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The Average Tourist’s Guide to Waimea Canyon

In late April, I was so lucky to get the opportunity to travel to Hawaii for the first time. On April 20, Kyle and I first landed in Kauai, and then flew to Maui after three days.

The islands are different in so many ways, but I won’t get into that now. However, I will say that Kauai is not known as “the garden isle” for no reason. It is extremely lush, peaceful, and absolutely beautiful. Aside from the blue Pacific Ocean surrounding the island, pretty much every inch of Kauai’s landscape is green. It literally is like a 500 square-mile garden, and it is wonderful, especially considering the mountainous desert I call “home.”

Besides three of its beaches topping Frommer’s “100 Best Beaches” list, Kauai also boasts a natural formation that seems to be a complete 180 from those long stretches of sand and crystal clear water. I’m talking about Waimea Canyon, also known as “the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.”

Waimea Canyon was a must-see for us since we are huge outdoor and landscape enthusiasts. On day three of Kauai, we finally got up there. First and foremost, the journey starts by traveling south on Kauai’s single one-lane highway, since that is the only way the canyon is accessible. As you near the town of Waimea, there is a pull-off where you can view the mouth of the canyon. Don’t expect jaw-dropping beauty just yet…you have to wait just a bit longer! Kyle and I did stop there, but honestly, you won’t miss anything if you don’t.

Soon enough, you will be passing through the town of Waimea. Drive the speed limit and be sure to keep you eyes peeled for Waimea Canyon Drive – it’s kind of randomly placed toward the Northern outskirts of the town and I didn’t seem to notice any signs indicating to turn. (In fact, we missed it at first so we had to flip a U)! Although, there is a second road (Koke’e Road) that will take you up if you drive a bit farther. Not sure if it has road signs or if it’s “more scenic” or what.

Once you find the road, it’ll feel like the wrong one. Don’t worry – keep driving! Within just a few minutes, you will have ascended at least 1,000 feet. (Don’t forget to pop your ears)! Along the road, there will be plenty of chances for you to pull over to admire the scenery and take pictures. Don’t underestimate those first few minutes of the ascent; look behind you – there are some killer views of the ocean that will render you speechless! Here are a few things you will see on the way up (or down):

This view of the beginning of the Waimea Canyon formation is visible from a lower altitude of the drive. One of the south shore views from Waimea Canyon Drive.As you drive up, you can pull over at any of the many pull-offs to check out the view. Here, you can start to see the canyon start to take its form.

After about an hour (factoring in the few times we stopped to view the landscape), you will reach the official Waimea Canyon Lookout. There will be a good number of other sightseers, but it won’t be too crowded. Here’s what the view looks like from the lookout:

This view is from the official Waimea Canyon Lookout. No wonder they call it the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific!”Proof that I was there

Panorama! (Click to view large)

Beautiful, isn’t it?! Although not as “majestic” as the Grand Canyon, I would say it’s very comparable.

When you’re done with the view, I would suggest that you continue all the way up the road if you have the time. (It’s about another half hour from the lookout). There supposedly are some more great views, but we didn’t really get to see much of anything except for the foggy mist of a cloud. After all, the end of the road, or Wai’ale’ale, is more than 5,000 feet in altitude, and it’s said to be “one of the wettest spots on Earth!”

Random – doing a bit of geocaching near Wai’ale’ale!Wai’ale’ale – “one of the wettest spots on Earth.”

The reason that Wai’ale’ale is one of the wettest spots on Earth is because…(find out on Wikipedia if you care that much ) Also, you should know that it is significantly cooler up there, so your beach shorts and slippers (flip flops) probably won’t allow you to last very long outside of your vehicle. I also heard that there are some great hikes up there, such as the Alakai Swamp Trail. Kyle and I would have loved to do it, but unfortunately, we had a plane to catch.

With that said, down we went. Here’s one last look at the gorgeous view once we neared the end of Waimea Canyon Drive:

If only I had a house with that view…

And of course, every good adventure leaves one hungry. Since it was just past lunch time, and since we had heard so many great things about Shrimp Station in Waimea (apparently the ones elsewhere on Kauai suck), we just had to stop. As the name suggests, pretty much everything on the menu contains shrimp. There are so many flavors, and while they all sounded amazing, I just HAD to get the Sweet Chili Garlic Shrimp plate. Absolutely delicious, I tell ya. Do stop there if you can.

Shrimp Station in Waimea town- a great place to stop for lunch after your adventure!

Overall, it was a great little trip. I would definitely recommend doing it if you are ever in Kauai. However, I will leave you with some driving notes:

• If you’re driving from the North Shore (Princeville/Hanalei), expect the commute to the mouth of the canyon to be about an hour and 45 minutes.
• From Lihue, it will be about an hour.
• From Koloa (where we stayed), it was about half an hour.
• The drive from beginning to end of Waimea Canyon Drive/Koke’e Road is approximately an hour and a half, factoring in all stops made.
• It won’t take that long to get back down the canyon. Probably around an hour and 15 minutes.
• The road does get a bit windy at times, so take proper precautions if you are prone to motion sickness. (Thank God for Sea Bands!)

Red

 

Complimentary

Thought it was about time to start using the digital again…it had been sitting there collecting dust!

…Maybe it’s the spring colors that have urged me to pick up the 50D again; I shot on black and white film all winter. Perhaps this trend represents how drab and colorless winter is portrayed, and how colorful and full of life spring portrays.

Photo: Reflections at The Leonardo

Photo: Abe Lincoln Getting a Wet Willy

Photo: Circles at the State Capitol

Photo: Perfect Profile

I was extremely pleased with this photo once I finally saw it. Not only is my subject pretty, but I would say that this is a perfect exposure with good composition, beautiful contrasting, and great depth of field. There are a few other photos from this day with the same surreal look and feel, which I will be posting soon.

Photo: Snow Day

This is an accidental double exposure, and I just absolutely love how this picture looks like it was taken 50 years ago. (Maybe Kyle needs to change his hairstyle, eh? )

Photo: Bus Depot

Photo: Leap Frog

Haven’t posted in a while – sorry about that! I’ve been super busy doing…things besides blogging (clearly). I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before (or if it’s obvious), but blogging and I have a love-hate relationship. The mood will strike randomly and last maybe a week or two, and then…nothing, for a good while. I wish it weren’t that way, really.

In other news, Kyle and I finally have our engagements photographers picked out and booked. The shoot will be in late April, which is all I’m going to say about that (it’s a surprise!), and I am super excited! My recent splurging on new clothes should be proof of that

Photo: Tracks in the Snow

To add to the effect, play The Civil Wars’ Tracks in the Snow in the background.

Have a wonderful weekend, all.

Photo: Abandoned Fred Meyer

When I first laid eyes on this abandoned Fred Meyer in Pocatello, Idaho, I knew I had to capture its eerie loneliness. If you think black and white does the trick, you should know that color would have made no difference.

Photo: Hylozoic Veil

Went on a photowalk with a very large group, Photowalking Utah, at a new museum in Salt Lake City called The Leonardo. The exhibit as seen in the photo is called the Hylozoic Veil, which is “an immersive, evolving environment that subtly responds to your presence. Hylozoic Veil uses physics, chemistry, sculpture, biology, materials science, engineering, manufacturing in a combination not imagined before. This installation explores responsive architectural systems that may someday recognize and react to our needs.”

Honestly, I have no idea what that means, but at least I got a nice photo.

P.S. I found it quite amusing that I was the ONLY person at this event with a film camera out of 75+ people. I stood in the back of the crowd as the host was giving her introductory speech, got bored, and took out my camera to shoot. You should’ve seen how many people turned their heads toward me, baffled by the foreign sound of a non-digital shutter!

Photo: Taking Pictures

My buddy Souk at 50mm f/1.4.

Love. This. Lens.

Train Tracks in Pocatello

A majority of the three rolls consist of olden scenes and subjects – it’s almost as if black and white film subconsciously seduces one to travel back to a non-contemporary era.

Triple Exposure

Check it out – an accidental triple exposure! These three photos were taken last Sunday at a local park – it had just snowed in Salt Lake so a few of us headed out to go sledding.

I knew I was eager to see what my “new” Minolta could do, but discovering this happy accident was a delightful surprise. Interestingly, I do remember a few times throughout the roll where advancing the film seemed a bit “off” – little did I know multiple exposures would be a result of that. Upon further investigation of the camera, I have come to the conclusion that they resulted because of my own incomplete advancement of each frame. Depending on how you look at it, the fact that you are able to take another picture without fully advancing the film to the next frame (in comparison to the Canon AE-1, which does not allow one to trigger the shutter if the film has not been fully advanced) could be the photographer’s dream or greatest nightmare. As an experimental photography-hobbyist, I couldn’t be happier with this so-called “malfunction.” Of course, I might never know if this is truly a malfunction, if the camera was originally built this way, or if it has lost some of its functioning capability after nearly 40 years of existence.

It was last week that I developed this roll, along with two others, at the university’s photo lab. Over the next few weeks, I will be posting at least one photo from these rolls on my blog per (week)day. They will not be edited in any way, shape, or form. Hope you enjoy them!

Bungee Kid

Went back to the roots of photography with 35mm recently. It might be a trend with photographers lately, but the desire comes and goes for me. Rest assured, I will have used, developed, and scanned three rolls of black and white film by Thursday night.

P.S. I bought a Minolta SR-T Super (circa 1973-1975) at a Goodwill in Idaho a little over a week ago. It came equipped with a sweet 50mm f/1.4 lens…now we’ll just have to see how the photos turn out.

Big Trouble in Little China

(Have you seen that movie? It’s so awful).

Back in November, I traveled to the City by the Bay – San Francisco - for the very first time. To put it simply, words cannot express just how captivated I was by the city and its unique mixture of culture. One of these cultures - a very dominant one of the Bay Area, and one that I proudly happen to be a part of – is the Chinese culture; you can only imagine just how ecstatic I was when we first arrived at “the largest Chinatown outside of Asia.”

Upon crossing under a traffic bridge near the upper-boundary of Chinatown, almost immediately I felt as though I had stepped into an entirely different country. The signs; the smells; the people – a familiar and nostalgic sensation flooded my mind. After all, I had spent four years of my life living in part of the largest Chinatown in the world (Hong Kong).

Now, I won’t say visiting Chinatown was the very top highlight of the trip, but it was definitely one of them. If you love authentic (or Americanized) Chinese food, cheaply-made “Chinese” souvenirs, and being surrounded by people who are almost all tourists, then you must not pass up a chance to spend a few hours roaming this neighborhood. (If you don’t love any of that, you should still go).

When you’re there, don’t spend too much time in the giant stores that sell 99-cent folding paper fans and 99-dollar “designer” purses - at least not without first filling your belly with some authentic Chinese/Cantonese food. Might I recommend the New King Tin Restaurant on Washington Street? They offer more than an array of popular Chinese dishes for a very decent price. I got a personal favorite – egg noodles in wonton soup – while the others ordered a tomato-beef stir-fry and a platter of chicken and duck on rice. All of it was absolutely delectable. (Get the chicken and duck on rice – it is always accompanied by the heavenly “ginger sauce” for your taste buds to savor).

After eating, exploring we went. We walked up and down the streets that constituted the oriental district and admired century-old architecture; window-shopped; wandered into a neighborhood park; people-watched; and indulged in a nice, tall glass of boba milk tea.

 

Within a few hours, we had basically seen the entire area that is known as Chinatown; we walked a ton without taking too much time to rest. Add that to the variation in elevation (hills) and an unfit pair of legs, and you get one very tired girl. But was it worth the walk? Considering I got to partially relive four years of my life in three hours, I would definitely say: “Hell yes, it was.” (Just remember to walk a few miles on the treadmill before you go)!

(I’m aware that this post did not describe an ounce of “big trouble” as one might gather from the title… Read about how a Chinese local scolded me, here – now that was real trouble)!

Perspectives of the Seattle Space Needle

Photos taken May 25, 2011.

One Week as a SeaWorld Adventure Camper

Back in the summer of 2006, I went on a trip with my cousin and her family to San Diego SeaWorld to participate in an educational program called Adventure Camps. As part of our five-day “adventure,” we got to see everything, and I mean everything, that the park had to offer – including a part of SeaWorld that is typically off-limits to regular park-goers: “behind the scenes.”

As a previous aspiring __________ (insert any job title relating to the care or study of animals, here), and since my cousin dreamed of being a dolphin trainer, I knew there was no way I could turn down her invitation to join her on the trip. After all, how many times in your life do you actually get to meet and greet dolphins; sit in the front row at the Shamu Show; learn about sharks, hands-on; go snorkeling; ride and re-ride (and re-ride) the Journey to Atlantis water coaster; spend quality time with your cousin and her family (brownie points?!); and MORE, all in the same week? (Seriously, people, I was a Junior in high school at the time). Well, where I’m from (land-locked and surrounded by mountains), there was no way any of that would have EVER happened if I hadn’t gone. And despite how bland the last two days at the park seemed (due to repetition in activities), I’m pretty glad I was given the chance to experience this.

My cousin, her cousin, and I all signed up for a five-day day camp program offered by SeaWorld. This not only allowed us to spend time at the park, but outside the park, as well, for personal itineraries during the evenings. The groups were split up according to age group, and luckily, the three of us were all placed in the 9th-12th grade group, along with about ten or so other kids. Each group had a guide, and if I recall correctly, an assistant guide, that not only held the responsibility of “guiding” us around, but to make sure that each of us stayed with the group. Even as a kid, I recall the whole park experience to be very organized, and not to mention, our guides were pretty awesome.

Now, let’s see if I can dig into that deep part of my memory…ah, yes. Here is a list of the activities (that I remember) that were included in the five-day day camp:

• A tour of the “hospital” area – we saw a plethora of detained sick and recovering marine animals and were told about their treatment process, facilities, etc. One story that I remember a vet tech told us was how a sea lion was in the hospital for having a parasite, and that the end of the worm came out with a bowel movement one day. Knowing that they had no other way, one of the employees ran over and stepped on the tail of the parasite to prevent it from going back in. After pulling it out completely, the parasite ended up being about 30 feet long. (GROSS)!
• Dolphin meet and greet – best part of the whole five-day trip. We were each allowed to stand right by the edge of their pool with one or two small fish. When they approached, we got to toss the fish right into their mouths and pet them. I wish this could’ve lasted all day…

• Fed sting rays. Actually, they had their stings removed, so they were safe to touch! The trainer explained to us that all we needed to do was clamp the piece of meat in between two fingers, stick it in the water for a nearby ray, and then it would suck it into its mouth like a vacuum. That’s exactly what it felt like, and it was awesome. This is probably my second-most memorable part of the trip.
• Got to hold/touch starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, etc. One of the animals (sea cucumber?) was the most interesting and eerie of them all to hold – if they are out of the water for too long, they start to expand as a defense mechanism. If they aren’t placed back in soon, they will simply explode. (Don’t worry – I didn’t “try it to see what would happen.”)

• Sat in on a plethora of shows, including the Shamu Show, which we got to see front-and-center. Yes, we got very wet that day.

• Toured all of the other open features and displays in the park – the non-exclusive part of the program.

• Went on all the rides once or twice (or thrice or…).
• Learned about sharks, hands-on – got to study and touch baby leopard sharks.

• Went on a two or three hour-long snorkeling excursion at a marina nearby Seaworld – got to swim around and view the underwater life. There wasn’t anything more than sea grass, crawdads, and the occasional fish here-and-there, but it was still pretty fun.

• Made awesome friends, whom I personally kept in touch with for a few months after the trip.
• Made memories and the gained the ability to say that I’ve done all of the above.

So if you’ve come to this post searching for a review of SeaWorld’s Adventure Camps, I can tell you from my own experience that it was probably one of the coolest experiences of my young life. At the age of 17, I got to see and learn about something that I was highly interested in at the time – virtually directly. The five-day day camp option cost upwards of $300 dollars, but I’d say that it was well-worth the expense because of all the exclusive stuff we got to see and do in and around the park. The atmosphere that was set by our guides was very laid-back, yet respectful, and they provided us with safety; kept our well-being sound by providing us with water and snacks; and gave us the chance to go do other things around the park based on “rule of majority.” The only relatively negative thing I have to say about the whole experience is that it seemed like five days was too long. Some of the activities that we did in the first three days seemed to be repeated on days four and five, and, well, frankly, there’s only so much to do at SeaWorld. I would look into all their Adventure Camps programs if that worries you. But, of course, I went six years ago, so some of the programs are probably different by now. You have to provide your own sack lunch, which is another downside (sushi is probably not the best meal to have in a park that promotes the well-being of marine life, anyway).

Overall, that week was pretty amazing considering all the new things I got to see and do; the people I got to meet and become closer to; and the memories that were made. I would highly recommend this experience for any K-12 student who is highly interested in marine or animal life. Lastly, I would also recommend sending them with at least one other friend or family member around the same age. That way, neither of them will be alone, which will make their experience all the more enjoyable!

Feel free to comment with questions that I haven’t already covered, or to share your own memories of a SeaWorld Adventure Camp!