Last installment of Hawaii Pictures - Flying Home

^ Taking off from Honolulu.

^ Nice view of Waikiki

^ View inside of Diamond Head

Aloha beloved Hawaii. I'll be back yet again.

Sunset along the horizon.

Almost dark. G'night.

I love birds and I find all Hawaiian birds exotic.

Here's a great example. Is this cool or what? It's like a cardinal that you'd find in the Eastern US as all red, but it was introduced from Brazil and is called a red-crested cardinal. (BTW, these pics are not mine. I saw these birds but didn't photograph them. This is courtesy of this website:http://www.explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/BIRDS/Birds/Rock%20Dove.htm

I love these little guys . . . Java Sparrows. From Indonesia. So cute!

Myna birds. Noisey great songs. Might get annoying after awhile if I lived in Hawaii, but I don't, so I love 'em!

Zebra dove. Even the pigeon-like birds in Hawaii are exotic!

The Vented Bulbul. Very cool. Saw some of these on the hike to Diamond Head. Love the rocker hairdo.

Spotted dove. Another exotic pigeon!

The Rock Dove. OK, these I had personal experiences with . . .

This one was on my balcony, 31 stories high.

Checking me out.

And then there were two . . .

A long way down

Hey! Wait a minute! How come you closed the door on me? I was just getting used to having Cheerios for breakfast with you!!

Waikiki

View from my hotel room at the Marriott Waikiki Beach Resort. <- Did I mention that my room was on the 31st floor? I don't mind heights so I ate breakfast every morning on my balcony.

^ I was intrigued by this guy making plumeria leis by holding the end between his toes.

The surfer and dolphin seem to like them.

So I gave the street lei-maker $5 and got one to decorate my room. Seems appropriate next to the botanical print of a plumeria.

This picture is from my cab ride on the way to the Diamond Head trailhead. It was the morning of the Tinman Triathalon (not to be confused with the longer and more intense IronMan).

This picture was taken at a local restaurant. Not a sign I tend to see in Dublin or Oakland.

Looking down, the carpet is just as tropical as my dress. (Tropical Camo?)

Cloudy Sunset over Waikiki.

I'm glad I made the most of this business trip, at least in the early morning and evening hours. It's not as fun to be in Hawaii without my husband, though. Oh well, there's always next time.

Aloha

Diamond Head Hike

The most famous volcanic crater in the world is Diamond Head, located on the South-east Coast of O'ahu at the end of Waikiki overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was originally named Laeahi by the ancient Hawaiians. The name meant "brow of the tuna" and looking at the silhouette of the crater from Waikiki, you can see the resemblance. I was always curious about hiking this crater and I got my chance on Sunday, July 26th. I was even more intrigued since when I looked out of my room at the Marriott Waikiki Beach Resort, it dominated the view.

So, I ventured out early Sunday morning. I took hiking poles with me as I was just as concerned about the steep hike down as the steep hike up.

I also took my little Leica binoculars since you never know what birds you might encounter. Here was the list of possible birds. I'm sure I saw and heard at least the bulbul and some mynas on this hike. I've spotted most of the other birds on this poster in my various trips to Hawaii over the years, and saw lots of Java Sparrows again this trip, though not on the Diamond Head hike.

Man, that's a long ways up!!!

Gorgeous, hot sweaty, humid country!

Nice views kept me going as I made my way upward.

Lots of steps between here and the top.

But more nice refreshing vistas.

I love photographing tunnels.

Lots of stairs, but worth a look back at the view.

I thought the spiral staircase looked especially cool.

More stairs and framed vistas.

Not sure what this was, but liked how it looked.

OK, It was finally worth it!

Waikiki like I've never seen it before.

Postcard perfect!

My winning photo from the Paso Robles 2009 Photowalk

Del and I participated in the 2009 Worldwide Photowalk and we did it with a guide named Syl Arena in Paso Robles. We met some great people, learned some new things, and really enjoyed taking pictures that Saturday morning, even in the 108 degree heat. And to make it even better, it turns out that mine was the winning photo from the Paso Robles Photowalk this year! That means I won a book on photography and that Syl is submitting this photo to Scott Kelby who is the leader of the Worldwide Photowalk http://worldwidephotowalk.com/ which includes photowalks from over 900 locations and over 30,000 people participating. It's a great thing to get people out to walk and see their local world in a whole new light. Here's my photo that was selected. It's called "Z Light" and it's a close-up of a Nissan 350Z headlamp that reminds me a lot of dichroic glass.

And here's the URL to see more of the photos from the photowalk, including another one of mine of a firehose nozzle and two by Del. My name on flickr is il regalo and Del's is smoking pizza. http://www.flickr.com/photos/40744627@N08/3744495109/