Capturing the Moment

  A beautiful Chinese cemetery sits atop a green hill deep within Manoa Valley. Also known at Lin Yee Chung Manoa Chinese Cemetery, this spot is open for visitors until 6pm daily. Heidi and I had turned back from doing a late Manoa waterfall hike due to some rain showers so we decided to walk around the cemetery grounds instead.   I had been here before but never close to sunset. The low sun cast long shadows on the gravestones and gave the entire scene an ethereal aura. We could look down the valley towards the ocean and see the high rises of Waikiki, but it seemed very far away from our serene spot. Giant plumeria trees offered easy pickings for flower offerings for the deceased. And intricately carved animal statues stood guard over some of the bigger graves. At the top of the hill stood a huge banyan tree and the grave of Lin Yee Chung , the grand ancestor.   Heidi and I walked around for a while, never seeing another soul. In our exploration we stumbled ...

Early morning look at Haleakala volcano's South side  Road 'round the West Maui Mtns, NW Maui Plumeria  One of the big adventures not often attempted here on Maui is the drive around the West Maui mountains. The road here can be driven by any type of car, however you need to be a confident driver as some of the turns are little more than one lane and on the precipice of a huge cliff. But like the more popular 'road to Hana' the sights along this drive are incredible. Huge canyons, distant waterfalls, tropical flowers, and ocean vistas try and pull your eyes off the road. One of my favorite scenes, Big Beach  My mom and I tackled this windy road after starting off the morning at the very end of the road, La Perouse Bay . Tucked back in the newest lava flows on Maui the road dead ends into a very beautiful but rugged bay where Admiral La Perouse landed his ship. Beautiful sandy beaches like Big Beach await travelers down in the Makena area with a few se...