Hawaii, Nov 2003

Kauai

(The baptism was under this coconut tree, if it's still the same one...)

Sunset at Hanalei Bay:

Ke'e Beach, one of the better snorkeling spots on Kauai:

Hiking on the NaPali coast (where we also found lots of wild guava to pick!):

Mark's favorite food on Kauai:

Back to Hanalei Bay for another sunset:

More pictures of the church (previously there was a wedding there, so we had to come back again to look inside):

The wettest spot on earth... (~400+ inches of rain a year! The clouds were always hanging over it...)

Views from the Kilauea Point lighthouse:

Dawn at Anahola Beach:

The coral- and shell-search:

Waimea Canyon (the "grand canyon of the pacific")

The polynesian chickens... were everywhere! and had a terrible time sense! They often woke us up, crowing at 4-5 am right under our window...

The view down to Kalalau Valley from Koke'e State Park:

Hiking along the valley rim en route to Alakai Swamp:

Trail conditions were sometimes less than ideal ;)

Sunset over Ni'ihau ("the forbidden island") - on the same day we got to see the sunrise on the east side of the island (at Anahola), and the sunset on the west side :)

Hanapepe valley (where they filmed Jurassic Park)

Wailua Falls:

The Big Island

Kealakekua Bay. We rented a kayak to paddle out to see the Captain Cook memorial, and to see the spinner dolphins that rest here during the day - they were really cute! (especially the little ones, doing amazing mid-air acrobatics!). Unfortunately, we didn't trust the camera + kayak combination, so we didn't get any pictures.

The southern-most point in the U.S.:

Volcano National Park - hiking out to see the active lava flows

(for perspective, this was ~15 feet away... and actively flowing! Very warm...)

Full moon rising on the hike back...

the Kilauea Caldera

Dragon fruit! (very colorful & tasty!)

Lots of lava flows down to the ocean

Petroglyphs:

Thurston Lava Tube:

The part of the tube where flashlights were required, and we were the only ones... (spooky!) Unfortunately, our headlamps were too dim for this, so we had to turn back...

A stream flowing out of an old lava tube

Mangosteen - truly the most delicious fruit in the world...

Strawberry guavas (at Akaka Falls) - we picked all that we could reach!

Waipio Valley:

At the sprawling Hilton Kona Resort

Views of Mauna Kea from our B&B (right on the edge of the Parker Ranch, the largest ranch in the U.S. (225,000 acres) - the countryside reminded us of Petaluma/Marin)

Mauna Loa, on one of the rare days that it wasn't cloud-covered

Billboards are illegal in Hawaii, but roadside graffiti abounds :) (white coral on black lava)