Images of Hawaii 2013 – Part 2: “Flyin Hawaiian Zipline”

Aloha!

Here are more photos from our recent trip to Hawaii from the beautiful island of Maui and the amazing time we had ziplining.

I’ve always wanted to go ziplining and luckily my adventurous hubby, brother and sis-in-law were game too! After doing some research online, we found Flyin Hawaiian Zipline. They had the longest zipline in Hawaii with a 4-5 hour tour! I am not afraid of heights, but like any unknown event, I get some butterflies in my tummy at first.

We awoke before sunrise and traveled to Wailuku to the Maui Tropical Plantation where the 7am tour started.

One of the sugar cane fields was being harvested so we saw the smoke from the harvest during the morning sunrise.

After weighing/checking in our guide, Alika, got us harnessed up. One of drivers, Caleb, took us up the mountain in one of these ATV’s.

Our other two guides, Nick and Kupono, took us through the safety protocols, braking methods and we did our practice zip that was only a few feet off the ground. Then the fun began. They start you with the 2nd longest line and I just had to go first. . . you know, to chase the butterflies away.

Here are some views from the mountain. The hikes were quite manageable and the guides always offered their help, snacks or water.

This gives you an idea of what the lines look like from ridge to ridge. This was one of the smaller lines.

In the middle of the tour our guides took us to a garden where FHZ is making an effort to bring back native plants to the islands. They are planting the Hawaiian State Flower, the yellow hibiscus, on the mountain and had us help water them. The first plant I watered was called “Hibiscuits and Gravy” – awesome.

Our guides took turns going to the next platform, and that first person over was who helped us ‘brake’. Alika is getting ready to head out.

Here is Alika’s way of heading to the last platform. That little speck on the far ridge was where he was heading. No, we didn’t get to go upside down, but we did go backwards once!

And here’s me coming in for a landing. I can’t think of a better way to ring in the Winter Solstice than ziplining Flyin Hawaiian on my favorite island with my hubby and siblings. Photo by Hermine.

Maui, Hawaii | 21 December 2013

Flyin Hawaiian Zipline
1670 Honoapiilani Hwy
Wailuku, HI 96793-9347
(808) 463-5786 | flyinhawaiianzipline.com

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Images of Kauai

It’s been almost 5 years since we last visited the island of Kauai, so I thought I’d share some photos of that trip.

Waimea Canyon is called the ‘Grand Canyon’ of the Pacific. Here the views of the rugged mountains and deep canyon are absolutely breathtaking as they taper off to sea. I took this photo from a look-out point along the road.

Kilauea Lighthouse is a great tourist spot and was instrumental in helping to navigate ships heading to/from the Orient in the early 1900’s. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1976 and has been a tourist attraction ever since. In 2010, the Kilauea Lighthouse won a spot in a multi-million dollar contest to restore historic landmarks.

And lastly, Lumahai Beach is another one of Kauai’s gorgeous beaches.

(Kauai, Hawaii | September 2006)

Hasliberg

As the weather is getting warmer I thought I’d share more beautiful winter scenes from Switzerland.

These are from our trip to Hasliberg where I learned to ski. In the Swiss Alps. From a Swiss Ski Jedi Master. It was AWESOME! The photo on top is a view from the road in front of the family ‘hut’.

This is the road in front of the house where our friends would expertly ski and snowboard down and make a perfect-10 stop right in front of the house. It was like watching the Olympics.

From the house we went up to the Bidmi Ski station and that’s where we had our lessons on the bunny slopes along with other Swiss children 🙂

Once you get there, you can basically ski, sled or board anywhere there is snow. We, of course, had our cameras out like total tourists and were taking photos of everything. Here are a few of the wonderful scenery.

(Hasliberg, Switzerland | December 2010)

 

Firenze At Dusk

I’ve been conversing a lot about Italy lately so I’m posting one of my favorite photos taken with my 35mm SLR.  The hubby and I went to Italy after finishing a project and visited Roma, Firenze (Florence) and Venezia (Venice).  While in Firenze we met up with some friends of ours who were taking their honeymoon in Italy. The wife knew of a spot to watch the sunset, so armed with wine and cheese we walked to a bridge, hopped over the wall where there was a small platform just above one of the column supports. Apparently this was a popular spot to hang out. There we drank our red wine, dipped our Parmesan cheese into honey and watched the sunset on the Arno River.

(Firenze, Italia | Settembre 2004)

Mount Titlus

One of the afternoons on our Switzerland vacation was spent at the famous Mount Titlus in the town of Engelberg. I’ll start with my favorite photo then chronicle our adventure up (and down) the mountain.

This is a view from the top of Titlus, which is 10,000 feet elevation. There were plenty of birds around and I waited until this beautiful black-winged fellow flew into frame. It was -9 degrees C (15 degrees F) @  10,000 feet so I was freezing, but what a view!

Starting from the beginning, this is a view of Engelberg from the first gondola ride. (There were 3 different cars you had to get on to get to the top!)

A view of the platform for the 2nd gondola car. You can get off here and ski, but a lot of folks are heading to the top. Most of these people are in ski attire!

So, the artsy-type in me loves this photo. It’s another view from atop Titlus with a lens flare.

One exhibit they had at the top was the Glacier Grotto – where they have carved through a real glacier, fitted it with color lights that flickered in time with the music (which you choose). We were amazed to actually be IN a glacier, especially after seeing them from far away last summer on our Alaska cruise.

Sunset. This is the same view as the photo two above, except without the lens flare 🙂

Being this high up, we were above everything so these fluffy clouds look like bodies of ‘water’ in between the mountain tops.

When it was time to go, we were one of the last to leave (had to catch the sunset!) so we watched as the day turned into night during the 45 minute ride down the mountain. This is Engelberg @ night. Magical.

(Mount Titlus @ Engelberg, Switzerland | December 2010)

Fürigen Yarn!

This is by far one of the funnest yarns I’ve every spun! The brown is a natural Corriedale, the white is undyed Peruvian wool and the blue is Peruvian wool that I hand dyed.  I spun each color separately then plied them together to make a 3-ply worsted weight yarn. It’s rather heavy at 4.90 ounces (!) for 139 yards.

My inspiration for this one is the wonderful town of Fürigen in Switzerland and this photo of the house overlooking the lake is one of my favorites.

This yarn is available on the shoppe, though if no one takes it, I might just have to keep this one for myself . . . LOL!

Lanikai Pillbox View II

It’s about that time again that the hubby and I get ‘homesick’ for Hawaii – it happens about every 3 months or so. To help assuage our homesickness I thought I’d post another photo or two of the view from the Lanikai Pillbox Hike.  The photo above shows the houses along Lanikai Beach and the Mokulua Islands in the distance.

This photo shows the far right side of the beach with the dark area being in the shade.

And this is more a ‘straight on’ view of the water, similar to the other photo I posted from this hike.

Oh, it is time to go back home!

(Lanikai, Oahu, Hawaii | March 2010)

Fürigen

Here are some photos of our family’s town in Fürigen, Switzerland. The photo above is the sun setting over Hotel Fürigen, which is not open now, but scheduled to be re-modeled into apartments as well as hotel rooms.

The photo below is the same sunset only an hour or so later. We walked to a look-out point and this is looking back towards the hotel (I think that’s the hotel in the center-right of the photo).

As we were walking to the look-out point, I took this photo of the lake as seen from the front of a house. This gorgeous house is actually a vacation rental house, so you can rent it out and wake to this view everyday. Swoon . . . .

Another view of the lake.

I took this photo in the town of Stansstad where we stayed at a local hotel. The snowy area up the hill is Fürigen.

(Fürigen, Central Switzerland | December 2010, January 2011)

 

Images of Lucerne

It had been about 20 years since I last visited Lucerne and it’s still just was beautiful as I remembered. This time the streets were snow-lined and the air crisp rather than filled with summer blooms, and still a great great city.  Here are some images of famous landmarks.

This is the 8-sided tower adjacent to the snow covered Chapel Bridge, which is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe. There are over 100 hand painted panels on the inside that were completed in the 17th century. According to my guide book, this tower has served as a lighthouse, prison and treasury.

Another snowy view of the Chapel Bridge and tower.

There is a beautiful medieval wall that goes along the north side of the Old Town which was built to fortify the city.  The towers are impressive as are the views of the city from atop the hill.

I love how all the tops of the towers are different. Photo by Jake.

Another view of the wall and foreground foliage.

A view of the neighborhood and city.

The Lion Monument is a tribute to the Swiss Guards who gave their lives while guarding the Tuileries Palace of Louis XVI in Paris in 1792. Taken with a flash, this photo captures the afternoon snow fall.

This photo is just to show you the scale of the monument.

And lastly, Lucerne at night. At the center of the photo is the Jesuit church.

(Lucerne, Switzerland | December 2010)

Pilatus

During our holiday trip to Switzerland, the sun poked through the clouds intermittently (unless you were above the clouds of course), but on the last day it was clear enough to see Pilatus mountain. We stayed in a quaint town called Stansstad and our hotel was a block away from the lake’s edge. During the summer months, residents enjoy all types of water sports in the lake and the winter months are spent in the snow. Across from Pilatus is the mountain town of Fürigen, where our friends/family live with gorgeous views of Pilatus, the lake and surrounding towns. Photos of Fürigen to follow shortly 🙂

(Stansstad, Switzerland | 1 January 2011)