Northern Lights

On the evening of October 8th we had clear, starry skies which made it a great night for viewing the northern lights.  We have had glimpses of them before in southwestern Ontario but to see them up close dancing across the sky was truly amazing. 

This was taken right beside our house.

 I was lucky enough to even capture a shooting star along with the northern lights in this picture.  It is not overly bright, but you can see it on the right hand side of the picture.

The Skeena River

Autumn when all the leaves have turned every shade of yellow, is great time for a drive along the Skeena River. 

Rainy Season

The arrival of autumn also mean the arrival of the rainy season here in the pacific northwest.  Rainy season here often involves day after day of rain for 3-4-5 days in a row before we get a brief break and the cycle starts all over again.  The other day we had one of those brief sunny periods between rains, and what a beautiful rainbow it produced.

After the Rain...

After the rain Saturday morning the clouds began to part to make way for the sunshine and warm temperatures we had for the next several days.  Blue skies and snow capped mountains are always a beautiful sight, but I must admit I enjoy watching the low clouds move past the mountains.  Each time you look the view is different. 

Here are a few of the pictures that we taken over several minutes as the clouds were moving out the other day.

Northern Lights

I was very blessed to see the wonderful light show put on last night from the recent solar storm.  This was a real treat for us because even though we live quite far north, our little town is surrounded by mountains which tend to limit our view.  More often than not there seems to be plenty of cloud cover which also blocks view of the stars and beautiful night skies.  Not last night though, there was not a cloud in the sky and the show was amazing watch.

La Perouse Bay

This is a far south as you can drive on Maui.  There is a foot trail that you can take even further south so several beaches, but we did not give it a go, so I cannot tell you what the trail was like.  Even just to get this far south you drive through fields of lava rock.

Looking to the north.

Now looking south

In this picture looking south you can see a few sandy beaches that can be reached by walking trails.

Oh could the colour of the water be any more inviting?

A closer view of all the lava rock.

A few pictures looking at the island and lava fields.

Iao Valley

In central Maui is the lush beautiful Iao valley.

Iao Needle, which is a prominent point sticking up from the valley.

Another view of Iao needle

Looking through the valley over  central Maui

The stream in the valley

A small waterfall in the Iao valley.