Nate and Kelly's Whirlwind Oahu Tour

  After finally convincing Nate and Kelly to make the move out to Maui, just as Heidi and I were switching islands to Oahu, they were finally able to island hop over to see us on our new island. We only had two and a half days and I wanted to make it count so we crammed a lot into their quick Oahu visit. We had great weather, beautiful sunsets, fireworks, exploratory snorkels, and surf sessions.

Eternity Beach

Makapu'u Lookout
  These pictures are from our exploration of the southeast coast of Oahu. The beautiful bay pictured above is a tiny stretch of beach called Eternity Beach. It was made famous by a movie in the 50's called 'From here to Eternity', starring Burt Lancaster. The cave goes from the beach all the way back under the highway.
The pics below are from an overlook high above Makapu'u beach. The offshore island behind us in Rabbit Island, which did have a bunch of rabbits populating it at some point.



Can you find Heidi, Nate, Kelly, and Dai Mar?

TAC 4 Life
   We made sure to do a bit of hiking in the rainforest as well. We found these old ruins deep in the jungle. This was Kamehameha II's summer mansion before being left to the whims of the forest. I lost Nate and Kelly while I was taking this picture of the gnarly tree through the ruined window only to find them down the trail climbing about in this huge banyan tree pictured on the right.

 The picture below is one of my favorite shots of Nate and Kelly from this weekend. It is from a place called Point Panic. It was taken after an eventful surf session and just after a beautiful sunset. The massive cruise ship in the background had just left Honolulu harbor on its way to Maui. I am pretty lucky to have such amazing friends who are always up for adventure. I can't wait for the next big trip we all take together. Mantas and lava flows on the big island anyone?


Comments

Post a Comment

Leaving a comment is a great way to provide feedback, ask further questions, and inspire more answers...so go for it.

Popular posts from this blog

Secret Maui Waterfall

Image
  No matter how quick a trip to Maui might be there will be hidden gems found and great times had. After a little snafu with my flight I made it standby to Maui, picked up my rental car, and rushed off to meet my friends on the road to Hana. We met at Frog Pond, one of our favorite swimming holes near the beginning of the road to Hana. After some rock hopping and cliff jumping here we decided to check out the hidden waterfalls at mile 11. I'm not sure what the name of these falls are but there are two of them, each with their own swimming holes. It is just off the highway but separated by lush jungle. A rope swing beckons the adventurous and rocks warmed by the sun give you more than enough reason to while away the afternoon.
Read more

Hidden Ulupalakua Lava Tube, Maui

Image
  High above the crowded beaches of South Maui lies a hidden secret adventure that only those in the know will ever experience. Hidden only a thousand yards or so off a well traveled road around 4,000ft in elevation sits a massive cave which angles slowly down the side of Haleakala volcano. The amazing formations inside and the cave itself were formed by lava, creating an underground tube to transport the lava farther down the slope of the volcano. The same thing can be seen actively happening on the Big Island currently. Luckily this lava tube is all dried up making it much safer to explore. However the loose rocks and obvious cave ins leave some cause for concern.   Part of this adventure is just finding the entrance. This included a dirt road, a jeep trail, jumping an old stone wall, then bushwhacking through dense brush for about tweny-five minutes before finding the lava tube entrance. It was surrounded by ferns, just like the famous Thurston Lava Tube in Volcanoes National
Read more

Search for Chameleons, Maui

Image
  You never know what might be hiding in your backyard. Here on Maui there have always been tales of people finding Jackson's chameleons in their bushes. The trick is to travel a few thousand feet up Haleakala volcano to Makawao, Pukalani and Kula towns where the temperature is a little cooler and it is a bit wetter, perfect conditions for chameleons.   There are no native reptiles on Hawaii. These beautiful chameleons were released or escaped from the pet trade. Luckily they have not become invasive like many other introduced species, however they have increased in population and seem to be doing quite well in the higher elevation areas. Heidi and I went on a search the other day at our friend's house in Kula and were shocked to find a dozen different chameleons in her side yard hedge. They were mostly at eye level, and were curled up asleep for the night. We found them easily enough with flashlights since they seem to sleep near the outer edge of the hedge at night.   W
Read more