Kahuna and Akaka Falls

One of the places we love to visit on the Big Island is the Kahuna Falls and Akaka Falls Tropical Gardens and waterfalls overlook near the city of Hilo. The gardens consist of a three and three quarter mile road through former sugar land, lush with bamboo-filled woods and vegetation and featuring not one but two incredible waterfalls, Kakuna Falls and Akaka Falls, both plunging approximately four hundred feet.  The circular loop to the Falls takes about twenty minutes as you ample over streams through a tropical rainforest on your way to the Falls. The only change I've noticed in the past twenty years in visiting these falls is that now there is a five dollar per person entry fee when formerly Hawaii prided itself on never having to charge anyone for viewing its natural resources. It's certainly well worth the price of admission but sad none the less.

Kakuna Falls

Akaka Falls

Favorite Buns for The Weekend: April 29, 2012

Volcano Park and the Black Sand Beach

If you visit the Big Island of Hawaii, you must spend at least a day in Volcano Park  viewing the sights in and around the Kilauea Caldera.  The day we arrived, there were dangerous level of sulphuric acid in the park so our movement was somewhat limited. We were allowed to view the Halema'uma'u Crater which is producing a lot of steam activity but we were not permitted to walk to the lava flow.

As we return home to the Waikoloa area, we always stop at one of our favorite beaches, Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. The sand on the beach consists of black volcanic sand

Rainbow Falls and Boiling Pots

Smack dab in the middle of Hilo, right off a main road is Rainbow Falls.  There’s a trail to the left of Rainbow Falls that leads you through banyan trees up to the top of the waterfall.  Legend has it that King Kamehameha buried the bones of his father in the cave below the falls.

A mile farther up this same road is Boiling Pots, a series of bowl-shaped depressions that roil and boil when the water flow is heavy, creating dramatic photo opportunities. For some reason, tourists don’t visit this spot as regularly as Rainbow Falls. The day we arrived here, we had the entire Boiling Pots to ourselves. This waterfall and deep pool became an idyllic place for us to sit in solitude and ponder.

UK Marriage Equality Ad

This video was produced by Mike Buonaiuto for the Marriage Equality campaign in the UK. It's brilliant in that it tugs at your heartstrings while makings the connection between defending one's country and being able to partake in all the liberties and priviledges available by birth right to everyone. I've always believed that repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the US would ultimately lead to the repeal of DOMA and the acceptance of same-sex marriage in the US. We don't allow our men and women to go off to war to defend this country and then deny them the right to marry simply because they are attracted to members of the same sex. We're better than that as a country. Are we ready to broadcast an ad such as this on network television in the US?

King Kamehameha's Floating Statue

The Kapa'au Kamehameha Statue

I love this story. On the side of the highway in Kapa'au which is on the Big Island of Hawaii's North Shore, there sits the statue of  the most beloved and influential king in Hawaiian history who conquered and united all the islands that make up Hawaii. It looks identical to the statue of King Kamehameha which resides in front of the Judiciary building in Honolulu. The Hawaii Legislature apparently commissioned the statue in 1878 and had it cast in Paris. It was to be shipped to Hawaii but it seems the ship it sailed on was lost at sea along with all its cargo near the Falkland Islands. Because the shipment had been insured, a new statue was ordered and shipped to Honolulu. Meanwhile, the captain of the wrecked ship spotted the lost Kamehameha statue standing in Port Stanley, after someone had "salvaged" it. The only damage to this statue was a broken arm, so this statue was crated and shipped to Hawaii as well, where it was repaired and erected on the side of the highway in Kapa'au where it still stands today and is decorated each year with leis on June 11th, King Kamehameha Day. I guess if Michelangelo could have two David statues in Florence, Hawaii could do with two Kamehamehas. There are public restrooms in the building behind the statue.   

The Honolulu Kamehameha Statue

Favorite Ass Of The Day : Channing Tatum

The race is on to replace Jake Gyllenhaal as Favorite Gay Icon and Channing Tatum appears to be tying Michael Fassbender for first place. Fans are anxiously awaiting Channing's turn in Magic Mike, the semi-autobiographical film about Channing's life as a male stripper. In the meanime, Channing bared his gorgeous ass in the girlie film The Vow which has been generously capped below from BluRay so that you won't have to sit through this ghastly film.

Here is an early film of Channing taking it off during his early days as a male stripper.

Here's his recent spoof from SNL.

Hapuna Beach at Kohala on the Big Island

Our first day on the Big Island of Hawaii brings us to Kohala, often called the Gold Coast because it is the sunny side of the island. Hapuna Beach is probably the very best beach on the island and for years was voted by Conde Nast as the best beach in the world. That's a bit of hyperbole but the beach is a beauty. When I first visited the beach in the early 90s, I was extremely impressed by the vast size of the beach, its soft white sand and its clear blue waters.

Today, the beach seems a tad smaller mainly because the Prince hotel chain build a large hotel on the far side of the beach in the mid90s and this once relatively uncrowded beach is now filled with cabana chairs and tourists, at least at the access near the hotel. They'll be no taking off the bathing suit here. Not even I am that brave!

Maybe next time!

Here's a video I shot of the shoreline. Enjoy the view.