Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Walking from Shipwreck Beach


Today we took a hike beginning at Shipwreck Beach around a mile from the apartment we're renting. We walked until we were in sight of Mahaulepu Beach where we visited on Sunday. The trail goes along the cliffs above the ocean, so it's quite spectacular. 

Vegetation on the cliffs is sometimes low succulents or brush and sometimes pines. Just inland is a huge golf course -- for one stretch, the cliff-side path crumbled into the ocean so the trail is on the golf course. Signs warn that some of the low brush is nesting grounds for wedge-tailed shearwaters, and that some of the rock structures are ancient Hawaiian sacred sites. So it's a fascinating walk.

This flock of Ne Ne (Hawaiian native ducks) was grazing among the vegetation covering the cliffs,
which I think is called Ohelo kai, and on the Big Island is sacred to the volcano goddess Pele.

1 comment:

Kitchen Riffs said...

So pretty! I've never been to Hawaii -- would love to go sometime. This is exactly the sort of walk that I like to take!