred to as ‘the red-dirt waterfall in Waimea Canyon’.

Red Dirt Waterfall, Waimea Canyon

Then when the road ran out at the top of the canyon we were at the Pu’u O Kila lookout (photo from previous post of the rainbow) and a side on view of the Na Pali cliffs. My favourite part of the island.

Na Pali cliffs

The next couple of photographs were taken from the helicopter when he took us over the mountains and down into the volcanic crater. I tried to find out what the volcano was called, but it just seems to be part of the Loihi Seamount chain of volcanos. The Wai’ale’ale crater is believed to have been extinct for 5 million years. All I know is that it was spectacular and sometimes I had to put down the camera and try to soak it all in with my eyes.

Wai’ale’ale crater

The Wai’ale’ale mountains, resting sleepily in the scenic background behind Kukui’ula, located almost exactly in the middle of the island, this towering green mountain range is usually tucked behind a shroud of wispy rain clouds. Waialeale means “rippling water” or “overflowing water” in Hawaiian and is the second wettest spot on Earth, receiving about 450 inches of rain each year. The rainiest year on record is 1982 with 683 inches.

Sorry Scotland. You’re NOT the wettest place on Earth!

Wai’ale’ale Mountain

My sister loves lighthouses so of course a visit to Kilauea Lighthouse on the North side of the island was a must. Unfortunately the day we went there the lighthouse was closed (it’s only open Tuesday to Saturday but we managed to come back the day we flew home and get closer. I have many more photographs of the lighthouse and also of the seabirds that roost in the cliffs but still haven’t edited them yet. The recently completed restoration of the century-old lighthouse has returned it to essentially its original state in 1913.  Twice a week, lighthouse lovers can climb up into the tower that once projected a beam 22 miles to sea. This structure stands at the edge of Kīlauea Point, 180 feet above the ocean. Pretty, isn’t it?

Kilauea Lighthouse

And finally for Aloha, part 3 is a pretty little shot of the Opaekaa Falls. You can totally see why they call Kauai ‘The Garden Isle’. The waterfall is located on the ʻŌpaekaʻa Stream in Wailua River State Park on the eastern side of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. It is a 151–foot waterfall that flows over basalt from volcanic eruptions millions of years ago”Opaekaa” means “rolling shrimp,” which were once abundant in the stream.

Opeakaa Falls

I hope I’m tempting you to go visit Kauai. It’s a long journey to get there but it’s totally worth it. I wasn’t joking when I said it was photography heaven!