The photos below are what we saw.
After the clouds and
fog of the previous day the morning broke bright and mostly
clear. To the south, we could see an awesome waterfall
on the mountain to our south.
The view
of Hanalei Bay was unobstructed by weather.
There
was a good-sized catamaran in the bay sitting at anchor.
Kathleen
wanted to see the Kilauea Lighthouse. We went there only
to discover that they are closed on Sundays so we could only see
it in the distance.
The
lighthouse is situated on a large cliff out on a point. We
retreated to a bistro down the road for a long lunch before
heading to some of the local beaches.
From the
lighthouse, we followed a side road to a nearby beach. The
winds were blowing quite hard, but the water was nice.
Along
the north shore to the east of our beach we could see the
lighthouse. While a polarizing filter enhances sea color
in photos, the real colors were almost as vivid as the photo
above.
The
shallow waters resulted in an interesting mix of colors.
Down the
road a bit we encountered more pillow lava. Pillow lava
results from lava coming in contact with sea water and generates
both round and hexagonal "blocks".
We headed to the new hotel and did chores for the balance of the
day.
The next
morning we headed to the small city of Hanalei for breakfast and
our path took us past a viewpoint providing us a view of the
Hanalei River Valley below. The rectangular fields are
growing taro.
The view
was sufficiently striking to compel me to do a multi-shot
panorama. The photo above spans about 120 degrees.
Another
viewpoint further down the road toward Hanalei provided a view
of the bay itself.
Hanalei
Bay looked great in the morning sun.
After breakfast, we headed to the Kilauea lighthouse again. From the access road we could see a narrow canyon that was carved by the pounding surf. Note the two alcoves (AKA sea caves) carved by the force of the waves.
While
this looks like a rodent burrow, it is really carved by sea
birds who nest underground. Several local species are
burrow-nesters.
The
strong winds were producing significant waves and white caps
further out in the bay. Note the reflections of the waves
off the cliffs producing radiating patterns in the ocean's
surface.
Our
National Park Pass got us onto the grounds for "free".
Since I am sufficiently superannuated, I get the park pass for a
reduced fee. Having seen many lighthouses, I never asked
if it was still in service.
Looking
to the west along the coastline we could see the distant
headlands on the far side of Hanalei Bay.
Just
offshore past the end of point was a small island that was home
to a large number of sea birds. Isolated from land
predators, the birds breed in prolific peace.
Kathleen
wanted to see the botanical garden at Limahuli so we drove west
on the coast road to land's end. Limahuli is in the last
canyon before the ocean. The gardens do a great job of
documenting the agricultural history of the area starting from
about 200 A.D. Most of the "food plants" and animals
present on the island were imported by the Polynesians when they
arrived. They brought the 27 most important plants and 4
animals to the island (fowl, pigs, rats and dogs). These
terraces were built to provide flat ground next to the
stream. They developed a gravity based irrigation system
that serviced the terraces.
Situated
in the flattest area of the steep canyon, the terraces provide
growing area for Taro, one of the area' s most important starch
plants. These people discovered that if the taro root is
not sufficiently cooked it produces severe mouth and throat irritation.
Only sufficient cooking removes the issue (and renders the taro
root edible). Taro leaves are visible in the foreground of
the photo above. All parts of the taro plant are edible.
The base
of Limahuli is at the shoreline.
The
bottle gourd was originally imported from South America, likely
by the early Polynesians.
Some of
the native flowers were in bloom.
This was
a particularly nice bloom.
This odd
plant got my attention because the leaves radiate from the main
stem in a plane. Note the roots projecting from the sides
of the main stem.
Next to
the bigger plant was a small one of the same type where there
are additional roots that grow down toward the ground.
Classic
Bird of Paradise which as it turns out was imported to the
island.
A huge
bromeliad that holds water in the center of the leaf well.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2016, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.