Rainbow Falls, Green Beach, teal ocean at South Point Cliff, or an actual rainbow. Today, I’m here to witness all the colours that a Hawaiian rainbow can… Read more “The Colours of a Rainbow | Searching the Aloha”
Author: Pina Marek
Dreamer.
Traveller’s Book for August
Wild Yosemite Edited by Susan M. Neider I just realized that so many of the books I’ve recommended have the word “wild” in them! Angels in the… Read more “Traveller’s Book for August”
(Photo) The Windy Night, The Morning of Wild Waves, The Green Turtles, And the Black Beach | Searching the Aloha
It was a bit windy at night. All right, it was a bit more windy than that. Woken up into the endless starry night sky, I realize that the thing that is pulling on my sleeping bag isn’t any animal but strong gusts of wind. Good thing I’m not sleeping in a tent – it would have probably given up on me and flown away by now.
I’m in the same spot as yesterday; on polished lava flow, only with my sleeping pad and sleeping bag. But apart from yesterday, it feels like everything, including myself, is going to get blown off the rock into the ocean. I make sure the sleeping pad is right under my body (being rarely glad that I’m the way I am and not one pound lighter so I’m not floating in the air by now), tighten the sleeping bag around my ears and watch the shining sky. It’s almost unbearably beautiful. I can’t believe how many stars there are, up and beyond what we can see and comprehend. My eyes get all teary – but that’s probably because of the strong wind.
I need to get some sleep before tomorrow (well, today) comes and so I turn my back towards the wind, close my eyes and let the sound of wild ocean sing me back to a bit uncanny sleep while my hair gets all wild, caught up in a play with the moving air (needless to say, it’s not easy to comb it in the morning).
♥
The morning comes quick and I’m woken up into the feeling of somebody’s feet moving somewhat nervously very near my head. I open my eyes to see a plump and very friendly looking Hawaiian man. It’s the same one I saw yesterday while watching the sunrise, he’s even wearing the same raincoat (even though I don’t know what for – there’s not one single cloud in the pink-blue sky)
“Morning,” I say.
“Morning,” he answers a bit startled and then continues: “Sorry I woke you up, I didn’t know if you were all right.”
“No, no, it’s fine, I didn’t expect to sleep so long.” A moment of quiet.
“Why did you sleep here?”
“I wanted to”
“Do you have no tent?”
“I do but it’s so beautiful outside, it would be a waste not to sleep under the open sky.”
I don’t think this young man understands exactly what I’m trying to say but he must get at least a part of it – after all, he came yesterday and today to watch the sunrise – and maybe he comes here every day. Who knows?
He walks away and I collect my stuff, put it in the car and go watch the ocean, the waves, and green turtles (!) before the heat drives me out again.
PHOTOS:
- The Life of a Wave I. (a time-lapse)
2. The Life of a Wave II. (a time-lapse)
3. Honu – The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles (an endangered species of turtles, native to Hawai’i, up to 4 feet long and can weight over 300 pounds)
4. The Palms, Sands, And Lava Flows of Punalu’u
5. (Bonus) My ‘Bedroom’ And The View from My ‘Bed’
Please, let me know how this way of showing photos works with you – is this good, or do you prefer to have the photos separately, one by one? Thank you so much for any kind of feedback!
Love,
Pina
The previous Searching-the-Aloha article is HERE.
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And have a day full of beautiful sights! 🙂
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PHOTO: In The Name of Water | Yosemite May 2018
I take the gear from the shelf where all the pieces are patiently waiting for me, displayed neatly as if behind a front window of a store the exact same way I put them there a few weeks ago. I admit, I’m more gentle with my camping/backpacking gear than with my sole existence and entire life.
I find a place for each and every piece in the back of my car. Loading the boot makes me feel so excited that I have to start singing. In only a few days, I’ll be able to bring back my first report from Yosemite in the year of 2018!
♥
If I was able to sleep, I’d be woken up at half past two by the sharp beep-beep-beep of my alarm. But to be honest, sleep wasn’t really working for me – and what more, a few minutes before the alarm was supposed to go off, my friend Machi opened the door quietly and ‘woke me up’: “Pavuli-na… Pavuli-na? How do you get warm water in the shower?” And so I got up, turned the hot water on for her, brushed my teeth and started packing the last few necessities we needed for the weekend.
A quick shower and a breakfast later, a little bit after four in the morning, we were leaving our driveway and heading towards Yosemite.
LINKS TO ALL PHOTO LOCATIONS ARE BELOW THE GALLERY
PHOTO LOCATIONS:
(links will open in new tabs)
- Half Dome from Half Dome View
- A mushroom in Crane Flat Campground
- Bridalveil Fall from Bridalveil Fall Viewing Point
- Yosemite Fall in the far away from John Muir Trail
- Vernal Fall and Merced River from the Vernal Fall Bridge
- Vernal Fall from the Mist Trail
- Merced River from the Vernal Falls Bridge
- A bear (!) from the top of Vernal Fall
- Merced River above the top of Vernal Fall
- Nevada Fall from below, Mist Trail
- Merced River from the top of Nevada Fall
- Merced River cañon from the top of Nevada Fall
- Drops of morning dew in Crane Flat Campground
- Yosemite Falls from Swinging Bridge
- Some ferns and sand nearby Yosemite Creek
- Half Dome from Cook’s Meadow
- Yosemite Falls from Lower Yosemite Fall Trail
- Some ferns and sand nearby Yosemite Creek
- A reflection in Merced River
- Yosemite Valley Chapel
- Falls on Tamarack and Cascade Creek from Big Oak Flat Road
- Big Oak Flat Road
You can find more posts from Yosemite HERE!
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And have a spectacularly beautiful day 🙂
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Into the Lava Tubes | Searching the Aloha
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Hit the Road with Me 