Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

148) Tarzan??


Well there is some exciting news to report: while exploring the rain forests Dave and I came across who we believe to be Tarzan- judge for yourself...


147) Sunrise to Sunset


I went to catch the sunrise at Hanauma Bay. Unfortunately it was cloudy and rainy on the horizon, and blocked the great colors I was looking forward to seeing. The only nice thing was I had a great conversation with a man who works there, and there were virtually no people around until I started getting ready to leave.








In the evening I was tired and lazy, and questioning if I should go out to try to catch the sunset. In the end I decided I had better check it out, because cloud conditions were looking nearly perfect.










Monday, January 28, 2008

146) The North Shore


The North Shore of Oahu is the place where big waves come and serious surfers go. It is also a lot less touristy in the sense of no resorts, but crowds still draw.





Mikey and I headed up there along the East coast, which was a stunningly beautiful drive. The coast has so much to offer- grasslands, sand beaches, rocky beaches, lava cliffs, big waves, calm coves, beautiful water, islands. rain forests, and stunning mountains.




When we got up there the first stop I wanted to make was at an Audubon run preserve/gardens. We spent a couple hours there, and then headed to the beach.










The goal was to find a deserted beach and just chill till the sunset. We ended up finding a great stretch of beach with almost no one on it besides us and a sea turtle. It wouldn't have been a good place to swim, but to just walk and relax, it was off the charts, and we were fortunate to have a spectacular sunset, partly due to some rain showers which just swept over us (15 minutes later and it would have ruined the sunset for us).







145) The Rain Forest (2)


Dave and I went on a nice little hike in the rain forest in sort of the middle east part of the island. We didn't really know what to expect, but we knew there was a waterfall at the end.



The trail was nearly pure mud and roots, but scenery was really beautiful. Again, the type of rain forest I have dreamed of being in.





When we did get to the end we saw another group of people there, and the man was jumping in the water next to the falls, which was only about 7 feet high. He then went up for round two, but this time a bit higher. Apparently he was not to be outdone by his brother in law. Dave and I comment to each other that it looked pretty crazy, and we didn't think we would be making that jump. But about 15 minutes later I found myself climbing to the same sketchy ledge, and getting ready to jump.




The jump was a pretty good rush, and after I jumped, Dave not to be outdone by me, made the climb and took the jump as well.