Ka`Ena Point (catching up!!!)

Wednesday morning, we headed to downtown Waikiki for some breakfast at Eggs 'n Things and completely stuffed ourselves.  Started things off with some POG (pineapple, orange and guava juice) and Kona coffee.  Isee ordered banana pancakes with a mountain of whipped cream, Jackson had chocolate chip waffles with an ice-cream sized scoop of butter on top, Erin & I split a veggie omelet with cheddar cheese & potatoes & the day's special, which was super thick french toast topped with fresh mandarin oranges, coconut, whipped cream and crushed macadamia nuts.  

After getting our carbs on, we got in the car & headed to Ka`ena Point on the north shore. 

I want that tree to have dinner parties under:

Papayas growing in someone's yard like it was nothin':

This pic doesn't do them justice, but look at those old volcanos!!!

Ka`ena Point is a state park/partial conservation area with a 3-mile trail & a quarter mile fence that encloses 59 acres (this is to keep out rodents, dogs, mongooses and cats in order to protect albatross & shearwaters, as well as indigenous coastal plants).  It also is the location of a Leina aKa`uhane -- a spiritual leaping off point for the souls of the deceased. The gate to enter the enclosed area has a boot scrub to remove any invasive seeds & a second gate was placed in front of the Leina aKa`uhane to allow easy passage for the souls (which was apparently an expensive addition, but helped garner support from the locals).

Here's the fence:

Jackson with volcanic rock:

The coast

Invasive species!!

Cheap souvenir:

Playing on the rocks:

Road to the fence (4x4 paradise):

Albatross chick -- this basketball-sized baby let  us take some pics, then waddled under a sandalwood bush...

At the end of this hike, we'd promised the kids a swim, but the surf was really rough at that point. Just standing along the edge we all managed to refresh (Jackson took getting your feet wet to a whole new level and brought home quite a bit of sand):

This hike was gorgeous -- absolutely the most amazing scenery I've ever witnessed.  To have an albatross swoop within inches of our heads was really cool too. And the sound of the wind whipping around Leina aKa`uhane made it sound like hallowed ground -- you could feel how special that spot was before you heard its history. The view was beyond spectacular & my jet-lagged words just can't do it justice. 

We were all beat afterward, had some really weird sunburns (despite three applications of sunblock), a couple blisters & learned some lessons about what we'll need to do when hiking through the Outback. But everybody was a trooper -- Erin got amazing footage for "Plants are Cool Too," and probably did more walking than any of us searching out the best shots. 

That night, as a reward, we headed to "Cholo's" for the most delicious Ahi tacos....