Monday, July 16, 2012

Exploring the North Shore


View from Hanalei Bay- You can see the waterfall on the mountains
While in Hawaii, we visited the north shore of the Island. We had to drive 1 hour because we stayed on the east part of the island. Usually in the winter the north shore gets the most rainfall, but since it is summer, it was nice and warm. The north shore has both mountains and beautiful beaches. We were planning to stay on the beach until sunset, because the north shore also has the best sunset on the whole island.

Hanalei National wildlife Reguge
On the way to the way, we stopped to look at he view of the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge which provides nesting and feeding habitat for endangered Hawaiian water birds. It also has beautiful taro fields. The island of Kauai grows 73% of the Taro found in Hawaii and most of the Taro fields are on the North Shore. Taro is a plant that is grown in water and was the main food for the ancient Hawaiian people. The root of the plant is the corm and is cooked and mashed into a sticky purple pudding called poi. It is very similar to mashed potatoes. The leaf (lu`au) and flowers (pua) can also be cooked and eaten usually with meats, fish, coconut milk, and other vegetables.  Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to try taro while I was in Hawaii, but I maybe next time I will make sure to try it. While we stopped to enjoy the view, we also saw a family of chickens. Aren't the baby chicks cute? The mother chicken is very protective and got angry at my sister Hannah when she tried to get too close.












Tunnels Beach- Look at how clear the water is
The north shore also has great snorkeling. In the morning, we went snorkeling at Tunnels Beach, the best snorkeling beach on the island. Tunnels beach has a very large reef and no waves. We had to be careful not step on the reef, otherwise it would die. We saw many fish such as the rainbow parrot fish, Morish Idols, and the humuhumunukunukuapua’a. We happened to meet a  fourth grade teacher from Iowa at the beach, and he asked if we knew of a fish called humuhumunukunukuapua’a. I said that I knew this fish, thanks to Mrs. Yollis for teaching it to us. He was very impressed.  This fish was probably my favorite because it had blue lips,and was very unique looking. The water was turquoise blue and was very warm.

We always went snorkeling in pairs just in case one of us needed help















Palm trees at the bay
After tunnels beach, we had lunch at a restaurant. After lunch, we went to Hanalei Bay to swim.  It is the largest bay on the island, and it is a two miles. The water is very calm and it is great for swimming. It is surrounded by big and beautiful cliffs.  The sand is hard and fine which makes it good for running. After swimming, we went for a run around the Bay. When we came back from our run, the sun was almost down. and we saw a beautiful sunset  As sun went down, it shone down onto the water and it looked like a path of shining light. Hanalei Bay was our favorite place to swim and we went there many times during our trip.

















It was hard to just choose one photo of the sunset









 What is your favorite place to go on vacation?



4 comments:

  1. Aloha!

    Mahalo for a wonderful trip to the northern part of Kauai! Again, Mr. Yollis and I did exactly the same adventure! The only thing we added was a short hike. The hike started at the beach just beyond Tunnels. It was the turn around point of the island. It was very steep and had spectacular views of the coast!

    I am very proud that you knew about the tropical fish of Hawaii, especially the state fish called the humuhumunukunukuapua’a. That was one of my favorites too! I also really liked the Moorish idols. That dorsal fin looked so pretty as the fish circled and swam!

    Here's a link to my snorkeling video if you want to take a trip down Memory Lane!

    Snorkel With Mrs. Yollis

    Did you see many turtles? We saw more turtles on Kauai than we did on Maui.

    Mahalo!

    Your proud former teacher,
    Mrs. Y♥llis

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

      Thank you so much for leaving me such a lovely comment. I really liked your snorkel video and my favorite were the eels. They were so cool. I also saw an eel at Tunnels Beach. It was hiding under a rock and had spots all over it. We didn't get too close in case it would decide to come out and bite us.

      We didn't see a single turtle during our trip. However, last year, on the Big Island they were all over the place. I was surprised you saw some in Kauai.

      Your former student,
      Sarah

      Delete
  2. Dear Sarah,
    Your pictures are amazing, I never seen such beautiful sunsets anywhere in the world. We visited Hawaii a few times and I always would come to the beach and look at the sunset and every day it was a different sunset. I'm glad you had such a great vacation and now you could blog and share with all your beautiful pictures.
    Love you,
    Grandma Tanya and Grandpa Eugene

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Grandma Tanya,

    Thank you so much for leaving me such a lovely comment. I appreciate all of the wonderful comments you always leave on my blog.

    We also saw sunsets almost every day. What island was your favorite?

    Love,
    Sarah

    ReplyDelete

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