Spring is in the air!

This shot of two American Goldfinches was actually taken on January 1, but it is not unlike the antics we have seen on the feeders over the past couple of weeks.  The birds have been on a feeding frenzy, and the courtship rituals on display have been very entertaining.  

There have been dozens of American Goldfinches (which, unusually, stayed all winter) along with the usual flocks of Redpolls, Pine Siskins, Blackcaps and Jays.  We had a flock of Pine Grosbeaks that frequented most of the winter, and several Evening Grosbeaks have been visiting recently also.  And the ever-viscious Nuthatches never seem to let up for long either.

The Purple Finches have returned (a sure sign of Spring!).  And the local news reports that the recent warm weather has brought the bears out of hibernation early, so it is now time to take the feeders down until next winter.  We will miss the daily entertainment, but will gladly welcome Spring!

It's St. Patrick's Day!

Well, we have been out of touch for too long now.   We did not have internet access our second week in Hawaii.  And since returning to Thunder Bay, it has been a whirlwind.  Work for both of us has been extremely busy, and on top of that, we both got socked with dreadful colds.  For me, it was the worst cold I have had in years. 

But we are both pretty much back to normal now, so we will try to get back on track and fill you in on our last week on Kauai (it was amazing, btw), along with a few pictures soon ...

But in the meantime ...

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit

(Happy St. Patrick's Day)

And if someone comes up and says " Pionta Guinness, le do thoil ", this is what they are looking for:

A pint of Guinness, please

So remember ...

Enjoy the day!    Cheers!

Oahu: The North Shore Part 2

No Swimming Today !!!

Wow ... What an awe-inspiring day.  The clouds hung over most of Oahu all day ... we headed out on a bit of a circle tour, heading down towards Honolulu then across the Pali Pass to Kailua, where we stayed for a few days during our 2006 visit.  We had lunch at Buzz's, where we reminisced about our previous visit with Karrie and Russ.

From here, we headed back up to the North Shore via the east coast, passing Turtle Bay Resort (very posh!), with a brief stop at Sunset Beach.  As forecast today, the surf on the North Shore was building, and expecting to peak at 20 - 30 feet in the late afternoon.  The surf at Sunset was pretty awesome, so we continued back towards Pupukea and Waimea Bay Beach - apparently the best surf zone along the North Shore.  It was truly awesome ... we spent hours in the area of Banzai Pipeline and Waimea Bay Beach simply sitting on the beach watching the waves.  It is a common past time - there were many others doing the same.  There were a few dozen surfers trying to catch the waves at Waimea.  The sky was clearing over Ka'ena Point that we visited yesterday (visible from Waimea Bay Beach) and we stayed to watch the sun set.  It was an amazing afternoon!  Here are a few samples of what we encountered.

Surf at Waimea Bay Beach - Jan. 27, 2010

Oahu: The North Shore Part 1

We are enjoying our time on the North Shore.  The cottage we are staying at is very nice - it is part way up the mountain from the coast at Pupukea Beach.  There is an amazing mix of plants around the cottage - bamboo, many different types of palms, a papaya tree, a pomelo tree, a small banana grove and  lots of small flowering shrubs.  The road is a dead end, but there are a lot of homes on it so there is a fair bit of traffic noise in the early morning - not sure if people are heading to work, or off to the surf.   The house next door has a lot of chickens - we don't need an alarm clock because the roosters start crowing around 5:30, and the vast array of birds starts chiming in shortly after.   This is a great way to ensure we make the most of each day!

We spent most of Monday at Waimea Beach - some sunning and lots of swimming in the waves.  The surf is amazing and we are taking a stab at body surfing.  The lifeguards are really good at watching over the swimmers and pointing out the safe areas of the beach for swimming.

Waimea Bay Beach from Puu o Mahuka Heiau State Park

Yesterday, we hiked out to the most westerly point of Oahu - Ka'ena Point.  It is a State Park kept as a Natural Area Reserve and is the last "natural and untouched" coastlines on Oahu.  We saw many humpback whales off the point - they were very far out, but it was still easy to see them breach.

Surf at Ka'ena Point

Ka'ena Point State Park

Laysan Albatross nesting at Ka'ena Point

There were steady rainshowers overnight with a cold front moving through.  The forecast today is "chilly", with temperatures around 78 degrees - guess we will need to bundle up!!!   The surf forecast is waves potentially reaching 30 feet with the front, so we are off touring to try to find some.  Aloha for now!

Happy Birthday John!

One of the reasons we are visiting Hawaii is to celebrate John's birthday - he is 50 today!
Our first two full days in Waikiki were to "acclimatize" to the time change and heat, and we were able to do that quite nicely.  Yesterday we hiked the trail up Diamond Head.  It is not long - a mere .8 miles - but it is a pretty strenuous hike. Diamond Head is a dormant volcano, and the hiking trail starts in the centre of the crater and winds its way up to the top of the rim overlooking Waikiki Beach where the U.S. Army built camoflouged posts in 1908-1909.   There is very little shade on the trail up, it is rough and very steep, and it is incredibly hot.  The breeze off the ocean once at the top was most welcome.  Following our hike, we returned to the hotel and spent the afternoon swimming and lazing on the beach. 

We celebrated John's birthday dinner last night, and we headed out in search of a small restaurant called Cafelatte, but had no luck finding it (assumptiion that it is no longer open).  We continued wandering along the Waikiki strip and stopped for a pre-dinner cocktail at the poolside bar at the Westin - a very nice location indeed, under a huge Banyan tree!  We finally ended up at the "Hula Grill".  It is above Duke's Canoe Club,  at the Outrigger on Waikiki Beach - it is open air, as are most restaurants, overlooking the beach and ocean.  It was a beautiful evening and dinner was excellent.  We stopped back at the Westin for an afterdinner Mai tai (voted Hawaii's best!) and then strolled the beach back to our hotel.

Today, we had a relaxing morning at the hotel before picking up the car and heading to the North Shore.  We are driving a Ford Edge, which I am quite enjoying.  We detoured up the West Coast to Yokohama Beach, with the idea of driving through Kolekole Pass to get to the North Shore.  Thankfully, we found out sooner rather than later that the route through the Pass is a Military Road and not open to public access.  So we returned to Pearl Harbour and headed up to the our cottage in Hale'iwa.  It is a very nice little cottage.  We had a light snack for dinner and are now lazing with our feet up.  Time to sign off and plan our day for tomorrow.  The weather is promising to remain sunny and warm, so we will get out and enjoy the day again!

Honolulu and Waikiki Beach from Diamond Head

Surf at Yokohama Beach

Aloha

Well, we made it to Honolulu ... we arrived safely late Thursday afternoon to clear blue skies and 80 degrees ... very nice indeed!  We are staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village at the end of Waikiki Beach.  We did a stroll around the property to get our bearings before heading out for dinner.  It is a very large property (20+ acres) with a beautiful beach and a nice swimming lagoon.  This picture is looking across the lagoon towards Waikiki, with Diamond Head in the background.

Yesterday, we spent the day walking and relaxing.  Had some excellent fresh fish for dinner at Duke's Canoe Club - a very popular spot at the Outrigger Hotel on Waikiki.  It is a great spot to watch the sun set across the ocean. 

This one's for Kathy

Heading off this morning to hike the trail to the top of Diamond Head.  There are supposed to be some great views over Honolulu from the top.  Tomorrow, we are off to the North Shore until Jan 30.  We will keep safe!

7 more sleeps ...

One week to go and we'll be leaving on a jet plane! ... look out Hawaii, here we come!

Though the winter this year has so far, for the most part, been quite kind to us in Thunder Bay we have had some pretty chilly days ... a week ago, there was a 52 degree difference between the temperature in Honolulu and Thunder Bay!

Given that, we are looking forward to spending some time relaxing on the beach.

We are spending a few days in Waikiki to get settled in (it is going to be a very long travel day to Hawaii), and then spending a week on the north-west coast of Oahu.  We are staying at a small cottage near the surfing beaches of Waimea and Pupukea, arriving here on John's Birthday.  Winter brings some tremendous waves to this coast of Oahu ... we have no plans on tackling these waves, but they should be loads of fun to watch!

Pupukea Cottage, Oahu

Waves at Waimea

Following our stay in Oahu, we are spending a week on the north-east coast of Kauai.  There are apparently some good winter swimming beaches and bays for snorkelling in this area.  There is hiking in Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of Hawaii) where it is hot and arid, and then 20 miles away you can hike more in the rainforest at Mount Wai'ale'ale, the "wettest spot on earth" where they receive more than 460 inches of rain a year.

Birdsong Cottage, Kauai

click any image to see a larger version!

We'll post a few bits about our travels along the way to let you know we're doing fine!

Aloha!

No Prorogue!

Stephen Harper has slammed the door in the face of all Canadians ... it is time he stopped spitting on our Democratic Rights, Traditions and Institutions and on the elected representatives of the majority of Canadians.


He has successfully stifled all within his own party, and now wants to stifle the opposition and the voice of every Canadian that disagrees with his flagrant abuse of the powers of the PMO in his quest for complete control over the entire country.


... Get Back to Work Steve, stop acting in your own self-interest and start doing what is in the best interests of ALL Canadians!




And we'll end with something from one of the few Canadians in the media who actually speaks his mind ...

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/The_Rick_Mercer_Report/ID=1384402199