What do you think of when you think about Hawaii?
Right - Rainbows, a lot of them!
🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈
According to a Hawaiian legend,
Kahalaopuna is known as the Rainbow Maiden,
born of the divine wind and rain of Manoa Valley.
Since ancient times the valley has been regarded
as “the royal palace of rainbows,”
where the beautiful Rainbow Maiden can be seen
playing wherever the light of sun touches the misty rain.
Find out more
Geography of Hawaii
Hawaii sits over 2,000 miles west of California. Hawaii is the world’s
largest island chain, and it’s the only U.S. state completely made up of
islands. But only 7 of its 132 islands are inhabited: Hawaii (also known
as the Big Island), Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau. The
Hawaiian Islands are volcanic islands. They have formed as the Earth’s
crust, made up of giant rocky slabs called tectonic plates, moves over a
particularly hot spot in the molten layer beneath the crust. The heat
melts the rock that makes up the crust, turning it into magma. Then once
the magma breaks through to the surface of the Earth’s crust it cools and
forms new land. The Earth’s crust is always moving just a little bit, but
the hot spot that produces magma isn’t. So over time as the crust moved,
but the hot spot remained—creating a series of volcanic islands. Hawaii’s
most active volcano is Kilauea, and you can see it at Hawai'i Volcanoes
National Park on the Big Island. Kilauea has been erupting for over
30 years, and each year, its lava expands Hawaii by over 40 acres.
Hawaii is known for its beautiful beaches—some of them with unusual
colors. Many beaches are filled with white sand, but other Hawaiian shores
are covered with green, red, pink, and even black sand. Whether you like
hiking, biking, kayaking, sailing, swimming, or just sitting on the beach,
Hawaii is the state for you. Near the water, you can relax as palm trees
blow in the island breeze. Travel toward to the center of one of the big
islands and you can hike through dense tropical rain forests and
experience stunning waterfalls. Don’t forget to dive in the waters and
snorkel near Hawaii’s coral reefs. On Hawaii you can experience yet
another environment: the volcano Mauna Loa’s dry lava is so much like
parts of the moon’s surface that astronauts once walked on it to practice
for lunar voyages. Mount Waialeale on Kauai is considered on of the
rainiest spots on Earth, getting 384 inches of rain a year on average.
