Our Last Day Here... But Excited To Go Home Too!...

Earlier in the day, we took the shuttle into Lanai City to find a church and then check out the sister hotel on the island.  Found a quaint church, predominately  Kosraens.  Check:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosrae   The island in Micronesia is also know as the Sleeping Lady Island.  Anyway, the interim Pastor is from Edmonds... Nice, retired type guy... Had the cutest Kids Message (which is titled, "For the Young at Heart") using puppets and he was indeed a ventriloquist, and a pretty good one at that!
We walked a mile up to the sister resort... definitely liked ours better... It seemed more 'stuffy' and 'heavy' if that makes any sense.  Ventured back into town and had lunch at the Blue Ginger again.  The place was filled.  And so many folks all know each other... Like "The Cheers" song... "Where everybody knows your name".... except it's not a bar... it's the whole city!
If you want to learn a a bit of the inner workings on Lanai... check out Oracale Founder:  Larry Ellison, technology billionaire, very interesting.... he owns 96% of the island..

See this lovely pool... last night we spent about 30 minutes in it and the hot tub looking at the stars... we tried our best not to ripple the water... but... alas were not successful.  The only damper on the evening was thinking about the terrible storm all our Pacific Northwestern's were going through that evening...
 

Such peaceful and aromatic grounds here where we are staying... no hustle/bustle allowed it seemed like
 

 

 

One last shot... Lanai City....
 

 

Special music from some Kosrean's... was beautiful, though we don't know the language.
 

She sang so sweetly.... and really played a mean ukalalee!
 

 

The fields and fencing... picture worthy!
 

This is the oldest church on Lanai... they only speak Hawaiian during the service.... hence, we skipped those services... It is located on the Sister Resort property....A historic registry place...
 

And so we bid adieu!  It has been wonderful... started out shaky, with Jilli's surgery, me bonking my head and ankle, but it ended so nicely!  Wednesday... we take off for Halley's... she had some major orthopedic stuff going on... time for Jer and I to get involved going to Ortho doc etc... Bet they won't have these lovely waves crashing on the shore in the morning as they do here...!

Adventured Out the Opposite Way... One Mile...75 Minutes... HOT and Rocky!

We decided to take off in the other direction and head toward the blow hole we see from our room.  As usual, things are WAYYYYYY further away than they appear.  Someday I will learn that.  Lathered up in Sunscreen and off we went.
This is looking up at our room... We spend alot of time on the Balcony... breakfast, reading, and loving the waves as they craxh on the beach below. When we started off on this explore, there was a nice, groomed path... we figured... this is gonna be sweet and easy..... NOT!

Still a nice little path, running along the cliff...

Okay... the path is gone, there are many gulches to traverse.... up then down to the shore, then up again, and so it went... Was mostly the lava rock you see here....

 Looking back at where we hiked yesterday in the far distance...

Back down to the shore... and the blow hole disappeared, telling us, it must be around another bend...(and truthfully, it told us that a few times, but I won't include all those pictures!

Found this arrow... laying on it's side, not really sure it was suggesting one should go

Down in another gulch, walking under the sparse shrub trees... how they take hold in that rock is something else!

Yup... sounding like a broken record... Up again!

And, voila, there it is....

The waves are that clear blue.... so gorgeous...

Took a right up the hill/cliff cuz we were ready to be getting back home.... we knew that above us about 20 minutes away was the golf club... A herd of deer were in front of us... they were as surprised by us as we were by them... probably about 10 of them... did find out right now is hunting season on Lanai... and they hunt.... DEER!  These guys were in a good spot at there is development nearby and no hunting was allowed here.

I'm a city slicker and was taken with the deer tracks.... how cool!

Again, after going up, up, up on the hot, hot, hot hillside... down we go... but at least this was shaded!

 We hitched a ride back to the resort... and saw that pool and couldn't wait to get in and cool down.  The only reason I took this photo though, was cuz of the purple plants in the foreground...  They were something to see... so pretty!

Hiking Around our Digs... ending with the Milky Way!

From our room, the rocks in the distance... that's where we were going to!  Little did we know, on the other side of the cliff, was an even higher and more view gobsmacking going on!

As we walked, looking up at the resort... the rocks in front are actually ancient Hawaiian Ruins...We weren't allow to walk on them, etc...

Looking down as the waves crash in... Dang... I took so many waves crashing on rocks pics... That's the thing with digital... you just keep on clicking, clicking, clicking....
 

 

 

 

 

Keeping myself busy, cuz, he go a call from a client....
 

Nice office, wouldn't you say?

 Little did we realize, but, that outcrop is where we were going to be eventually....

 

Gotta have both of us in the pic...afterall, this is the Lover's Beach... well, over to the left, which isn't really in the pic.... oh well....

After going around the bend, heading up the slope... 

 

Looking back to where we had been and taken those pictures with the rocks in the background!
 

Oh yeah... located a geocache with our handy GPS!
 

Rough water and the hike down... nope not gonna happen... It was a loooonnnggg way down!
 

Stopped off at the pool on ou way back to the room.... 4 hours later we made it to our room... It is vacation, right?

Showered, refreshed, Jerry catching up on work, me, checking email... bad thing to do... The Health Care Stuff... Our premiums are going way up.... bad to read on vacation... so I closed it up... and at 6:30, off we went to dinner and pushed all that other 'real world stuff' out of our heads... A great meal... with a great view...Thank you Lord for we are blessed!  As we walked back to our room, a little after 8, we did some star gazing... sooooo easy here since there is not much ambient lighting.... The first thing that blew me away.... THE MILKY WAY.... in all her glory!  Yup... The Lord's handiwork for sure!

One last outing in the Jeep… Shipwrecked Beach!

Lunch again in Lanai City… thought I’d include a couple pics of the city… there are two main drags that have the majority of the shops/restaurants on them.  In town, there was some rain drizzling, but when we left for our explore to locate Shipwreck Beach, there was sun warming us all the way and no moisture! The most famous resident at Shipwreck Beach is the World War II Liberty Ship, whose rusted hulk still clings to a reef near the shore. Read that this was not the result of an accident. After World War II, this vessel was given “residence” as an economical means of disposal. Made of concrete, the ship was one of 22 ferrous-concrete oilers.  None of these vessels were given name.  However, other ships, including one carrying gold, shipwrecked in the 1800’s.  You can’t really swim in this area… the currents are tremendously strong.  We noticed, it must be a party spot for the locals.  Lots of little remnants of that sorta activity.  The road today was sandy… and seemed even bumpier, if there is such a word. 

This is the ONLY gas station on the island... $5.59 a gallon... ugh! 

 

Lunch today at the 565.... All the building in town have been painted in bright, lively colors!
 

 

 

Jerry popped in the Blue Ginger again to grab a couple Chocolate Chip Cookies...
 

 

Skies cleared up... and off the road we go!
 

Love the little beaches... but, they certainly weren't swimming beaches!
 

Found the beach... but where is the shipwreck?
 

We kept walking along... no boat... kept saying, we'll stop after the next bend... when finally... IT APPEARED!
 

 

 

 

notice the angle of the road... yup.. that's what we had to drive on... the right side was soft sand...