Warning: This is a very long post with lots of pictures.
We started yesterday with a whale watching trip. It was really fun. I would have enjoyed the boat ride by itself, but the whales were really cool. We didn’t see any large groups, but we did see lots of pairs and trios – lots of mommy and baby whales. We went with the Pacific Whale Foundation. Their narration was very informative.
Taking pictures of the whales was kind of hard. They sort of popped up and went back under quickly. Here are my best shots:
A WHALE BACK:
This one was less than a hundred yards from us.
A WHALE TAIL:
When they do this, they don’t come back up for a while.
A BREACH:
There were four or five of these in a row. My camera was never fast enough.
As we approached the shore again, the boat was mobbed by sparrows. They cleaned up every little speck of food people had dropped.
Do you suppose they are specially trained by a Sparrow Wrangler?
We got back pretty early, so we decided to drive up Haleakala and see what there is to see. It was a long drive, and very twisty. After crossing into the national park area, there was a welcome center. I was very excited to see silverswords. They are a rare plant that only grows on Haleakala. There was a whole bed of them at the visitor center!
Very delicate looking.
We almost turned back because the clouds were so thick we couldn’t see anything, but we decided to go on. The clouds suddenly broke and things were startlingly clear – we were above the clouds! It still was quite a while before we reached the summit. There was a small parking area:
My car is the one that is backed in.
You could walk up to the edge and look over. It was beautiful and terrifying. The wind was blowing so hard I was afraid I’d fall. And it was FREEZING!
It was like being on the moon or something.
In spite of my great terror and freezingness, I simply HAD to do a panoramic picture. You can see it HERE.
The national park people warned us to not run over the Nene (that is, the Hawaiian geese). We actually saw one. I was excited. There were signs all over that warned of cows too. I was disappointed that we hadn’t seen one. And then on the way down, we did! Woo hoo!
Moo!
We ended the day with a quick visit to the beach during sunset. It was beautiful.
a guitar-playing girl took our picture.
So beautiful!
Holy Mackerel! Your day was jam-packed with fun! The whale pictures were slightly terrifying, but the cloud pictures didn’t bother me. Weird, since both have the element of the ‘deep unseen’. And ‘Sparrow Wrangler’? That’s comedy gold right there. 🙂 If only that could be my job…..
Sparrow Wrangler, or writing for comedians – ‘cuz you’d strike gold there as well, Miss Lauren.
[Having just seen The great and Powerful Oz this weekend, I giggled at the mention and sight of the cow…especially the “Moo!” caption.]
When you shared what it was like being above the clouds, I reflected on a decades-ago trip that included a stop in Fusch, Austria, where the clouds were so low that day we, too, were above them and felt as if we were on some distant planet. Awesome stuff.
Looks like you guys are having a great honeymoon there 🙂 Thanks for taking time to snap all the postcard shots; we wish we were there, too. Sigh.
So awesome! What a great day, you must have been exhausted after all those wonderful sights and sounds.
Holy cow (no pun intended)!! You guys could be the poster people for a trip to Hawaii!! What a GREAT day indeed!!
Love the cloud picture & the panoramic view! Thanks for taking the time to do that….despite your shivering self.
AND you got a shot of the tail!! AWWWWWWWWWESOME!!
This is my dream day!!!
(I laughed at the Moo caption too!)
PS—You know I’ve seen a warthog live & in person before….so take that!
Thanks for the panoramic view – awesome!