Descent & Ascent
Jun. 7th, 2009 02:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wwcitizenOn Thursday, the Limahuli Garden was our destination. It's a garden located at the entrance to the Ha'ena State Park. The entrance fee was $15 a person. The views of the valley, the mountains, the Kaua'i flora and fauna were superb. We were able to take a leisurely stroll up the hills into the shady garden and back onto well-manicured lawns overlooking the bay. It's always good to bring bottled water with you, plus they have umbrellas to take with you along the walk. There aren't many people who go through the gardens and we were alone for most of the 2-hour walk. The garden contains many, many plants that are native to Kaua'i or that were brought here by the Polynesians ages ago.
When we were done, we went back to do some picture-taking around the resort, but Matt didn't want to stay in the car. I dropped him off to make lunch and I went hunting for other beaches for a beach day. I found Anini Beach, and at the base of the cliff where Kilauea Lighthouse sits, there's a secluded bay with a very tranquil beach. A reef protects the pine-lined beach from erosion and strong, tall waves.
At the end of the day after a dip in the pool to cool off, we went hunting for a sunset beach. We were basically thrown out of one beach access point by cops because "we couldn't park there - not even for 10 minutes", so we dashed off to another that I had "found". Well, I had found the access point to another beach that had more ample parking.
Starting down the hill, I looked back at Matt and said, "It looks pretty steep and once we go down, we have to come back up."
"I'm in!" he exclaimed, and we bounded down the 45 degree incline. It looked and sounded as if we were in the middle of the Jungle Book. When we got down to the beach, I quickly realized that there was no real good way to see the sun actually hit the horizon, but could only see the effects of the sun going down behind the cliff we just descended. Alas, no sunset directly, but we did get some great shots of the bay and that particular beach area.
The sand was quite thick. Matt busied himself with shell seeking as I took pictures and videos of the tropical bird songs we hadn't heard before. Matt amassed a huge collection of shells and coral and didn't want to lose them going up the hill. He met a girl (seemed to be a free-spirited hippie type) who noticed he was having trouble with the bundle and offered him a bag. He said that his niece was going to appreciate these shells and better yet, they'd be safe with the bag she was giving him, and said, "Thank you so much!"
She looked into his eyes and said in a genuine, song-like tone, "You're welcome. Aloha." At that moment, Matt realized the emotion behind the expression, "Aloha". For the first time, "Aloha" wasn't a perfunctory Disney-esque greeting for tourists or a bleating Vietnamese goat screeching it in your ear. In that moment, too, I believe he began to appreciate hippies from a different perspective. Well, the clean ones, that is.
Then the ascent. We started up OK, passing the sign that read, "Caution: Dangerous conditions; Enter at your own risk!" We tried to take the hill fast then slow, then fast, then slow, but in the end, whatever cooling off the pool had done for us, we were thoroughly and ultimately wiped by the time we reached the top. We were also soaked through with sweat. There was no wind, and it was a balmy 80 degrees in the jungle.
Rum-induced drinks were imbibed heavily and we fell asleep early.
When we were done, we went back to do some picture-taking around the resort, but Matt didn't want to stay in the car. I dropped him off to make lunch and I went hunting for other beaches for a beach day. I found Anini Beach, and at the base of the cliff where Kilauea Lighthouse sits, there's a secluded bay with a very tranquil beach. A reef protects the pine-lined beach from erosion and strong, tall waves.
At the end of the day after a dip in the pool to cool off, we went hunting for a sunset beach. We were basically thrown out of one beach access point by cops because "we couldn't park there - not even for 10 minutes", so we dashed off to another that I had "found". Well, I had found the access point to another beach that had more ample parking.
Starting down the hill, I looked back at Matt and said, "It looks pretty steep and once we go down, we have to come back up."
"I'm in!" he exclaimed, and we bounded down the 45 degree incline. It looked and sounded as if we were in the middle of the Jungle Book. When we got down to the beach, I quickly realized that there was no real good way to see the sun actually hit the horizon, but could only see the effects of the sun going down behind the cliff we just descended. Alas, no sunset directly, but we did get some great shots of the bay and that particular beach area.
The sand was quite thick. Matt busied himself with shell seeking as I took pictures and videos of the tropical bird songs we hadn't heard before. Matt amassed a huge collection of shells and coral and didn't want to lose them going up the hill. He met a girl (seemed to be a free-spirited hippie type) who noticed he was having trouble with the bundle and offered him a bag. He said that his niece was going to appreciate these shells and better yet, they'd be safe with the bag she was giving him, and said, "Thank you so much!"
She looked into his eyes and said in a genuine, song-like tone, "You're welcome. Aloha." At that moment, Matt realized the emotion behind the expression, "Aloha". For the first time, "Aloha" wasn't a perfunctory Disney-esque greeting for tourists or a bleating Vietnamese goat screeching it in your ear. In that moment, too, I believe he began to appreciate hippies from a different perspective. Well, the clean ones, that is.
Then the ascent. We started up OK, passing the sign that read, "Caution: Dangerous conditions; Enter at your own risk!" We tried to take the hill fast then slow, then fast, then slow, but in the end, whatever cooling off the pool had done for us, we were thoroughly and ultimately wiped by the time we reached the top. We were also soaked through with sweat. There was no wind, and it was a balmy 80 degrees in the jungle.
Rum-induced drinks were imbibed heavily and we fell asleep early.
