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Waimea from the Air

For those of you following the posts closely – aren’t you all? – I previously reported on Waimea Canyon as seen from the ground, sometimes while wearing disintegrating hiking boots! I also mentioned that we were going back in a slightly faster form of transportation.

I have posted already about the article I was writing about Mauna Loa Helicopters, the company that we were using for our trip. I won’t duplicate much from the article – if you are interested, you can still see that piece here. Instead, I will just give you a selection of shots taken from the helicopter. We flew across the canyon later in the afternoon so the light was lower and a lot more attractive.

That time of day is also a time when clouds can start to build up so we did get some cloud cover as we flew in. However, that did not detract in any way from how amazing the place looked. Sometimes high overlooks provide a vantage point that doesn’t look too dissimilar from the view from a helicopter when you are flying in the canyon. However, I can assure you that the variety of views and the sights that are inaccessible from the road are one of the things that makes the flight so worthwhile. Having no doors only enhances the experience (and the photography!).

We spotted a number of locations we had seen previously. The rocky outcrop we came out onto was one we could see and the full falls that we had been near the top of were so much more impressive from this angle.

If money and time were no object, I would try this trip a number of times and at different times of day. There must be an ever changing variety of effects to see given the chance!

Waimea Canyon

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The Grand Canyon of the Pacific – that is one of the names that is given to Waimea Canyon on Kauai. It is a dramatic geological formation that runs through the middle of the island. The drive there is not a short one but it certainly is worthwhile. The scenery is dramatic and there are plenty of good locations close to the road from which to take it all in.

Over and above the easily accessible areas, there are plenty of hiking options available to take advantage of and, despite the fact the peak of the tourist season had passed, there were still a lot of people taking a walk through the wilds.

Our hiking activities did not necessarily go according to plan. We had picked a couple of trails that we wanted to explore, one before lunch and one after. We got to the first trail quite early as a result of starting out from the hotel promptly. There was an option to drive the first section if you had a 4×4 but we skipped that and trekked off. After the track ended and we were on the trail itself, we descended the hillside. All of this descending is one of those things you can’t help but be aware of when you know you are going to be coming back up the same way!

A little while later one of my boots suddenly felt like something was stuck on it. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Instead, the sole of the boot was coming away from the rest of the boot. No option but to turn around and head back to the car. The climb back up was just as I had imagined it would be. Meanwhile, the second boot was starting to disintegrate as well. These were boots I had owned for many years but hadn’t used for a while. I guess the material had aged and couldn’t hold together any longer. The separation of the sole got worse and we headed back up and one sole was gone by the time we reached the car and the other was almost done.

A change of shoes and we now went for a second effort. The time we had taken meant the sun was a bit higher in the sky and the temperature was a bit higher. We passed bits of the sole of my boots as we went and then got into new territory. Eventually we came out on an exposed area of rock with some excellent views of the surrounding canyon. A bit more of a descent and we came to the top of some waterfalls.

The return trip was a bit more effort than we were really ready for. The climb up was a steady effort but the higher sun was now making us a lot warmer. That, combined with having already made a round trip for part of the hike, meant we were feeling absolutely wiped out by the time the car came into welcome view. A short drive to a cafe and we ate and drank like we hadn’t seen food and drink for days! Needless to say, our enthusiasm for the second – harder – hike had waned and so we spent the rest of the time checking out overlooks closer to the road and enjoying the views from there.

Some of the overlooks had been bypassed on the way up but checking them out as we went back down the roads was very worthwhile. Some stunning scenery and some better views than from the very top of the canyon. We also watched a few of the touring helicopters which was part of our plan for the following day. I shall tell more about that in a coming post!

Surfing in Paradise

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If I were to ask you what sport you would associate with Hawaii, it might depend on your age as to what you choose. If you are a bit older, it might be ocean going canoeing (is that how you spell it?) that you think of, perhaps accompanied by the theme to a 70s TV police show. However, if you aren’t in that group, your choice is more likely to be surfing.

Did I go surfing while in Hawaii? Ah, no. Did lots of other people go surfing while we were there? Oh yes. Half the vehicles we passed seemed to have a board on the roof or so it seemed. There were plenty of places to try your skills since most beaches seemed to have breaking surf in some areas. The large numbers of reefs might, of course, make some of those areas a touch risky.

Anyway, I didn’t spend a lot of time tracking down the surfers. Instead, we saw a bunch of people closer inshore not always on full surf boards. Here are some shots of the action we saw. One day I will have to make more of an effort to go out and shoot some surfing since it makes some great shots!

Na’Pali Coast

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One of the most stunning areas of the island of Kauai is the northwest coast, known as the Na’Pali coast. Unfortunately, (or fortunately depending on your point of view!) this part of the island is really hard to access. There are no roads that go out to the coast. There are hiking trails to get you there but these do require a fair amount of commitment on your part if you want to get there.

You can get boat trips to take you along the coast. These trips are not particularly cheap but they do appear to provide an interesting experience. We chose not to take one on this trip. Originally it was part of the plan but the week was starting to get a little overloaded and this was supposed to be a vacation.

We did, however, have a plan for seeing the coast and this, I would suggest, is probably the best way to see it. Go by air! There are many helicopter operators on the island that provide sightseeing flights. You can research which ones are of interest to you and why. We went with Mauna Loa Helicopters. They have smaller aircraft which we could charter for just ourselves. No need to share the ride with anyone else. Also, they are one of only tour operators that provide flights with the doors off. This certainly makes for a better photographic experience.

The tour covered the whole island but here I shall focus on the Na’Pali coast. You can choose the time of day for making the trip and this coast was the primary reason for me choosing a later afternoon flight. We had a 4:30 departure from Lihue and the flight lasted a little over an hour. Sunset was about 6:30 so, by the time we reached the Na’Pali coast, we were well into the gorgeous light.

The time of day can be a bit of a lottery since clouds can build up later in the day. Indeed, while we were further inland, there was a lot of cloud around that flattened out the light in some areas. Once, we reached the coast, however, the sky was clear and the light was gorgeous. To drop across the coast and see the beautiful scenery was a stunning experience. While I was shooting a lot on this trip, I did make the effort every once in a while to put the camera down and just soak in the outstanding views.

We ran along the coast and explored some of the deeper canyons and valleys that were on the coast. We saw the rock formation known as the Cathedrals. There were isolated beaches accessible only from the water and lots of cave along the rocky coastline. We even saw one of the tour boats. That was great because it reminded you of the scale of everything you were seeing.

Kauai is a beautiful island and the Na’Pali coast is one of the most beautiful parts. If you are there, I strongly recommend and aerial tour. It may be expensive but, if you have made the effort to go that far, don’t miss out on this experience.

Spouting Horn

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During our time on Kauai, we spent a fair amount of time with things planned to do and lots of activities lined up. However, it was a vacation so having a bit of time to gently amble about the place and look at the pretty stuff was still part of the schedule. One day we took a trip to the south side of the island to see what was down there. This side of the island is more heavily developed for tourism but it did have some cool stuff to see.

One such feature is Spouting Horn. This is a hole through the rock that funnels incoming waves and forces them out of a blowhole. Depending on the tide and the strength of the waves, this can produce a waterspout of over 50 feet. Apparently, there used to be more than one spout with the other one producing a far larger plume. However, this sprayed salt water onto a small part of the local plantation and reduced the crop yield so the plantation owner had explosives dropped in the hole and now it doesn’t do much at all.

There is another hole nearby that produces a sighing sound as the waves come in. You can read the local legends while you are there about the creature trapped under the rock and why it is unhappy. While I suspect this isn’t entirely true, it certainly does make quite a groaning sound as the water comes in which adds to the overall effect.

There is a plateau of rock in this area around the blowholes and they are certainly not keen on you going out there. The books are full of stories of people getting swept off by a higher than average wave or even getting swept into the blowholes themselves. Knowing had unpredictable the see can be, I don’t doubt this can and has happened. I am not so desperate to be close that I am going to try out getting closer. It all looked pretty good from the viewing platform. However, one chap was out there while we were there taking a look around. I hope he found it enjoyable. I think he lived.

Fantastic Flora

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While the scenery on Kauai is dramatic and interesting, the plant life there is quite something too. Since I am not well traveled enough to see what other Pacific locations have to offer, I have no idea whether all of these things are unique to the Hawaiian chain or even Kauai with one exception. Our visit to the one of several botanical gardens on the island did explain how one plant was native to the islands and rather rare.

I can’t remember the name of the plants off hand but it looks like a baseball bat with a cabbage on the top. Not a graceful description I know but if you look at it below, I think you will agree it is a fair one.

Some of the plants are just colorful, others seem to have interesting structures. Probably some effort to get to good sources of water make for the interesting shapes. To be honest, I don’t care too much. I am just interested in seeing them.

Not all of them were so unusual. I include below a picture of a tree down on a beach. The ground underneath it has gradually eroded away but this doesn’t seem to have bothered to tree one bit. It now just stands a little above everything around it.

Here are a couple of other shots to finish off what we saw.

Predictable Sunsets

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The trip to Hawaii was focused on Kauai but also included some of Oahu. This provides ample opportunity to get some interesting photos. Needless to say, I took a lot of pictures while we were there. One of the sights that we were treated to almost every day was a great sunset. Not only was the sun usually clearly visible as it set but the likelihood of some medium level cloud to catch the last light was high.

Therefore, I was totally predictable and took a bunch of sunset shots while we were away. I know, what more obvious and formulaic a topic could there be? How cheesy? Absolutely right. However, I am happy to defend myself because a) they were gorgeous and b) I was there and there was no way I wasn’t going to shoot them!

The sun dropping down was always a great sight but the impact on the clouds around us was equally impressive. I must have spent a ton of time just shooting various cloud formations as their colors changed and dusk came upon us. I thank goodness for digital as you can experiment to your hearts content.

Michigan Avenue Bridgehouse

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The Chicago tourist activities have been continuing. Another local attraction I have never been to – and this one has no excuse since I have known about it for ages and it is visible from my window! – is the bridgehouse for the Michigan Avenue bridge.

Chicago has a large number of movable bridges across the Chicago and Calumet rivers. A large number of them are bascule bridges. For those of you not familiar with French descriptions of bridges, bascule bridges are counterbalanced and rotate out of the way using very little power due to the excellent balance. (Bascule is French for seesaw.)

The museum is in the tower at one end of the bridge. It is a pretty small museum but it provides access to the mechanisms that move the bridge. This is something that interests an engineering type like me. I think they could have made things a little better though. There is very little lighting down there so it is hard to make out all of the parts of the machinery. They could also provide a bit more of a guide to this. As a photographer, the amount of fencing in the way is a nuisance but I doubt there is much they could do about that.

As a result of the relatively limited nature of the bridge, the rest of the museum is a history of Chicago, its rivers and the water supply. It certainly provides more to look at and is quite worth a look. There are also some slightly different views of the river. Since it was only $4 to get in, I think it was worth a look. Now to see how I can make some suggestions to them about improvements.

More Walking Around Chicago

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The walk with my Mum also took in some spots I have been to before. Never one to travel sans camera I ended up taking some new shots. Whether they are better than ones taken before, I have yet to decide.

We stopped off in Union Station. No trying to repeat the gun battle from The Untouchables for us. Just a look around. It is a very impressive hall and it would be nice to think that there would be some larger use for it but the commuters never come this way so it is a smattering of travelers that end up here – plus tourists and film buffs of course.

We then wandered up along the river and stopped off at the Holiday Inn. Its location on the confluence of the north and south branches of the Chicago River gives it a great view of the city. The clouds had started to roll in so it wasn’t at its best but still worth a look.

Sunset at the Botanic Gardens

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I have had my Mum visiting . We try and find some fun things to do while she is staying and maybe even tie them in to things I have been meaning to do. One of these things was a trip to the Botanic Gardens. The thing that made this different is that, during the summer they have been having a late opening until 9pm. The evening light should provide some good opportunities with the camera.

It certainly is a good time to visit. The crowds are not there as they would be normally (although there are still a fair number of people around) so you have less of a feeling of being rushed by people around you. Also, having a tripod is not a problem! As the evening draws in, the light gets lovely and then, once the sunset passes, you can play around with some night photography.

You do have to pay attention to which areas will get the nice light since the terrain will block certain parts of the gardens but, apart from that, you can really have a nice time wandering around and looking for nice shots.

Here are some more samples of what I saw.