Monthly Archives: January 2015

Illusion of Solidity 1/21/15

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It couldn’t be more obvious than it is right now
I stand at the sea
Sea of change
And all there is
Is change, movement, flux
The ocean is constantly in motion,
Churning, spilling, crashing
On eroding rocks
The grass, trees, bushes are growing
The birds are flying, running, pecking, singing
Always in motion
As is the air and clouds and mist
It’s all moving, changing, reaching
Everything is being born and dying
As a constant flow of life force energy
So beautiful it’s indescribable
So formless it’s untouchable
So obvious it’s unseen
Right there
Yes, that taste of sweet-wine
Yes, that sound of waves-crashing-birdsong-chirping
Yes, that feeling of sand-between-toes-cool-wet-breathing-alive
Yes, that vision of blue-sky-ocean-beach
And that smell of water-flower-fragrance

This is all there is
And yet mind does its job
To make solid what is not
And stories where there are none

Paddling on a River of Flowers

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On Monday 1/12/15 we had the opportunity to paddle with the Hanalei Canoe Club which was founded in 1973. The HCC has a long history of winning championship outrigger races and has competed in Tahiti, Australia, Western Samoa, California, New York and Thailand. In 1993, HCC built its current clubhouse near Hanalei Beach after the previous one was destroyed by Hurricane Iniki the year before. Forty-two years since its founding, the Hanalei Canoe Club has approximately 200 members is thriving with four divisions including youth, women and men’s competitive teams, and the recreational division that paddles year-round. The Club’s recreation paddlers go out on Mondays and Fridays at 10:00 this time of year and head up the Hanalei River about 2.5 miles, just beyond the one-way bridge into town.

Bill and I were excited to paddle on the Hanalei River because we were enchanted by it the first time we stood on its banks. The first night we arrived, we headed down to Hanalei from Princeville, and dined at the Hanalei Dolphin Restaurant, which sits on the River. Since it didn’t open for dinner for another half hour, we ordered a glass of wine and sat by the water. The first thing we noticed about the Hanalei is that it had beautiful orange flower blossoms strewn across its surface, dropped there by the trees that lined its banks. It turns out that the flower we saw is a type of hibiscus (hibiscus tiliaceus) or hau flowers, as the locals call them. It has five creped petals that are yellow at first and then turn orange as they open and develop. It was dreamlike to see them floating down the river that evening and even more dreamlike to paddle through them in an outrigger.

The paddle was made even more spectacular because of the amazing views of the mountains along the way. As we meandered upstream, each turn of the canoe revealed a new and beautiful vista. The boat I was in glided along and I soaked up all of the beauty along the way. Gratefully, the paddler in front of me, Louise Barnfield had a camera and was busy snapping pictures each time we paused for a quick break. I asked if she would share some with me and she did…

Paddling with HCC #1; Photo by Louise Barnfield

Paddling with HCC; Photos by Louise Barnfield

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We’re looking forward to more great paddles with the HCC and in OC1s in the weeks ahead.

Na Pali Bound 1/5/15

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On Monday 1/5/15 we took a 2.5 hour boat cruise with Holo Holo Charters on a 65’ catamaran and saw amazing sights. It left from Port Allen, about 10 miles west of Poipu along the southern coast of Kauai.

That day, the surf along the southern coast was calm and easy, great for whale watching, but the group was psyched to see the Na Pali Coast up the north-western side of the island which came with significantly more wind and waves. The captain gave the passengers the option to avoid the rough seas and stay closer to home but we chose to see the Na Pali Coast instead.

Just as the captain said, the waves were pretty easy at first and we were able to stop a few times to enjoy playful dolphins and breeching whales. Then the captain told us to hunker down in the boat for the 30-minute ride up the coast. He said the speed, wind and waves would be too much for anyone to stand or sit at the bow of the boat and he was right. We cut through the 8’ swells at about 20-25 mph directly into the wind. It was pretty exciting but, perhaps a bit too exciting for my stomach. Having experienced seasickness once before, I knew I needed to do something quickly before I turned completely green. At the encouragement of the crew, I moved to the center of the back of the boat, where they said I would get some fresher air and experience the least amount of boat movement. After focusing on my breathing and closing my eyes for a while, I felt my head clear and my stomach settle down. About 20 minutes later, Bill and I slowly watched the Na Pali Coast come into view.

The Na Pali coast is one of those places where photos just don’t give justice to the real thing. I’ve had this experience many times before in nature. I’ve seen the most beautiful views of The Grand Canyon, Lake Placid, Robert Treman Park, Yellowstone and others. So many times I took photos to remember these beautiful places, but they don’t come close to the actual experience of being there. Kauai’s Na Pali Coast is one of those places you have to just experience. Nevertheless, I’ll include a few pictures here to give you a sense of this amazing place!

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The island of Kauai, like the other Hawaiian Islands, was created by underwater volcanoes millions of years ago. Kauai is the oldest of the large islands in the chain and has the most rain, soil and plant life. What were once volcanoes now look like tall spires of green, lush mountains due to huge amounts of rainfall. Further inland, the wettest place on the planet is found on Mt. Wai’ale’ale at 5,075 feet with an average of 374 inches of rain per year. All that rain creates beautiful waterfalls and rivers that cut huge canyons in the porous rock, leaving tall fingers of cliffs that are nothing less than awe-inspiring. As you travel north up the Na Pali, the cliffs and peaks rise right out of the sea going from 1,000 to 4,000 feet. You see views that you don’t think could get any more beautiful and then comes another.

Along our trip, we viewed a few remote and beautiful beaches with a few hearty souls on them. This area of the island is so rugged, that the only way to get there is by hiking in or arriving by boat or helicopter. The 11-mile Kalalau Trail starts at the north coast of the island and winds its way along the cliffs to view remote waterfalls and beaches. The conditions are often dangerous, especially in winter when the big surf arrives. Many a hiker, boater and camper have lost their lives by not heeding warnings or being aware of quickly changing conditions.

Parts of many movies including,King Kong, Jurassic Park, South Pacific and Raiders of the Lost Ark were filmed here to take advantage of its dramatic gifts. The Na Pali Coast is the most beautiful place I have ever had the good fortune to enjoy on our beautiful planet.

And then the sky cleared

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Our first day on Kauai was windy, overcast and rainy. It was a chilly day, for Kauai anyway, hovering in the upper 60s. I’m sure my friends and family back home are smirking as they read this because they’re experiencing temperatures in the 20s right now. However, this weather was a blessing because we were so out of it from traveling that we weren’t able to do much anyway. A warm sunny day would have lured us out of our room sooner to do hiking or paddling but I think we really needed to just recover. We did make it to a grocery store to get breakfast food, snacks and beverages though. While we were out, we also drove west along the coast to check out a blowhole at the Spouting Horn site. Blowholes occur sporadically around the islands where ocean water is forced into ancient lava tubes and shoots up into the air with a big “whoosh” sound. They’re pretty cool to watch and can send the water up 30 feet sometimes. It was a great day to see Spouting Horn because the ocean was rough with big crashing waves.

While driving towards Spouting Horn, the sight of OC6s (6 person outrigger canoes) caught our eye. We turned the car around and headed back to a small park and harbor where the local outrigger canoe club was quickly securing their canoes from the wind. The canoes were being stored for a few months for the winter without their amas and iakos attached. This leaves the canoes in a vulnerable state; evidently it was windy enough that one of them rolled half way across the park. We (mostly Bill) helped them get their boat moved and secured. It was nice to meet some fellow paddlers. This time of year in Hawaii is considered “OC1 season” where the temperature is a bit cooler and the waves and wind get intense at times. The outrigger clubs take a break with their OC6’s for a few months and those who have the means and ambition, focus on their OC1 skills.

We woke the next day to puffy clouds, blue sky and the sun. After being under Ithaca’s cold and grey skies, seeing the sun felt a bit surreal but we could feel the fog lifting in our bodies and minds. On Saturday, we explored the grounds of the hotel and found that the Grand Hyatt Kauai definitely lives up to its name. The grounds are beautifully manicured with flowers, palm trees and flowing water. It’s much like the other places we’ve stayed in Hawaii for the HICSS conferences. Gorgeous views, lots of fun water slides and pools, restaurants and shops. It’s like a small, self-contained village, only it’s not. These places are built to be pleasing and comfortable but, of course, they all have a Disney-like, non-reality feel to them. Nevertheless, why look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when someone else is paying for it!

Since there aren’t places to rent OC1s around here, we decided to rent the sit-on-top kayaks and paddle around (and around) the hotel’s small lagoon to move our bodies a bit. It wasn’t much of a work out but we had fun. After that, we went for a walk eastward up the beach to a place called Shipwreck Point, which gave gorgeous views of the blue crashing waves and dramatic lava cliffs.

Later that day, we took a tour of the Allerton and McBryde Gardens which are part of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens http://www.ntbg.org. This was a lot of fun and very interesting. The Gardens lie in the Lawa’i Valley and was first transformed by the Hawaiian Queen Emma. Later on, Allerton Garden was developed by noted landscape artist Robert Allerton and his partner, John Gregg, architect. With five “rooms” consisting entirely of trees, exotic plants, grasses, statues, water features and other structures, it is itself art. Instead of painting his garden canvas with colors from flowers, he painted with texture, hue, movement and sound, giving the observer the experience of being in and part of his artwork.

Chickens on the Beach

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The Red Jungle Foul or Moa can be found all over the Island of Kauai. It was the first bird brought here by the ancient Polynesians that inhabited these islands long before Captain Cook stumbled upon them. Today, there are two species of chicken or jungle foul that are abundant on Kauai. The actual Red Jungle Foul is found in the upland forests and meadows and is often confused with its lowland cousin, the domestic chicken.

Female wild lowland chicken

Female wild lowland chicken

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Male lowland chicken

We’ve been watching and hearing the wild, domestic chicken today. Their colors are varied and quite beautiful, probably due to interbreeding with the Red Jungle Foul. The females are often brown and white and have such large, flat and horizontal tails that sometimes it’s difficult to determine which end of the bird you are looking at! Most of the males seem to have brown and black bodies with long black tail feathers that swish when they walk. One of the males we just saw had a big beautiful showy white tail and seemed to be pretty popular with the gals around him.

The strangest part of watching these birds is seeing them on the beach. In upstate New York, you often see chickens in people’s yards, pecking around for bugs. These birds are providing eggs for their owners or fattening up to become a meal. The owners keep them close to home by feeding them and providing a safe home at night. To see this same bird wild and on the beach is a real treat. These birds are acting as they have for presumably thousands of years, before they became domesticated. They have very few, if any predators here on Kauai and can live in peace.

Landed on the Garden Island

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Our first day of 2015 was another day of travel and transition but we finally landed at the hotel in Poipu on the Garden Island of Kauai. Before we left yesterday, we were hoping to take in some sights in Honolulu but found that the beautiful Iolani Palace was closed for the holiday, so we had the cab driver take us to a place that we knew would be open — the mall. Now, this was certainly not our first choice of places to visit in the wonderful state of Hawaii, but we only had about an hour to shoot and we needed a few things that would probably be difficult to locate on Kauai, so, we shopped. The Ala Moana mall was pretty upscale and located near the Japanese section of the city. It was abound with Asian people and nearly everything was translated into Japanese. Bill said that, having traveled to Japan, the whole place had a Japanese feel to its design.

Our flight from Honolulu to Lihue was pretty uneventful except for the joy of feeding a few spotted and zebra doves in the airport while waiting for our flight. Like most buildings in Hawaii, parts of the airport were open air and others weren’t, so birds are a common sight everywhere you go. For us northerners, the first time you see a feathered friend in a building is a bit startling but it becomes commonplace pretty quickly.

After renting our car and seeing a beautiful rainbow, we enjoyed seeing more birds along the way to the hotel including many wild chickens and several cattle egrets. The hotel is a huge place and, gratefully, our room is as far away from the commotion of hotel life as it can get. We’re at the end of a very long hallway near a natural area and the public beach. This will be a great place to watch birds, look at the Pacific, and listen to the waves.

I went to bed at about 8:30 last night (still adjusting to the time change) and was awakened at about 12:30 to the sound of jungle foul doing their “cock a doodle doo” call. I slept well but woke up several times and heard them continuing their wooings. Evidently, the critters call out all night long, presumably trying to attract a mate or marking their territory. I’m glad they didn’t keep me awake. The sound of the waves crashing on the beach was truly wonderful and lulled me back to sleep each time I woke.

New Year’s in Oahu

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Getting to the plane in New York was a bit hairy, but we made it to the gate just as they were starting to board. We enjoyed our experience with Hawaiian Airlines due to the extra leg room for Bill (who is 6’2″) and because they fed us actual food for lunch and fresh fruit as a snack. Flying hawaiian is like flying used to be, except better!

We arrived in Oahu at about 3:30 and went straight to the Honolulu Airport Hotel. On the way, we met a family from Australia with two small girls. They had been visiting his family in NY and VT and were heading home. We easily started up a conversation with them about surfing, outrigger paddling and standup paddle boarding. They were really sweet and even gave us their contact info so that we could call them when we’re in Sydney. The guy even gave us a book that he wrote and I’m looking forward to checking it out.

Wearing my NY winter clothing, I expected to be severely overheated upon our arrival but we were pleasantly surprised by 72 degrees and low humidity. We grabbed some dinner in the hotel restaurant because we were too tired to venture any further than that. The food was good but I started to really fade out by the end of the meal. I crashed at about 6:30 and only knew it was new year’s by the sound of fireworks at midnight.

So we are five hours difference in time here. This means that it is 4:27am here, we are wide awake and ready to eat breakfast but the restaurant in the hotel doesn’t open for another hour and a half! Time changes are always a little jarring to the system but we’ll get over it soon enough.

I’m looking forward to seeing the sun and greenery here today. We have a few hours to explore Oahu before our flight early this afternoon to Kauai. Maybe we’ll find a botanical garden to take in. Can’t wait to see some birds!

A Happy and Healthy New Year to all.