3rd Day in Hawaii

Today, we decided to explore a different side of the Island... the East side... we took a road that tunneled through the mountains and came out on the other side to the most spectacular views!  On one side of the highway was the beautiful bay and on the other side was lush green mountains also known as the "Land of a Thousand Waterfalls" because when it rains there are tons of waterfalls created from the run-off on the mountain ridges!

If you look carefully at the mountain side, you can see a rickety old staircase... 3,922 steps to be exact... stretching up the side of the mountain... this is one of the most popular forbidden hikes.  If you are caught climbing the "Stairway to Heaven" or "Haiku Stairs" you will be fined.  It was crazy steep!

Speaking of hikes, we began our day with another hike... one that's not forbidden!  This time we hiked the Makapu'u Lighthouse Trail which had this view at the top...

Absolutely gorgeous view of Hawaii!  The hike was very easy but even the views along the way were incredible...

If we had come during the winter months, we could have even stopped to do some whale watching on the trail...

The majority of the trail had a water view in fact this is the only handstand picture that I took during the hike that does not have a water view...

After hiking we continued along our scenic drive to the famous Halona Blowhole... the blowhole is a natural occurrence formed by molten lava tubes from volcanic eruptions thousands of years ago.  The lava tubes run to the ocean and when the surf is right, the blowhole shoots water up into the air... the larger the waves, the larger the spray!  The waves were a little too calm and inconsistent today but we managed to capture a few good handstand pictures... I had to hold the handstand a long time while waiting for the spray but here it is...

Right next to the blowhole is Halona Beach Cove... it is a bit of a steep scramble down a rocky cliff to get there but totally worth the climb!  The cove is small so the waves can be intense if you are not careful but an absolutely gorgeous spot...

Here is a picture about 3/4 of the way down the cliff to get to the beach... the cliff on the other side can give you an idea of what we climbed down... fun... 

In the afternoon we went to Dillingham Ranch to see a horse that used to live in Maryland... Don Diablo!!!  He looks great!!!  I love his new "Beach Boy" look from living in Hawaii (he is much lighter in color from being out in the sun).

Dillingham Ranch is not only the home of a horse that I used to ride but it is also a filming location for many Hollywood movies and television shows like, "Lost."  You can even book Dillingham Ranch for special occasions like wedding receptions!  

I love the mountains in the background, the horses in the paddocks and the fact that there are mango and coconut trees everywhere... we even climbed a coconut tree to get fresh coconuts... it is harder than it looks to pick a coconut!

AND... there is the most beautiful beach, Makaleha Beach, right across the street...

We concluded our day with a nice swim and some gymnastics on the beach!!!

~3rd Day in Hawaii Handstands