The Design Slice: Hawaii Part 2

I showed you some photos from day 1 of our trip to Hawaii and you better believe that the rest of our week was just as jam packed as day 1. We started day 2 with some beach and pool lounging in the morning and after lunch hit the road to go see the waterfalls that scatter the Hawaiian highway 19. But on our way cutting across the middle, we drove by some adorable hawaiian cows. Isn't he precious?

We were also warned of the speed humps, the hawaiian version of speed bumps, which had me giggling like I was 12 years old again.

Once we made it to the coast, highway 19 turned south and we (and other tourists alike) stopped every couple miles or so to walk back across the narrow bridge we just crossed, gripping the safety railing for dear life as cars flew by behind us on the highway, and oogle the gorges and waterfalls. On occasion, we ventured off the highway to check out a few parks and other waterfalls. The crashing waves were huge at Laupahoehoe Point Park and the water was so perfectly blue (pictured below).

In the way background of this photo you can see one of the waterfalls that we were able to see from the highway bridge. Nearly all the waterfalls are found in huge gorges like this and then they flow right into the ocean.

The water turns from a deep blue to medium blue to light blue once hitting the ocean shore.

One of the most popular waterfalls on The Big Island is Akaka Falls. After about a ten minute hike, you come to a fenced in ledge where the view is prime. It was absolutely breathtaking.

The morning of our third day was soaked up with a whale watching boat ride. This was my favorite part of our trip. Currently, it's mating season for Humpback whales and we watched male whales showing off for the ladies by blowing water, slapping their tails, and breaching, which is what this one is doing. At first I was really disappointed that I had the camera up too high, because this was the biggest and closest breach we saw all morning, but now I am in love with the shot and think the cropping is really artistic. (My art professor would call it a happy accident and I'll take it!)

Some of the other whales came right up to our boat, which was a tad scary since they are as big as buses, but the guide said that they are more agile than humans are.

And a mother and couple-week-old baby were also showing off for us. The marine biologist tour guide told us that the mom was probably trying to teach him how to breach and help him build up muscle for their swim back to Alaska at the end of the season. The dark grey hump to the left of the baby whale breaching is the mom, so you can see how little he is compared to how huge she is.

That night we went to Ho'Okena Beach for snorkeling and watched the sunset, keeping a close eye on out for the green flash. The green flash is the exact moment the sun dips below the horizon, supposedly when the light hits the water it flashes green, but unfortunately I didn't see it.

Not only was Ho'Okena Beach beautiful, small, and fun to snorkel at, but it provided some great photo opportunities. I couldn't pass up taking some of the moss on these rocks right at the shore line. Its vibrant green color mixed with the color of the sand, ocean, and sky created a serene color palette.