Sunrise and sunset

Back in October while we were still living in park housing, we headed up to the summit one morning very very early for sunrise at the summit of Haleakala.



















Haleakala is said to have one of the best sunrises on earth. . .



We got to share the view, which was quite beautiful, with all these other people up at the summit visitor's center, (very romantic). . .












It was really really really windy and cold up there, waiting without the warmth of the sun.





Despite the beautiful view, in the end, we both decided we are more "sunset" kind of people.














On the way back to the parking area, we noticed this really amazing visual effect; the shadow of Haleakala mountain is popping up behind the clouds!












And then, there is SUNSET. . .














Here are a few views from the summit, looking down into the crater just after sundown. The lighting this time of day was stunning, not to mention the total and utter silence way up there at 10, 000 feet elevation!

The Garden

Our small garden, after one month. It is making pretty good progress and not too many pests yet. . .From left to right: tomatoes, red chard, kale, basil. Not pictured are: more kale, calendula, and a few jalapeno pepper and bunching onion.





The kale is delicious, as is the chard. We made pizza last night and ate some of the giant basil leaves.
Check out the post Haiku Cottage from mid November to see the progress.

(un)HOT LAVA!

A couple of weeks ago we went on a day hike near La Perouse Bay at the Ahihi Kinau Natural Area Preserve.


This photo gives a broad view of the landscape as you enter the Natural Area Preserve.


In the background you can see the backside of Haleakala. You can also see where the lava flowed down the slopes like a deep black river. This flow is said to be the most recent lava flow from Haleakala, although the date is uncertain and varies anywhere from 1400 to 1790.




The Preserve area is comprised mostly of aa lava rock, which is a very dark brownish-black color. The texture is very rough and abrasive and has a similar effect as sandpaper on your skin.







In some spots, the trail took us right along the shoreline near some beautiful tidepools.




The majority of the trail was very exposed to the sun and wind. This section of the trail had us walking right along the edge of some cliffs. There were a lot of super-strong gusts of wind that felt like they could knock you down if you weren't paying attention. We really had to be careful not to loose our hats!







This is another photo of where the trail goes right through the lava rock and along the ocean. Russell is a bit (unknowingly) camoflaged in this photo with his black and brown.



There were still a few visible remains left of the "King's Highway" in this section of the trail. This highway was built (pre-contact) so that messengers would not have to walk on the sharp lava rock. It was made to go all the way around the coastline of the island. It was quite a contrast to see the smoothed down stepping stones next to all the rough and jagged, unworn rock.


















In the background of this photo you can see the faint outline of Kaho'olawe, a now uninhabited island formerly used as a military bomb testing ground.

The water down below the trail had to be some of the clearest we've ever seen. And the color was like a blue-green coke bottle. It was a beautiful contrast with the dark aa lava rock.

Haiku Cottage

A couple weeks ago we moved into a little cottage in "upcountry" in a town named Haiku. Even though it is called "upcountry" we are at a lot lower elevation and only about ten minutes drive to the ocean. The weather is much warmer and more humid but there seems to almost always be a good cool ocean breeze blowing. Pretty darn close to perfect weather, hate to admit, but it's true! Oh yeah, and there are a lot of rainbows from all the little sun-showers we get around here.



Russell's acoustic guitar finally made it here so we have a bit of entertainment now. But we really need another instrument, so we can play together. A ukulele, another acoustic guitar or a xylophone/glockenspiel would be awesome! So, everybody pray to the Thriftstore gods for us that we find one soon!








The best part about our cottage is the screen porch and deck. Here is a view looking out onto the deck. A bit sparse right now, but hey, we just moved across the country and across the Pacific Ocean. . . we don't have any furniture yet!





The first week we decided to camp-out inside. When else can you pitch a tent inside?!
It felt strangely like an art installation to us both, something about the blank white walls and nice bamboo wood flooring maybe? Oh yeah, and fancy spot-lighting. . .












We also have a "pet". Check out this awesome, very large, lizard. It looks like the Anole lizards we have in Florida except it is really really bright green.












This lizard lived on our bathroom mirror for two and a half days and then "disappeared". We are hoping it found a way back outside. . .
















This weekend we planted a garden. The family who owns the cottage and lives on the other side of the property had some extra vegetable plant starts and offered them to us to plant in an area they had started tilling up last month. The soil is really really dry and we aren't sure if anything will actually grow. But, with the poor availability of fresh and local organic produce at an affordable price, it's worth giving it a try!

















We planted tomatoes, jalepeno peppers, bunching onions, basil, rainbow chard, kale and calendula.
















There are a number of Avocado trees in the yard around our cottage, not to mention clumping bamboo, which sounds great with the constantly blowing wind, (once we got used to all the creaks and moans it makes!) This weekend russell decided to use some of his monkey instincts(and skills) and pick us a couple of avocado fruits. . .

















Our house-warming pizza! It looks fabulous, but sadly, we forgot to oil the new pizza stone and the crust stuck quite a bit. We have already tried again, but this one looks the best. . .

Haleakala

Just about 1 mile from where we were living in the park housing complex is Hosmer's Grove. There are many different types of non-native trees planted here during a forestry "experiment" by Mr. Hosmer a number of years ago after the area had been deforrested. Trees such as Pine and Cedar and two varieties of Eucalyptus were planted in the area. Here is a self-portrait Russell took in the Eucalyptus section of the grove.




I never knew how beautiful Eucalyptus trees were previous to living here, but I think they are one of my favorite trees. Not only are they a visually amazing, they also have a slight fragrance when the wind blows strong and they make a baetiful sound when their leaves flutter in the breeze.




Here is the Plantain plant. It grows all along the roadside here in the park. It looks pretty much the same as the ones in Florida. Not to be confused with the delicious fried Cuban plantains from Tampa that we miss so much, those grow on a tree, like bananas! But this Plaintain is a good plant to have around while hiking in case of insect bites or cuts.





This plant with the yellow flowers is Evening Primrose. It grows all along the roadside in the lower portion of the park.











This is the Pilo plant. It has darkish stems and, when fruiting, bright orange berries about the size of a small blueberry. Pilo is in the coffee family. We don't eat these, but the birds probably do . . .









This is one of my favorite plants in the park, Pukiawe. We like to remember it's name by the leaves "poke-y" qualities. It has small berries on it all the time, some will be bright pink-red and others will be white. Apparrently there is not any known reason for the color variation
and it is not an indication of ripeness. People can eat these, but they don't have much taste.



This plant is called the Ohelo. This one has edible berries that do have a taste! It is in the same family as blueberry, and has a similar flavor, although milder, maybe more like a wild huckleberry in flavor and appearance; dark pinkish-purple.






This is the silver-geranium, or Nohoanu. It is a native, endemic Hawaiian plant. It is another one of Katie's favorites. The leaves are silvery and shimmery and makes it really stand out amongst all the other green foilage along the mountain slopes. This one is flowering. the flowers look similar to the flowers of an Arugala plant.

















This is a view along the Supply Trail. The dead looking tree is the Oheo, and is actually not dead, it just looks very dry and as if it should be in a desert.







This is the overlook into the bowl of Haleakala, at the top of the Supply Trail. It is pretty amazing because it just suddenly pops into view, after about an hour and a half of hiking upwards. We have hiked all the way up there and it is totally hidden by a curtain of clouds. This day Katie was lucky and had a clear view.






Did we mention how windy it is up here?! Finally, Katie's hair has a natural windblown look!

Waikamoi Ridge

Last weekend we went on a short hike at this beautiful ridge along the Hana Highway, which winds along the north coast all the way to the east side of the island. It is only 55 miles long but it is said to take around 4 hours to reach the town of Hana. Waikamoi ridge was really beautiful and had a great view of not only the ocean but also of the bamboo forest that filled the gulch below the ridge trail.

About half way up the ridge we found this great little resting spot, complete with cool ocean breezes and a spectacular view. Strangely, we reminisced about Florida, or rather perfect fall days in Florida with similar cool breezes. I think sitting under the shade of the very tropical Pandanas, or screw pine, tree had something to do with it. I know it made me think of being near the bay in Sarasota.


Here's a photo of the Pandanas tree's roots.
















And a close-up of the bark.
















There were other familiar plants growing in this area, like the awapui ginger.












And heliconia.
















There were also some unfamiliar plants, such as the strawberry guava! This variety of guava were growing wild all over the area. The fruits are similar in size and color to a strawberry but have a watered-down strawberry-ish taste. I am a bit partial to the pineapple guavas, which we buy as a treat from a roadside stand on our way up to Haleakala. Here's a photo of Russell reaching for some ripe fruit.







This is a Paperbark tree. There were a lot of these growing in the area, and as the name suggests, the bark is very soft and paper-like. The color was beautiful, similar to a cedar but much more pink. This one was about 4-5 feet around.