Pua Lahilahi: Camp Mokule'ia and Ka'ena Point

Last weekend was spent blissfully disconnected from all electronic devices up at Camp Mokule'ia, a retreat center and campground on O'ahu's North Shore. We went with a group from the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, where Kevin and I have been participating in some of the various youth groups and services. As most of you know, I grew up Unitarian Universalist, so it's nice to have a place to go that feels familiar. With UUs, that invariably means an incredibly diverse group of intelligent interesting people, where you never know what you're going to get...it's like the physical manifestation of evolving non sequitor.

Anywhooooo, it was a wonderfully relaxing little getaway. After arriving Friday night in an absolutely foul mood - I was beyond crabby, just ask Kevin - we awoke Saturday morning to the sound of the ocean and the sunrise from our window right over the beach. Yes, we got a room with a view, and I'm SO glad we did. It was blustery and quite chilly at night. A tent would've been less than relaxing, and I very much needed to wind down.

Without further ado, here are some photos (click for larger view), with a little...ahem...okay lots of...commentary:

Out and around the grounds...

The light playing on the beach to the west...

I love this spot...

Yes, the water is really that color...

Aaaand if you needed a change from the beach, you could go to the other side of the camp and watch people fall from the sky. The camp is right across from Dillingham Airfield, where you can skydive and take glider rides. It really was a bit disconcerting to see people drop out of the sky one after another with no planes in sight, but very cool nonetheless.

Okay, on we go to other beings dropping out of the sky. Saturday, we decided to hike out to Ka'ena Point, which juts out proudly at the very northwest tip of O'ahu, and is the only place left on the island that is accessible only by foot, no paved roads. The point is blocked completely to vehicles - and dogs - not only to preserve one last remote outpost of unspoiled ecosystem, but because it is a wildlife sanctuary, particularly, although not exclusively, for the Laysan albatross, with a nesting ground here.

We were walking along watching these magnificent birds soaring above in the distance. They have a wingspan of 11-13 feet and fly in incredibly beautiful arcs of grace. They looked for all the world like they were soaring for fun.

So I'm walking along with a friend just in front, Kevin has run along way ahead, and all of a sudden the friend turns to say something and her eyes bulged big and she pointed upward and told me there was a bird right over my head. I turned as it swooped around and hovered above us maybe ten feet from my face. The bird and I looked each other dead in the eye, then it tilted vertically with its enormous wings and whooshed off into the blue. Amazing encounter I will never forget.

Of course, I fumbled for the camera, but this is the best I got, and let me tell you, it does NOT accurately convey this creature's size.

Once out at the point, I trudged down the last dune and was confronted with this:

Those white rocks against the blues of water and sky, and the clarity of the water in the tidepools was breathtaking. Again, my photos don't do it justice:

Back up on the dunes, the view is gorgeous as well. You can see they've marked trails out here to keep people away from the nests...

Back at camp, we ate BBQ, Kevin played with the other kids and enjoyed a campfire service out in the woods put on by the youth group. It was very dark out there and at one point I had the good fortune to look up. Astonishment. The stars were brighter than I've ever seen. I'm afraid I quite lost the thread of the service while staring at the stars.

Sunday morning sunrise, wandering around in my jammies snapping away: