nature Keyword
Waimea Bay
Hawaii has been one long beach session. All around the island are beautiful tropical beaches. One of the most famous on the North Shore is Waimea Bay. It is well known for it’s huge waves and hosts the Quicksilver Big Wave Invitational.
It is a beautiful beach and floating out on the swell really is eye opening. The season is just starting for the big waves so what I experienced there that day are considered “small”. The swell was still bigger than anything I had ever seen before.
Leading into the bay is a small creek which runs through the Waimea Falls National Park. The park is filled with historical information on how the islanders used to cultivate food and live in the area and it has a wide range of plant life and over grown jungle. About a mile and a half into the valley you come to the Waimea Falls. While it’s not recommended that one swims in the falls, I did anyway and it was great.
A bit south of Waimea Bay is a beach which is a favourite place for turtles to hang out. I have never been that close to such an awesome creature. There was something very relaxing and peaceful about sitting on the beach surrounded by such wise creatures.
The North Shore really is an amazing place. If you ever get a chance to go there hit up Masumoto Shave Ice. Great Stuff.
A View from the Top
A few days ago I ventured to the east of Oahu and went on a little hike up Diamond Head Crater.
The crater is actually the cone formed from a volcanic eruption. Seen from Waikiki beach Diamond Head looks like a mountain. It is not until you enter the cone through a tunnel that you realise the actual shape of the land formation. Inside the bowl it is dusty and dry and the fairly easy walk up the inside of the cone to the lookout on the lip feels much more difficult in the heat.
Reaching the top rewards hikers with a ridiculously beautiful view of Oahu. While the summit is only 230 or so meters to the west you can see Waikiki and Honolulu, to the east the coast of Oahu with it’s bays and beaches. To the south the great expanse of the Pacific seems to disappear forever over the horizon. Looking back over the crater facing north gives you a good idea of just how big the volcano must have been.
After sweaty and hot climb back down from the lookout I headed to Hanauma Bay. This bay is a Nature Preserve giving visitors access to some spectacular coral formations. While a little costly (an entrance fee of $7.50 is required if you don’t live in Hawaii) a visit to the bay is a must. The beautiful sheltered bay is like paradise and snorkelling in the bay is easy, safe and the sea life is amazing. I ended up going twice to Hanauma Bay I enjoyed it that much.
The end of my adventure is fast approaching, something that is filling me with a huge level of apprehension. I am not looking forward to leaving my travelling life and going home to debts and work but I’ll enjoy my last few days while I can.
Aloha
I arrived in Hawaii, the United States only Island state on Monday. Hawaii is the 50th State, making it the newest of all the US states, with it being added to the union in just 1959.
The hostel I am staying at is on the Southern side of the main island of Ohau in Waikiki. It is very touristy and built up, but yesterday Dustin a dentist from Texas offered us a lift in his car to go check out the North Shore.
The drive took around an hour, through a surprising amount of traffic. Following the highway up through the middle of the island we headed North west to meet the shore. Along the North Shore are some of Hawaii’s best and less populated beaches. While jumping from beach to beach we saw basking turtles and swam in beautiful coves. We floated in the deep clear water of a cove that fed an inlet to a national park and we watched the sunset at Sunset Beach. On the way home we followed the coast east around the Island.
The islands volcanic nature of Hawaii makes for some pretty breathtaking scenery. Huge mountains rising immense and sudden from the edge of the water. Absolutely spectacular.
Niagara Falls
Toronto has given me some fantastic weather, and the day that I jumped on the tour bus to Niagara Falls proved to be one of the best of the week. The blue skies, warm sun and cool breeze providing a backdrop to one of natures greatest attractions.
Waking early and scoffing down some pancakes I got amped for the trip. In the middle of a coffee I met Mark, the tour guide from Salty Bear Tours who rounded up 14 of us and piled us into a van.
It’s around a two hour drive around the lake to the Niagara region, during which Mark regaled us with stories of Canada, took questions and in general entertained us to our first stop : a winery.
As I had quite a big night just before the tour I wasn’t entirely keen on a wine tasting, but I did get the opportunity to try “Ice Wine” something we don’t get in Australia. It was extremely sweet, so not something I would normally enjoy, but a small taste was fine.
Moving on we headed into Niagara on the Lake for lunch and to stretch our legs. This town was pretty cool, nicely presented and utterly touristy. I grabbed some chicken tenders from the supermarket and sat in the park enjoying the sunshine.
At this point we were itching to see the falls, but Mark had a couple more spots to show us. First a lookout onto Niagara River, and then to the Whirlpool which was very impressive and BEGGED to be swum in.
Finally we hit Niagara Falls. I have to say I was amazed. While the falls themselves aren’t really that high only falling around 50 or so metres they throw around 168,000 cubic meters of water over their edge each every minute. The falls are actually made up of two separate major falls, the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls but the majority of the water goes over the Horseshoe Falls. Probably the most striking thing for me though was the sound. It wasn’t nearly as loud as I thought, even when practically underneath the falls on the “Maid of the Mist”.
“Maid of the Mist” is a tour which travels up the river, past the American Falls and then right up under the Horseshoe Falls. Battling with our ponchos was fun enough but looking up and seeing yourself surrounded by the falls was too much for words. I managed to grab a couple of shots without my camera busting due to water damage. Best 14 bucks I have ever spent.
I could have spent all day at the falls, but the tour was coming to a close. With huge smiles on our faces we headed back to the hostel. I had a great time that day, made new friends and got some great photos. I also marked off another of my “tourist” jobs for my adventure. “Niagara Falls” has a massive tick in my book.
Oh, see if you can spot the “No Smoking” sign under the waterfall. Classic comedy.
Central Park
Once again rain has followed me on my adventure and a trip to Central Park turned into a 100 block swim through pouring rain.
In the moments when the rain let up a little I did manage to a few shots of the beautiful park that runs down the middle of Manhattan. The park is huge, around 843 acres and I only managed to walk through about half of it before the rain really started coming down. It runs for around 50 blocks from W 59th in the south to W 110th in the North. The park was commissioned in 1853 as an oasis from the busy city. Before that people would congregate in any open space available, including cemeteries just to get away from the noisy town.
The Park is a mix of dense vegetation and winding paths (such as the Ramble) to landscaped gardens, open fields and sporting areas. It is very peaceful and beautiful. One day soon, if the weather clears up I’ll visit the rest of the park that I missed out on seeing. I hope you enjoy my overcast photos!
Seilpark
While I didn’t have the money to indulge in any of the more EXTREME adventures on offer in Interlarken, I did sign up to the Seilpark. SeilPark is a high ropes course, set 20 to 30 meters in the trees of a swiss national park.
Being a fairly confident climber from doing heaps of indoor, I had no problems with the course, my rope handling and climbing skills coming back to me quickly. The equipment was top notch so I could put full faith into the harness, often leaning way out over drops that others found vertigo inducing. Probably the most enjoyable of the courses was the flying fox course which consisted almost entirely of zip lines, but the park offered paths of varying degrees of difficulty so everyone could get involved.
I went with Owen and Coops (a driver and guide from Busabout) and Renee one of my mates from the bus. Renee struggled through, but did a great job considering she was terrified of heights.
At one point in the day I was asked by the staff to pretend to have an accident on the highest course, let myself drop and they would send one of the new girls to save me as training. I accepted and then proceeded to hang suspended for around half an hour while the staff got her stuff together, hooked me up to a pulley and lowered me down. As I ran off as soon as I hit the bottom she wasn’t too impressed and when I went up to congratulate and thank her she ripped me to pieces saying that “some people just can’t make it and need help getting down, its nothing to be ashamed off”. I couldn’t explain to her so I let it slide. It wasn’t until later that she met up with her boss that she came over and apologised. All good fun!
A great, cheap day out in Interlarken, well worth checking out.
Trummelbach Falls
One of the most amazing things I saw while staying in Lauterbrunnen was the Trummelbach Falls. Situated just a few minutes walk from our camping grounds, the Trummelbach falls are a series of Glacial fed falls which cascade through a mountain, accessible by tunnelling and an underground elevator.
The place is amazing, the sound of around 20,000 litres of water a second smashing through the mountain is intense and everywhere you look sunlight through the mist makes little rainbows. I walked out of the falls feeling renewed, like nature had given me a strange little awakening, filling my lungs with icy air and coating my skin with pure glacial water that dripped down the neck of my jacket and tickled my spine.
Photos cant capture the majesty of this place, but I gave it a try anyway.
Lauterbrunnen
First of all, let me apologise for the lack of updates to the site. Not only have I been on and off the grid more than I would like to say, but I have also been dealing with a good dose of the Swine Flu. It knocked me about for nearly a week, I lost around 5 kilos and has made my time in London fairly boring. That said, I’m back on track to catch up before I head to the States. I hope to be on a reasonable posting schedule once I hit the land of the free.
Today I’d like to introduce you to one of my most favourite places I’ve encountered on this adventure: Lauterbrunnen. Lauterbrunnen is a tiny town of the area of Interlarken in Switzerland. Situated in a valley this primarily agricultural area with a population of around 3000 is also popular with Extreme Sports fans. Base Jumping, Cayoning, Sky Diving, White Water Rafting: you name it, there are some crazy Swiss doing it.
The camping grounds we stayed at were called Camping Jungfrau. Being surrounded by around 17 waterfalls gave the grounds this surreal beauty. Their sound coated the night in a comforting clatter of white noise while during the day they provided a never ending changing background to everything we did.
Apart from one day of recovery after a big night at the Bomb Shelter the rest of my days were spent wandering the town and hiking the area. With my new friends we organised a great BBQ, I cooked up a storm most nights at the hostel kitchen and enjoyed a beautiful Schnitzel from the camping grounds restaurant. There was so much to do in Lauterbrunnen, and the surrounding Interlarken I can’t even start to describe. I definitely have to go back. The valley calls me like a siren’s song.
Lamington National Park
On the penultimate (I love that word) day of having my hire car, Tegan and I visited Lamington National Park. Situated about 100km’s south of Brisbane, this world heritage listed site runs the gamut from dense tropical rainforest to sparse dry bushland. The area we had a walk around, Birra Burra, is part of a long silent volcano. Evidence of the volcanoes activity, though occurring an eon ago, can still be seen in the landscape.
Setting out early we reached Birra Burra at about 10am. Stopping at a coffee shop featuring a beautiful view of the area, Tegan grabbed a couple of guides and we planned our day over a latte. It was decided we’d do two of the shorter walks available. The first a rainforest walk, and the second a 5km hike that encompassed the other side of the hill.
The Rainforest walk was beautiful. Under the cool dark canopy we walked the tracks, taking in the immense trees and moist air. Huge strangler figs enveloped massive eucalyptus trees, vines hung everywhere. Little birds scrounged the undergrowth, making a mess and running about. The Rainforest walk was fairly short, but a good introduction to the park.
Jumping in the car we headed down the hill and started the Caves Circuit. The first thing you see on the path is a warning regarding the cliff edges. The photos don’t really capture just how steep and dangerous some of the portions of the walk were, with sheer, seemingly bottomless drops constantly present alongside the narrow, often slippery unprotected path. The view from the trek though was amazing. Looking into a valley carved over millions of years was awe inspiring. Along the walk we encountered a very relaxing waterfall, caves that were once used as protection from the elements by aborigines of the area and twisting tracks leading up the steep side of the mountain. The walk ended at the top of the mountain, leaving us to walk down the road to our car.
On the way down, feeling an itch Tegan took off her boot to find a leech gorging itself on her ankle. The little bastard did a bit of a number on her, and Tegans foot bled and felt weird for most of the drive home. It was utterly macabre.
After our visit to the National Park we headed to Burleigh Heads, south of Surfers for a packed lunch Tegan had made. We sat on the beach, eating cous cous salad and relaxing. I finally found a nice pub on the beach, something which proved non-existent at surfers, and we had a coffee before the drive home. It was a great day, and seeing the forest just made me want to adventure further north into the Daintree. One day.
After the break is a video montage of some of the photos I took during the day, with sound from the rainforest. Oh, and before you start, I know I spelt Lamington wrong in the titles. It was late, and I can’t be bothered fixing it.