Tuesday 10 March 2009

It never rains, but it pours

Over two weeks ago I set the alarm clock for well before sunrise in the hope that I could go down to the local shoreline and take some photographs of the cliffs, ocean and rising sun. Well, since that day I haven't seen the sun again. The island, especially the windward side, has been ridiculously wet, windy and cold - at least for Hawai`i! Unfortunately, my visitor was looking forward to several weeks lying on a beach in paradise and swimming in the warm ocean, but instead has been kept out of the water by several high surf advisories and the unpleasant weather.

Still, one of the things to see in Hilo on rainy days, or even better, just after a period of heavy rainfall, is Rainbow Falls on the Wailuku River.

The waterfall is so named because on sunny mornings the cascading water and vapour forms a rainbow although there's been little chance of that lately. Still, I thought it might prove to be an interesting visit one evening to see just how powerful the falls were as the last time I was there, during last year's drought, there was barely a trickle of water. I wasn't disappointed!

Having said that, in all the trips I've made to Rainbow Falls, I've yet to spot Hina. Apparently, the moon goddess of the Polynesians lives in the cave under these falls.

5 comments:

Diane said...

Pretty pictures... but I'm still trying to wrap my head around INTENTIONALLY setting the alarm for before sunrise... why... why... why...? ;)

Keera Ann Fox said...

Fantastic pictures of the falls - and fantastic falls even without the rainbows!

Diane, that's why I'm grateful for living at 60 north. I can catch sunrises here at 9:30 am in the winter - weather willing. :-)

Zuzana said...

I love waterfalls, as they indicate a constant movement and change. The surge of water also to me represents natural force or power.
We have very few of those in Denmark, but in the mountains where I was born, there are many beautiful waterfalls.
Lovely pictures.

Beep said...

I'm stuck in bed today and decided I would go visiting friends' blogs as a distraction from some physical pain (it should get better in a few days.) I'm so glad I got to yours because these pictures are incredible. I'm sorry your visitor did not get to stick to their beach plans but I hope they appreciated the beauty of this waterfall with so much water in it! Of course I am probably biased; I have the Southern Californian view of rain...glorious, exciting water from the sky! A miracle! Heh :) Easy to feel that way when it rains 3x a year ;)

Tom said...

Diane - sunrise is the best time of the day! Still, I don't like getting up then, but it's often worth it to just to take in all the colours. Also, I'm pretty used to getting up at all sorts of hours given my job, so it's not a big deal getting up early - most of the time!

Keera - in a way I'm jealous, but I remember from my nearly 30-years in the UK that I really didn't like those long winter nights!

Protege - I haven't been to Denmark but assume it's fairly flat, hence not too many waterfalls? I remember seeing plenty of spectacular ones in Austria so maybe a visit there would be worthwhile? OK, I'm a bit biased!

Beep - there's rain and then there's the rain you get in Hilo. The glorious and exciting part of it soon wears off!