Having landed back in Hawaii after over a year in Haiti, my first need was to get out of the city and into the country. I didn’t have a camera so I apologize for the lack of general photos, but as soon as I got my new iPhone I started taking panoramas using Microsoft Photosynth, which one of those amazing apps that uses the full power of an iPhone to work some real magic. Take a picture with it once and start sweeping your phone around, and Photosynth will take pictures and stitch them together automatically.
My good friend Jeannie met me at the airport and took me on a tour of the island that included some really fantastic views. If you can find a way to put these back into a Photosynth viewer they look even more fantastic than all at once, but these still look pretty amazing.
Sunset view near Kihei
Dan's yard in Haiku. If you look closely you can see the fridge on the porch entirely dedicated to the brewing of beer. Also, one of the trees (the largest one in the back) is a green sapote - a fruit that when ripe has the taste and texture of delicious pumpkin pie. It's amazing.
The adorable little town of Paia. It's a little bit touristy, but it's every modern flowerchild's dreamland. Which is fitting as that's what it's almost entirely populated by. Seriously, everyone in this town looks like a Lululemon model.
The view at dawn from the peak at Haleakala.
A few minutes later from a different vantage point, I think this picture captures the view even better. There's something wonderful about seing the sunrise from above the clouds. Amazing.
The beginning of the Iao Valley State Park. Wonderful lush gardens; hadn't figured out to lock the exposure to get better panoramas.
More from inside the Iao Valley State Park.
Once you get out of the clear valley you find yourself surrounded by green - guavas and ti trees mostly.
Once the trip was done I found myself here. In a cubicle. What happened?