We're Crewsin'!: Recharging Your Batteries....Energy for the Soul!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Can I just say….BEST. DAY. EVER.!!!! It was early to rise this morning (and yes, all those roosters on the island crow at the crack of dawn!). Today was catamaran day and we had to check in at 7:00 AM. So we left the hotel at 6:00. The sun was coming up over the Pacific and the sky was crystal clear blue. Our tour of the Na’Pali coast began in Port Allen on the west side of the island. It was about a 45 minute drive, but we didn’t mind it….how can one not love driving around this island with mountains to your right and ocean to your left? Every other day, the ragged mountain tops have been hidden away, tucked beneath billowing clouds. But not today! This was the start of a day of recharging….giving energy to the soul, energy and humility. I am always reminded, when traveling to new places in our great big world, of the humbleness I feel when given the opportunity to view God’s work with my own eyes. It is a joy and humbleness I cannot express through any pictures I show you here on this blog. It is my hope that all of you can one day experience this yourself….the Na’Pali coast….a fifteen mile stretch of rugged coastline that is inaccessible due to the sheer cliffs that drop straight into the Pacific Ocean. It can be viewed from air, sea and even land…if you like to hike and camp. It is an 11 mile hike that takes a whole day, so you have to camp out on a beach and hike back out the next day. Some of you may have seen the movie “A Perfect Getaway”….this is where much of the movie, in which a newlywed couple hikes on their honeymoon, takes place….pictures to come, later in this post.

So we boarded the catamaran with 34 other people and a crew of 4. Greg was our captain and his first mates were John, Julie and Joe. We sailed up the western coast of Hawaii looking at some beautiful scenery, including some now defunct sugar mills, an air force missile range facility, gigantic waves crashing on mostly secluded beaches, and farm lands.

Sugar is no longer farmed on the island, but these defunct sugar mills still dot the coast line.

The Air Force Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands....one of the best beaches on the island....if you are military, you have exclusive access here. Military families can rent the beach condos for just $90 bucks a night!

This flat, but sloped farm land was once a mountain that slid off into the Pacific, leaving it flat like this....looks like someone sliced into it with a huge knife!

Soon after we sailed, we had our first of many encounters with dolphins. These are spinner dolphins, named because of their acrobatic performances jumping and spinning into the air! They love to swim in front of boats and show off for people. This pod was not really interested in circus acts, but they were interested in our boat, so they swam along with us, showing off in the water and eventually trailing off to the side. Below are some amazing photos of these beautiful creatures, AND I have included a 1 ½ minute video of them…without sound, as the sound on my camera’s video setting is not working. :o(

We made the turn to the north shore and this is where the cliffs of Na’Pali begin, starting with some smaller cliffs and working up to gorgeous 4000 foot high sheer spikes into the sky!

We didn't expect to see gorillas out here! LOL!

No type of vessel is allowed to come onto the shore of this beach...not even a kayak! People come out here to surf and they can go on shore with their surfboard in hand, but that's it....UNLESS you are from Hollywood wanting to make a movie. Then you get special permission. :o) This beach has been the backdrop for several movies, including "Six Days, Seven Nights", "Pirates of the Caribbean", and "A Perfect Getaway".

Recognize this, from "A Perfect Getwaway"? If not, you should rent this movie! It is a thriller, and very suspensful....just a fair warning. :o)

Or maybe you recognize this pass-through cave from "Pirates of the Caribbean". This cave has eroded so it is a pass through from one beach to another. It doesn't look very big, but it is tall enough and wide enough for a helicopter to go through!

Dolphins were not the only sea life we saw! These are a bunch of sea turtles just sunning and resting on a very shallow coral reef...it was low tide and this is where they love to come rest!

Another beautiful waterfall!

The native Hawaiians lived all along this coast. This valley was an area where they had villages along the coast and up into the valley. This was a rich, fertile area and farming was successful here.

Headed back to Port Allen....my view....not too bad

This trip normally includes snorkeling, but the way the tides and trade winds were bringing in waves, the water was not clear enough in the best snorkeling spots, so Greg put down anchor for us to take a swim and have lunch. He pointed out that there was a pod of dolphins about 100 yards away from us, and that it would be illegal for him to park us in their midst, BUT….if they came to us it would be okay. He also pointed out that this would be highly unlikely. Well, these spinner dolphins had great plans for us! Pretty soon, they began to swim all around us! There were in front of the boat, behind and on both sides of the boat, swimming underneath us to pass by and performing their spinning acts no more than 20 feet away! It was amazing. Several people wore masks and could see underwater that they were swimming right under us! You could go underwater and hear them squeaking, talking to one another I guess….and I wonder what they had to say. J All I know is that I was floating in the Pacific with dolphins swimming in a circle about 100 feet in circumference and I was right in the middle of it! I had my water camera and hopefully some of those shots will show this amazing adventure!

Once we were back on land, we picked up one of the guys Andy is working with at the airport, went back to the hotel to shower and change clothes. The remainder of this day, we would see the east coast of the island, working our way back up to the north shore where the road eventually winds to an end….halted by those cliffs of Na’Pali. This side of the island seemed much greener than the west coast. Lots of farm land and lush vegetation. I tell you, it must be nice to be a cow with the view they have….a beautiful green pasture with the Pacific in the distance! This side of the island is dotted with little hidden beaches everywhere! Andy’s GPS was showing some of them, so we just turned down random roads and found little narrow, winding roads with beaches, beautiful beachfront homes, lots of rentals, some nice, some very classic old-style Hawaiian, parks, surfers, people gathered on a Sunday afternoon with their families, LOTS of tent campers, set up right on the beaches! We drove all the way to the last town, Hanalei. This whole area seemed to be more sophisticated than the western side of the island….more beautiful homes, more upscale shops, more people on the beaches. This may not actually be the case, it was just my impression after visiting both sides of the island.

Headed up the east coast.

On our way up this side of the coast, we stopped to see the Kilauea Lighthouse. This is the northernmost point of all the main Hawaiian islands. It was built in 1913 and guided ships to and from the Orient. It is on a peninsula that makes up part of a National Wildlife refuge, which is a santuary to nesting sea birds.

I just thought this was the cutest thing! As we were riding down some of the winding beachside roads, this little swing was hanging just over the water from a low tree on the beach! Couldn't help but think this is a photo op. just waiting to happen!

We drove over quite a few one lane bridges on this side of the island. This was the largest of them, and Andy thought the sign was funny...something you would never see on the mainland!

Fertile farm land. They grow a lot of taro here, an edible plant used to make poi. Poi is a Polynesian staple food.

We finished up the evening with dinner at Dukes Canoe Club. This restaurant is inside the Marriott compound and came with high reviews. And it did not disappoint! We had an open air table looking out over the bay and beach for the Marriott, which was the perfect way to end a beautiful day! Tomorrow, Andy works, so I will most likely be hanging at the pool or checking out some shops nearby.