Posts Tagged ‘Hana’

« Older Entries

Feb. 09 Trip – Revisited

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

West Maui SunsetTwo years ago today, we were making our way back to Maui for what turned out to be such a memorable two weeks. While we’re in the very early stages of planning a return to the Valley Isle for this August, I thought it’d be fun (if not somewhat depressing) to take a look back at all the memories we made that trip.

It was our most recent two-week trip to Maui, which seemed to be the right amount of time to visit (other than staying for months, of course). Although we returned in September for the Maui Photo Festival that year – and had a blast at that – our two-week trips are truly special.

Trip Journal

The best way to revisit what we did 2 years ago is to start with the Feb. ’09 Trip Journal. It was certainly a challenge to break out the laptop and blog our adventures each night/morning when I’d rather be outside taking photos. But at times like this, being able to relieve those moments as they were recounted at the time is such a treasure.

Top 5 Highlights

It’s hard to just single out individual parts of our trips as being better than others, but here it goes. The Top 5 Highlights of our February ’09 trip, in no particular order:

Sunrise Fans

1. First Haleakala Sunrise – yes, it took 4 years, but it was still a great experience.

 

Calf Breach

2. Whale Watching – this was our first winter trip, and although we saw whales on our April trip in ’08, this time was amazing.

 

Vacation Portrait
Photo Credit: Natalie Brown

3. Vacation Portraits with Natalie Brown – having vacation portraits itself was a wonderful idea. Meeting photographer Natalie Brown and working with one of the best portrait photographers on the island was just the Macadamia Nuts on the Hula Pie.

 

Cottage 17

4. A Night in Heavenly Hana – our first overnight stay in Hana. Oooh, what I wouldn’t give for an entire week there.

 

Maui Tweetup

5. Maui Tweetups – our first two #MauiTweetup get togethers, finally meeting our online friends in real life.

 

So there you have it. Take a look through the trip journal posts, browse some of the photos, and come with us to that special Maui place in our hearts.

And if you get inspired to share your own Maui memories or want to check out more photos from a particular spot on the island, head on over to Maui by Photo and Talk Story with us.

Mahalo,
– Kris

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Random | 3 Comments »

Sunday Photo: The Road

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

The Road

Taken by Kris Nelson on February 23rd
Location: Along the road to Hana on East Maui

No real question about which road I’m referring to here. Although it doesn’t show the dramatic turns that those familiar with the road to Hana think of, I still think it’s a fun pic. Plus, it was a spur of the moment type shot where I pulled over and ran out in the middle of the street (maybe not the smartest idea).  I still remember Cindy shaking her head at me when I got back into the car.  I think her exact words were, “you’re nuts.”

The driving fan in me loves these types of drives, like the one up to Haleakala (although not the way back down) and the about half of the Kahekili Hwy drive around West Maui we started last trip. We’ll finish that someday.

There’s one place that we visit closer to home, up in Door County, WI, that reminds me of some of the stretches of road near Hana.  Whatca think (besides the snow)?

Northport 005

One Week Left
This time next week we’ll be on our 3-flight journey back to Maui, for a week of fun and the Maui Photo Festival at the Hyatt in Ka’anapali. It will be our 5th trip to the island, so I was thinking of doing a mini-series here at the blog this week, highlighting memories of our previous four visits to paradise. Be sure to look for those posts each day this week.

Also, in preparation for the festival, I grabbed some new camera gear and have been doing a few other things to get things ready. You can check out more details at my photography blog, as well as scope out more photos. Right now, I really should be out practicing with my new toys, so I’ll end this post with that.

Mahalo,
– Kris

Related Links

Tags: , ,
Posted in Sunday Photos | No Comments »

Sunday Photo: Bridge at Oheo Gulch

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Bridge at Oheo Gulch

Taken by Kris Nelson on February 24th, 2009
Location: Oheo Gulch at Haleakala National State Park

Lots of good stuff this week, but let’s start with the photo. The shot above one of the photos I got soaked for when visiting the Oheo Gulch earlier this year. Regardless of the fact that my cell phone never recovered and we had to take a pass on our hike to Waimoku Falls along the Pipiwai Trails, I’m still pretty happy with the way it came out. :)

I know I’ve already said this quite a few times now, but spending the night in Hana and being able to make it out to the park before the majority of the crowds was a great idea. Highly recommended if you’re able to fit it into your vacation schedule.

Two Weeks to Takeoff

Now, onto the countdown to our next Maui trip. We leave in just two weeks, and just because we finally wrapped up all the travel arrangements, it doesn’t mean it’s just smooth sailing from here on out.

I posted some of our initial Trip 5 ideas already, and now it’s time to start making those reservations. There’s also a few omissions that I left out. First of all, Cindy wants to go parasailing. Yup, something she hasn’t been able to try the last few trips because of whale season. Me, I plan on tagging along just to snap some neat photos, but don’t have any desire to take the plunge.

I also mentioned last week that we wanted to make it out to Baldwin Beach near Paia, which we passed up on on our way back from Hana in February. Well, we hope to make it more than just a trip to the beach, and thanks to a post from Liza at A Maui Blog, I’m inspired to plan a longer visit to Paia that day. Read her post on why she loves Paia town to see some of the things we’re going to look into.

Shooting on top of the world

Gearing Up

Not forgetting the primary reason for this trip is to attend the Maui Photo Festival, I still have quite a few things to do in order to prepare for all the learning and shooting I’m going to be doing. I started this list over at my photography blog, and so far the only item I can cross off is the new gear I ordered from Adorama. It should be arriving this week, just in time to test it out for a bit before we leave.

As for the other items on that list, I hope to cross more of them off today, or early this week. As you can tell, there isn’t much time left. But, as seriously as I want to start taking my photography, I really do need to make more time for it on top of everything else I do on a weekly basis.

Sunday Photo #75

Lastly, it seems like only yesterday I was talking about my first Maui photo as the 50th edition in my Sunday Photo Series. Well, as fast as this summer has zipped by, I’m already up to #75 with today’s post. I like the feeling that I’ve been able to share all my favorite photos with all of you over these past two years, and am excited that I still have so many to post and more future trips to Maui that will allow me to continue sharing the Aloha for years to come.

Here’s to another 75!

Mahalo and Aloha,
- Kris

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Sunday Photos, Trip 5 Plans | 2 Comments »

Sunday Photo: Oheo Gulch

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Oheo Gulch

Taken by Kris Nelson on February 24th, 2009
Location: Lower pools at the Oheo Gulch, Haleakala National Park

Time for a quick Sunday Photo now that I’m running WordPress instead of Blogger. The Sunday Photo series was one of the categories that had close to 75 posts in it and was way too cumbersome to publish the old way.

Back to the photo, this shot is from the rocks in the lower set of pools at the Oheo Gulch in Haleakala National State Park passed Hana. Since we spent the night in Hana the day before, the park was one of our first stops that morning, and we were paid dividends with the early visit and the lack of the usual crowds at this road to Hana hot spot.

Three Weeks
We’re on course to be back on Maui three weeks from now, and are hoping to finally book our airfare any days now. It’s a short trip compared to our usual 2 week adventures, but that’s okay. This quick stay is centered around me attending the first annual Maui Photo Festival and Workshops. More details of what else we have planned once we get the travel arrangements finalized.

More Photos
Wanna see more photos like this one? Check out the Oheo Gulch post over at my newest Maui site, Maui by Photo. While you’re there, be sure to leave a note about your favorite stories at the sacred pools.

Mahalo, and have a good week,
– Kris

Related Posts here at Ka’anapali Dreamin’

Tags: , ,
Posted in Sunday Photos | No Comments »

The Road to Hana in 45 Seconds

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Okay, short story. I’m browsing through photos late last night (somewhat half asleep) and I accidently hold one of the arrow keys down during full screen mode. The result was 5-10 photos a second whizzing across my screen, which gave me the idea to create the following.

It’s sort of a silly compilation, and probably needs an epilepsy disclaimer, but I thought it was neat.

Shown here are 450 photos I took along the road to Hana this past February. None of this photos were edited other than removing all the portrait-composed shots (except for one I missed), so it’s not intended to be some lavish production. And of course, 45 seconds isn’t nearly enough to replace the experience of enjoy 2 days driving up and down the road to Hana in person, but that’s a no brainer. :)

Not Complete
If you’re an avid Hana fan like myself, you’ll probably notice there a ton of cool places missing. That’s because I only used photos from our last trip, which was our 3rd visit to Hana. As I mentioned during our vacation posts earlier in the year, we skipped many of the places we had seen before on previous vacations, so that’s why there are no photos of things like the Black Sand Beach or Ke’anae Peninsula.

Here’s the list of things you can spot if you’re quick enough.

Talk Story
Let me know what you guys think. I may play around and extend it out 90 seconds and slow down the photo rate, or maybe even go back and include photos from Hana visits passed. Keep in mind this was just a spur of the moment time of thing and not something I slaved over, so forgive some of the jerky frames, crooked horizons, etc.

Enjoy.
- Kris

Related Posts

Tags:
Posted in Aloha Friday, Videos | 6 Comments »

« Older Entries