A Walk Through Waa Waa

 

Deep into the wild and thick forests at Waa Waa, an unruly and almost untamed part of East Hawaii.  Even the roadway to this wilderness is pock-marked with deep potholes, water filled ponds collect everywhere and make it almost impossible to move along the muddy dirt road especially after a heavy rain.

It feels very magical here, like time has stood still for a very long time and you can almost imagine dinosaurs from a very long time ago actually living in this Jurassic Park like zone, even though that only happens in movies.

 

 

Amazing plants abound and grow way up in the tree canopy including this wild birds nest fern (Asplenium nidus), the leaves growing over five to six feet in length alone. I wish some were closer to the ground for me to bring back a plant for my garden, but these plants live way up in the trees hard for the plant collectors to reach.

 

Here is a longer shot of the fern high above the forest canopy and magically

it up by the shaft of light illuminating its beautiful leaves.

 

Large limbs or aerial roots drape from these large trees and are very solid as you can see

from a friend swinging here to test the strong roots.

 

 

 

Eventually we make it to the clearing at the end were deafening sounds of the ocean crashing

can be heard…we see the huge waves battering the coastline and throwing huge boulders onto the rough shoreline.  I took a shot of this imaginary piece symbol with the two rocks lit up the waves in the background.

 

 

This huge arch at the end of the rocky beach is the highlight of the hike, the waves are fierce and hurling huge sprays along the shoreline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a wonderful and short hike, I’m glad this area is rarely traveled except for those who live in this area.

 

Getting a Close Eye View of an Active Lava Flow

As you can see this part of the island is alive and active with lava continuously flowing down from the Kilauea Volcano down to the ocean.  Even recently, just a few weeks ago this area you are seeing had an active flow spreading through this virgin forest and torching all the beauty around this wilderness. Its sad to see but Pele ( the goddess of Fire) does not spare anything in her pathway to the ocean even through vast areas of untouched beauty. In spite of this singed area, we are constantly reminded that this island is still alive and growing new lands and new beaches. 

Fortunately the tradewinds here are blowing all the smoke and what we call vog down southwest and off to the other islands. The vog is quite toxic to alot of people and whole agricultural industries have been devastated in our own county alone because of this recent phenomena.

Walking through the torched forest is not only eery but the ground is still very hot and soft to walk on, making me feel a little aware that I might still be walking on very tender crust that may easily collapse at any moment. Even though the active flow has moved further down to a new ocean entry, the ground closeby is still fragile and quite dangerous.

I decided to keep on hiking all the way to the lava entry since I saw quite a few hikers continuing towards the lava " I know blind, leading the blind ", despite the fact that the ground was still warm in this area where the lava entered recently.  But since I was following behind a hundred yards, it was a good indicator that things looked relatively safe. Here's a photo of me at least a few hundred feet away from the entry.

It is getting close to dusk and there's still alot of light but I really wanted to stay later and see the red glow and embers from the lava entering the water so I decided to stay a bit and walk around to see some more amazing discoveries along the way...here's a preview of what I'll be showing you on the next installment - Fireworks!

Unfortunately, I forgot my tripod again so the shot is a little blurry with the reduction of light, but stay tuned for some amazing captures that I was able to get in my next post.

For more views around the world come and visit http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

A Quiet Pond on the Edge of Punaluu

At the edge of this palm fringed beach at Punaluu is a quiet pond…everyone is at the beach enjoying the hot black sand and looking for basking sea turtles.

But I am more drawn to this beautiful pond filled with purplewater lilly blossoms which are blooming profusely everywhere, I’m tempted to wade in and pluck one out.

Their flowers and leaves are floating effortlessly on the water and palm shadows fall into the water creating rippled abstracts of their blowing leaves…very hypnotic.







I walk around the pond and cross two small bridges connecting various parts and see different scenes unfold with pictures framed in many shades of green.

I love exploring areas that are obviously in slow decay and just waiting for someone to rediscover the beauty of its hidden charms, just like this little pond.

I’m glad a took a moment to explore this and enjoy her little flowered treasures, it was just what I was looking for at the beach….not quite what anyone expected.

To visit other posts for Thats My World go to http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

Time for a Beach Camp Out in Hawaii

It was quite a hectic last week filled with so many activities, chores and errands, I was really looking forward to getting away to the south part of Hawaii Island to relax and enjoy a beach camp out.

Whittington beach is a lovely bay with fish ponds that lead into the protected bay and is an idyllic camping spot.  I set up my little pup tent right up to the edge of the grassy area so I could hear the waves crashing at night time and have some lovely views of the bay.

It was mid-week so fortunately we were the only one's camping outside of a few day trippers enjoying the tide pools and fish ponds, scouting around to discover any sea life.

Unfortunately the windy and rainy conditions prevented any desire to actually go into the water and I was really anticipating snorkeling here since I heard that Whale sharks tend to congregate in this deep bay and there are alot of larger tropical fish just outside the fish pond.

We were fortunate enough to visit with this spear fisherman who collected quite a catch of beautifully colored parrot fish and he offered us a few of these fish for a barbeque. Let me tell you, just caught, these taste amazingly like a real fresh lobster, real ono (delicious) !

Even though it was windy, rainy and too cold to go into the water today, it was still nice to walk around the various parts of the pond and tide pools, visit with friends and prepare alot of delicious meals by the ocean. Decompressing at the beach is just the right thing to do after a crazy week and a wonderful way to enjoy our beaches.

Thanks for the visit and to visit other posts for thats my world go to http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

Watery Wednesday - Sunset in the Kohala Coast

A view of children playing in the warm waters of Spencer Beach before the sun sets in West Hawaii and the water is still warm for a refreshing dip.

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Watery Wednesday in a small inlet at Richardson Beach

In a quiet lagoon not far from the ocean, I climbed over some lava rocks and look into the pools for any sign of life...

                ....just a few tangs and angle fishes, but suddenly i see something large and green move.

At first I thought it was just a rock, but on close observation, I saw that it was a turtle slowly moving and barely noticeable.

But soon after it rose to the top to catch a breath....hello there, I can finally see you and see your beautiful shell in the sun!  What a nice surprise, thank you for coming out and letting me to see today, I was just waiting for this moment.

Of course, the turtle ignored me and disappeared after taking a quick breath and headed back to disappear with the rocks in silence.

Thats okay,  it was nice to just discover something new and alive in the water....