Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008

It was another day of cloudy skies and intermittent rain, but temperatures were still in the mid-70s. When the sky started to lighten and almost look like the sun was going to come out, I decided to get going and do something. So I hopped in the car and headed to the North Shore with no specific goal in mind--just hoping something would turn up to catch my attention.


When I was slowly passing Turtle Beach I saw a lot of people standing around on the beach, so I figured they were looking at something interesting. I parked, walked across the street and onto the beach. I still didn't see what they were looking at. There were some kids snorkeling, so I thought maybe there were some turtles swimming around in the surf.


I practically walked right into this guy before I realized that it was a turtle that everyone was looking at.






I came upon this sign and was reading it, when I looked up to see where the turtles were. Still didn't see them, until I realized that the red rope was laid out on the sand to keep the people at least 5 feet away from the basking guy.

It still took me a couple of seconds to realize where he was. You can see how much he looks like the rocks if you just glance quickly.

And when you're not looking at the red rope, it's even trickier to seperate the turtle from the rocks. I guess they come up on the beach in order to warm themselves. It didn't seem like there was much chance of him getting warm on that rainy, cloudy beach, but maybe the sand and the air were warmer than the water.

It began to rain while I was on the beach, so I packed up my camera and got in the car. I was going to return home the way I had come, but I decided to go around the island and drive down the windward side. Well, it rained in various degrees the entire way, but it was so beautiful. The road runs right along the ocean on one side, (and by that I mean that you park your car, walk ten feet, and you're on the beach) with green, lush mountains on the other side--not quite as close as the ocean, but very close, nonetheless.

I'll have to make my way back to Turtle Beach a few more times to see if I can be there for another turtle presentation.

turtle=honu

rain=ua

rainbow-hued rain=uakoko (ua ko ko)