SHARKS COVE AND TURTLE BEACH

We drove up to the North Shore and went snorkeling at Shark's Cove. Great place to snorkel and see beautiful underwater caves and sea life, as well as tide pools to explore. 

 

 

 ...

One of our favorites things to do on the island was to go to Turtle Beach. It is appropriately named
 since there were always lots of turtles there. We swam with them and they are very friendly.

Eden liked to bring her little turtle toy and play with it.

 

 

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: 19 YEARS OF MARRIAGE

To My Wonderful wife: Happy Anniversary Today!

We have been married for 19 years, known each other for 31! Grateful for every year!

Below are photos taken from a hike that we did together in Hawaii called the "Stairway to Heaven" also know as the Haiku Stairs. This picture was taken at the first landing on the hike at around 4:30 AM. You know you have married well when your wife will wake up at 2:30 AM in the morning, hike in the jungle and up 4000 stairs and take a photo and look beautiful! WOW!

 

Here is the lower part of the hike.

   

 Here we are at the top of the mountain at the abandoned satellite building.

 

 

 

Descending down the mountain in the rain.

Coming out of the clouds back down into the valley.

Thanks to google images, this is what it would look like from the top on a clear day.

 

 

 

 

WATERFALLS AND JUNGLE HIKES

This is Sacred Falls. I hiked this alone early one morning. Reached the falls by 7:00 AM. There is quite a bit I could write about this hike, suffice it to say, it is named appropriately.

 

"Tarzan and the Janes"

We each took turns swinging from the vines that hang from the trees on our way to Maunawili Falls.

  

 

After a fairly long hike, crossing the river multiple times and hiking thru mud, we finally reached Maunawili Falls. We swam and jumped off the rock cliffs.

 

 It felt higher than it looks to jump in.

Hiking with the Lohmeiers up to Manoa Falls. Beautiful Garden of Eden trees and forest.

 

 The family loved having Matthew and Sara Lohmeier with us on our trip.

The Manoa Falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Hiking back down from the falls.

One more photo of Sacred Falls. The huge rock boulders at the base of the waterfall is significant. Many years ago, these rocks came tumbling down from the steep cliffs above taking the lives of many who happened to hike that fateful morning to the Falls.  A very sacred and somber feeling is felt at the Falls.

 

The two most popular tourist attractions in Hawaii

PEARL HARBOR

 

Since we were going to be staying for awhile in Hawaii, I actually got a library card. The main purpose was to check out the movie, Pearl Harbor. We watched it the night before we went on the actual tour of Pearl Harbor and see the sunken ship, the USS Arizona. The movie really effected my family. My oldest daughter cried almost uncontrollably during the movie.

 

 

There is still a very somber and reverent feeling at Pearl Harbor.

 ...............

I added this picture of my wife and I and Eden on the ferry ride over to the USS Arizona, despite it not being a very photo of us, but to point out what Eden is doing. We found out that she is has very sensitive ears. In this photo is "covering" her ears (probably because of the boat motor noise) What is interesting that even in the ocean with the waves she would cover her ears. So funny since I love the noise of both.

 
___________________________________________________________

 

 POLYNESIAN CULTURE CENTER

 If any of you who have been to the PCC, this Samoan man is basically a celebrity. He has been performing for many many years and is one funny man. He is the fire starter and coconut man. We had our luau in the Samoan country of the PCC and he was our master of ceremonies. 

  ...

 

My daughters kind of have a crush on both of this young Samoans.

It was there idea to get photos with them.  

Here is a photo that Kat took at our luau. Great food. That night we went to see the show "Ha, The Breath of Life". It was the highlight on the day. Our dear friends the Lohmeiers joined us that night as well, but unfortunately didn't get a photo with them.  

MAKUA CAVE EXPLORING and the OHIKI-LOLO BEACH

I had done some research online about a ancient cave up the Waianae Coast, so we took the day to go exploring and spend some time up this less populated area along the leeward side of the Island. We drove up as far as the road would go. We had a hard time finding the cave, but stopped at  Kaneana Point. Ironically, the cave was directly across from this rock, but unless you knew where to look, you would not have found the cave. 

According to the Hawaiian Legend, Kaneana is a sacred ana (cave) that ancient Hawaiians named after the god of creation. From inside the depth of Kaneana, symbolic of the earth goddess's womb, mankind emerged and his existence spread throughout the Waianae coast. The souls of those that pass on go to Kala'au (symbolized by this rock on the other side of Ka'ena Point). From there, souls ascend to Po, the realm of ancestral spirits, completing the cycle of life.  The "Malama Ko Makou Aina"  I think means "care for/of our land",

 

We brought flashlights with us and so we entered the cave. Eden was really excited as you can see from the below photo.

However, some of us were a little creeped out because of another urban legend that we had heard about the cave. Legend goes that within Makua Cave lives a shapeshifting Shark-Man that transforms into human form to lure people into the cave. It is because of this that during the ancient Hawaiian times, people were forbidden from entering Makua Cave, fearful that they would be attacked or eaten by the Shark-Man.

We then attempted to find a remote (hard to access) beach called the Ohiki-lolo.  We didn't realize how hard it would be to access. My family was not to happy about the difficulty of trying to make our way down to this secluded beach. It was treacherous with thorns and sharp branches.

 We finally found the beach. And enjoyed the seclusion and exploring the wading pools looking for shells.

 Part of the sea floor is natural sandstone, which almost looked like a nice smooth deck.

 

Brooke and Sarah looking for fish and shells in the tidepools. 

It was another beautiful day in Paradise.

Viewing last nights Meteor Shower up in the mountains

I took two of my daughters last night up into mountains to watch the Perseid meteor Shower.  This cosmic event is visible each year in the summers with the peak activity between August 9-14. It is the most famous of all meteor showers because these meteors move much faster across the sky .During the peak, the rate of meteors reaches 60 or more per hour.  These showers have been observed for about 2000 years. The earliest record of Perseids meteor shower activity comes from the Chinese where it is said in their annuals that in 36 AD "more than 100 meteors flew thither this morning"

 

 

 

 

We stayed up most of the night watching the meteors which at times looked more like impressive fireballs.

In addition to the meteor shower, early in the morning before the sun came up, we were able to watch an impressive lightning and thunderstorm pass across the sky.

Here are some photos of the sunrise. Red in the morning.. sailors warning. It was definitely red this morning.

Our campsite where we slept.

Driving home we saw two moose cross the road. By the time I found my camera under all our sleeping bags, I missed the close-up.