Sunday, January 25

To brighten your Monday......

It's been a bit cloudy and cool here the past few days. Dug thru my photo archives and found this shot of some plumeria I took a couple years ago at a graduation luau. They just make me happy! 

Tuesday, January 20

Hiking Kauai

Sunday afternoon I convinced the hubby to  hike the Kuilau Trail with me.  It's a pleasant hike thru beautiful shrubbery, vines and trees. The hike begins at 500 ft. elevation and at the 1.25 mile you've climbed to 1140 ft. The round trip adventure was 3.5 miles. The path was an old fire road and now it used by hikers, bikers and equestrians.   

My Hubby 
 
 Hard to read, but the writing on this "shed" states that if you find a hunting dog in the forest please leave them here and the hunters will be back to get them.  There are a lot of pig hunters here, one needs to be careful out on the trails.
 
 The view looking back toward the city of Lihue
 
 A peek of the Makaleha Ridge from the picnic area on the Kuilau Trail
 
 Bridge that was constructed in 1976 to enable horses to cross the stream to reach the Moalepe Trail.
We will explore the Moalepe Trail another time.
 
 Wild Berry
 
 The Fauna
 
 A look to the south from the picnic area
 
 The anvil-shaped Makaleha Ridge
 
 The tall trees lining the trail
 
 A delightful day with one exception....I dropped my camera and smashed the monitor. It's toast, as it's one of those cameras that just has the large LCD viewer on the back. It will still take photos, in facts all these shots are from that camera but, you have no idea what's you're photographing nor can you adjust the settings.
Bummer!!
 
Monday it was back to the beach....
for sun, surf and sand.
 


Monday, January 19

{52 Snapshots of Life} Week #3 "Joyful"

It's week # 3 of the {52 Snapshots of Life} photo challenge hosted by The Lazy Pit Bull. It's not to late to join in on the fun. Get out your camera and snap away.

This week's theme was JOYFUL, well what can be more joyful than kids playing in the sun, sand and surf while at the beach. Love watching little ones play. So I give you a collage of JOYFUL.

 
 
 


Wednesday, January 14

The Under Side...

A couple days ago I was making my way to the beach in search of seals. This particular trek takes me through a long tunnel of shrubbery called a hau bush. The hau is a true hibiscus, the leaves are heart shaped and the flower is bright yellow in the a.m. changing to a reddish color by days end when it falls from the bush. As I was strolling along I noticed the sunlight peeking through the foliage and was able to capture a few cool shots. Hope you enjoy.











Monday, January 12

Week #2 Music {52 Snapshots of Life}

A bit late in posting my {52 Snapshot of life} this week, but I was wanting to post shots from the Whale Welcoming celebration that was held yesterday afternoon. It was the 5th annual Whale Welcoming event to be held here on Kauai. I am fortunate that the venue is a quick walk from my house. So we camera in hand I headed out.
The sky was a beautiful blue and the ocean was so calm making it easy to spot the various whale spouting in the near waters. It was a celebration of our ocean, the earth and our relationship with both. It was interesting to listen to all the wonderful music, which included drums, heart flutes, dideridoo, rattles and  shakers. Many gave heartfelt  testimonies of their relationships with the whales. It was a very moving musical celebration.






 
This is a blog hop hosted by The Lazy Pit Bull
 

Saturday, January 10

What's in the bag...

If you read yesterday's post you saw that  I once again went to the beach. Now I know some of you are thinking, gosh she sure goes to the beach a lot. Well yes and no, you see my treks to the beach during the week are "work" related. I am a volunteer for NOAA and do weekly beach surveys to monitor the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal. So those adventures do not include a beach umbrella, towel, beach chair or a cooler full of drinks and snacks. The gear is a bit different. My goal yesterday was to cover 3 beaches on foot.  I gathered my gear and hit the trail.

 As I was watching the beautiful waves on the north shore of Kauai, I glanced down and  realized  I'm a walking advertisement for several industries. Items include: #1 Binoculars from Cabela's  a must for identifying a seal from an appropriate distance, #2 a camera (Nikon) with a good zoom. See #1 for justification :) #3 Water bottle, this one is from HydroFlask (best water bottle ever) no warm water for me. #4 the day pack (Outdoor Products) Inside that pack is: cell phone, personal identification, pen, seal id book, seal cards, sunscreen, extra camera battery, money, car keys, snack, lip balm and bandaids!! Yes, that's all in that blue bag!!



Being a volunteer doesn't pay well (not paid one cent) but the benefit package sure is priceless. I get to see parts of Kauai that many folks only dream about. Take a look at what I captured and experienced yesterday.
Surfer headed to the waves

cool rock cairn

another surfer

a freshly molted Hawaiian Monk Seal hiding in the bushes

a honu basking in the sun

Laysan Albatross over head

opihi shell collection

nesting albatross incubating her precious egg

the waves
I'd say I had a pretty good "Pay Day"!!


Disclaimer: I am not being compensated for endorsing any of the above products, they just happen to work for me.

Thursday, January 8

I don't spend all my time on the beach....

After a morning seal survey (in which I found no seals) I headed to the "hills" to explore a bit. Sharing just a few photos to wet your senses. This is the Keahua Arboretum near the trail head for the Kuilau Trail.  A beautiful place on a simply perfect day. Think next time I will pack a lunch and explore more!  ***If my hubby is reading this we need to do this trail soon!!








Monday, January 5

Gloomy to Glorious

The past few days have been rather cool here on Kauai (at least by Hawaii weather standards) We've had lots of wind rain and cooler temps, even some SNOW on the Big Island.  So there's been some of us running around in jeans and winter type coats. I however, have yet to succumb to wearing long pants(jeans) a coat yes, but no long pants.  Wanted to share a few photos of the past couple days.

Isn't this a beautiful rainbow?? Taken a short distance from our home during my morning walk with the Girlz.  If you look closely you can even make out the 2nd rainbow.
 
This second photo is of the same view as the first shot minus the rain clouds and rainbow
 
Now look, same shot zoomed in....LOOK at those waterfalls!!! Amazing. The mountain range behind our house was just dripping with all sorts of these beautiful waterfalls. Guess a little gloom produces some glorious water faucets.
Sunday afternoon I took a quick drive and short hike to Ho`opi Falls.  Nice place to spend a sunny sunday afternoon.
 So tranquil....
Gracie is hoping for more sunshiny days so she can sleep in the sun puddles.