whales, sunsets and turtles

On our first day in Maui, we were driving along the coast, when I hollered for hubby to pull over immediately, as I could swear that I had just seen a whale jump out of the water, very close to the shore. Winslow found a look out (where there seemed to be many people) and we looked out at the sea to see whale blows (from their blowholes), and even a few breeches.  I couldn't believe it. To see this many whales at once, maybe there were 6 or more, it was so powerful. 
Without getting too hokey on anyone, I just want to say that since I was a little girl, whales have always been my favourite animal. In more recent years, I have had very vivid dreams that include whales (humpbacks), and I have done a little bit of looking into "spirit animals", and I truly believe that humpback whales are my spirit animal. So you can maybe understand why I was so moved to see so many of these incredible creatures, wild and free, playing in the ocean. 
We decide to do a whale watching excursion, where we saw lots of whales, but I have to say,it was almost more special to see them from afar, where they were not being interfered with, where we could see them perfectly happy. Throughout our time on the island, we saw many whales, just simply from watching from shore.
Another sight that impressed me so much was when we would take in a sunset. Sunset watching on the island is an event that many people take part in. In Hawaii people stop what they doing to watch a sunset. They take the time to appreciate the beauty and the gift that is a sunset. Could there be anything more slow and simple, than watching the sun set? In true vacation mode, we made an effort to be outside for as many sunsets as we could. It really is true, no two sunsets are the same. Each one was a gift of colour, clouds and time slowing down for us. And is if we hadn't been treated to enough beautiful wildlife, upon our last night in Hawaii, while trying to catch one final sunset at a surfer's beach (Paia), we noticed that there were many people down on the beach congregated in one area. Winslow looked to see that they were all checking out a big sea turtle, and we quickly made our way down to the beach. There right on  the beach were 4 or 5 large sea turtles, all resting for the night together. We stayed and watched as more and more turtles made their way onto the beach. With each crashing wave, another turtle came in. It was amazing. What a treat Maui was for all these beautiful things. I'm still holding on to these images in my mind and heart, filing them there for when I need a pick me up.
xox