Love & Light and everything bright

23 Jan 2011

Updated Dec 5, 2010

"Cape Hawaii Australis" Enchants Again

Our traditional post-Thanksgiving Big Island trip was a "trip"

Day 2: Ho'okena Beach, Ka Lae - "Cape Hawaii Australis"

BIG ISLAND, Hawaii, Nov 29 - On our last full day on the Big Island, we thought we'd lie low and take it easy. And we

did. Till about 12:30PM. "Are up for going down to the south point?" I asked Elizabeth. She said she was. And off we went (see the red route on the map - right).

All along our drive south from Waikoloa to and through Kona, the sun was having a hard time piercing through the VOG (volcanic smog). Southern Californians would have felt right at home. The weather was like the summertime fog in coastal areas, except that it was warmer, and the VOG does not burn off by mid day. Our drive pretty much proved out that triangular diagram I had superimposed over the map of the Big Island. It was clear at both ends of our drive, but "voggy" all around and south of Kona.

You can see the volcanic haze in the above shots taken at Ho'okena Beach, the first stop on our journey south. It did not stop us from having fun, as you can also see.

Our next stop offered a scenic view (left) from about 20 miles away from Ka Lae, the southernmost point of the U.S., or "Cape Hawaii Australis," as I like to call it. And then you can see the Cape from about one mile away in the next shot (middle left). And then we were there... changing into a swim suit, in Elizabeth's case. It was mostly for show, though. Not much of a chance of her getting into the ocean. The waves were rough and the cliffs steep. So Elizabeth did a "pretend jump" from that contraption that looks like gallows. But some younger people actually did jump. In the old days, however, farmers used that pulley to lower the cattle down into the boats which took them to market.

We were surprised to see many people fishing from that high up. The last time we were here, two years ago, we did not see any fishermen. Maybe because it was late in the afternoon when the fish get hungrier, we reasoned. When we got to the very tip of the Cape, I started taking pictures of the waves. They weren't as spectacular as those 40-foot mountains that crash into the Maui north shore from time to time, but they were pretty. And then I turned around and say something even prettier... a rainbow beauty sunbathing against a rock with the Cape's lighthouse in the background.

As I turned to the west, a setting sun was reflecting in the ocean. I started snapping pictures. I took six frames to stitch up the above 180-degreed panoramic view of the Cape. And it took seven shots to create the panoramic view at the top of this story.

On the Big Island, you can see everywhere signs and designs that people make by placing white coral stones against the brown or black lava. So we decided to join in the find and leave a stony calling card at Cape Hawaii Australis (three left shots). The we took some farewell shots at the Cape before heading back (two right shots).

Over here in Hawaii, we are keen on all things "green." Which, of course, includes uses of alternative energy sources. So where else to place these windmills than at the windy southernmost point of the U.S. Well, sometimes "green" things turn to rust. You can see your tax dollars rusting away in the left frame. There are a few windmills

still spinning around (middle left), but not many.

And that's all she wrote from this trip to the Big Island. The two pictures on the left were taken on our way back to Maui and at home, at the Rainbow Shower. The middle right shows the east coast of Maui which lies in the rain shadow of the Haleakala volcano. Except for the ocean, the landscape looks like it could be somewhere in an Arizona desert. And then on the right, you can see a composite shot (3 frames) of the giant rainbow that welcomed us home. You may recall that another morning rainbow wished us farewell four days earlier (right). Which is why I titled our post-Thanksgiving visit to the Big Island a trip between rainbows.

And that's all she wrote from this trip.