Taking in the Sights

I'm sorry I've been so remiss in posting about my vacation in Hawaii. Ever since I got back, I've been incredibly busy with both work and at home. I'll explain later, but I at least wanted to excuse myself anyway.

Jean and I started April 15 on the south part of the island at the Tree Tunnel. It is a stretch of Highway 520 that is lined with trees. It effectively is a tunnel.

The Tree Tunnel

Next we drove to Poipu Beach to see seals and turtles. We'd been advised by someone that if we wanted to see any seals or turtles, that this part of the island was prime. It was a bit overcast and rainy at first, but the weather got better as we remained. There was a Hawaiian monk seal resting at the beach. Apparently it's an endangered species. After taking some photos we spent some time watching the waves hit the ocean and looking at the small fish at the beach.

A Hawaiian Monk Seal

Then we drove to Spouting Horn, a blowhole west of Poipu Beach. It's a lot like watching a geyser erupt in Yellowstone National Park. The waves would crash against the rocky shore and then a few moments later the blowhole would shoot water sometimes 50 feet high. From the lookout point at Spouting Horn we were able to watch a couple of green sea turtles come up for air. I couldn't take a good picture of the turtles because we could only see them for a couple seconds as they surfaced. It was neat to see them though.  I like this video better than mine, so I'll use it instead:

We ate a meal at a pizza restaurant in Poipu and then had ice cream.

Since we didn't know how cloudy it might be in Waimea Canyon, we drove through it that evening. Most of the way up was foggy or cloudy, depending on your point of view; the road climbed 4,000 feet in elevation. We did get to see a pair of red-crested cardinals. The female was chirping very angrily at the male, and she wouldn't leave him alone. Suffice it to say that we found that amusing.

Waimea Canyon at one of the lower lookouts

A pair of red-crested cardinals

We went home happy that we got to see some wild animals.