January 7 2011 - Day 9 in Paradise

The weather has changed a bit.  We were highly amused by the weather reporter on TV who told us that the trade winds would shift a bit, that the temp might go down to 62 at night, and that we "might just want to think about a second blanket"!!! ooooh chilly.  But the winds have changed - they were coming from the south and are now heading in from the northwest and blowing in some rain.  Makes us really appreciate what amazingly good weather we had for the first full week.  Makes for enormous waves here on the north shore.

The big rain ended by 10 am though, and we ventured into the interior of the island, along the Wailua River.  First up was the Hindu Monastery, which allows self guided tours from 9-12.  We got ourselves in the mood by listening to Sheila Chandra in the car on the way there.  Everything was so lush and green from the rain, and the music and the view together made us feel pretty high.  The monastery is a small and very beautiful place, hidden away at the end of a dead end road.  There is a beautiful temple (which cannot be photographed, so you will just have to visit yourself!), some wonderful sculptures, enormous banyan trees, and an amazing view of river, waterfalls, and mountains at the back of the property.

A monk came by and chatted with us briefly.  As I have mentioned before we are not religious people, but that does not rule out our having a spiritual side.  He told us that he saw we had an aura of spiritual study to us and wondered who we were studying with.  Tom, who was carrying his shakuhachi flute with him, as he has to all holy places that we have visited, said that he studied the flute and good breathing.  I said that I was a student of the great outdoors, and this has in fact been my spiritual guide since I was 16.  After he left us I suddenly and with no warning started crying.  I felt his blessing in a very real way.

Next up was a picnic next to the river, where we were joined by a mob of hungry and ever hopeful moa.  We donned our mud boots and walked across the river and walked a few miles of the powerline trail. Closer to the river we heard some amazing bird song, but the trail was oddly sterile of any kind of fauna (although we did see "pig signs" here and there) but offered amazing panoramic views of the mountains wreathed in clouds.

We ended the tour with a short stop by the 'opaeka'a falls, still along the Wailua river, for some photos and a stop by one of the many heiau along the way so Tom could play some flute there.

Photos of the day are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawkperson/sets/72157625648508085/