Rainbows and Waterfalls

I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve celebration...whether you stayed in or went out...I hope you shared this time with friends, family and people you love.  I thought I would kick off the new year with a post about 2 things that can make us smile and really appreciate mother nature.

Ryan and I have been enjoying being tourists, out and about on the island.  Since many of you told me you enjoy reading my posts about island life and our adventures here, you should really enjoy my next few posts of our staycation.  Sadly we had rain over the past week and it made it hard to want to leave th house and try to sightsee.  This past Monday we did venture out because the sun came to visit, although the rain was still there.  So, what do you get when you cross the sunshine and the rain...lots of rainbows.  I have some great pics to share of those, as well as some awesome waterfalls and rushing rivers.  With all the rain they were certainly flowing.  Since we were just driving around, I also have some general island pics of the landscape.  Like this one...

The island coastline is mostly rocky cliffs, with limited entry ways to the ocean...in other words, be careful at the edge, you may fall off.  So with that said this pic may look like the ocean is just a little past where we are...and it is, but what you don;t see is that is a giant cliff wall that drops right into the ocean.

The islands consists of many fields, which are in square units, organized and kept in by rock walls.  It is crazy to see from up high.

I had to have Ryan slow down so I could get a picture of this cute guy.

This was the front door of a very old building on the side of the road, likely part of farmining practices or where farmers lived back in the day.  Not sure how old this building is, but I know it has some history behind it.

Here is where we first started to see some rapid river action.  There has been a lot of rain, so I am unsure how much water usually flows here, but it is moving quite nicely now.  This was taken in a town known as Cinco Ribeiras...or something like this, 5 rivers...there is also doze ribeiras and cuatro ribeiras on the island too...I think, these towns can get confusing.

When we reached a dead end street following this river, I noticed this old church.  I found it odd because there was little else around and we were approaching the edge of the island.  The next few pics I zoom in, and this might indicate why this is located with not much around...

Might be hard to see, but this church was built in 1672.  That's right, 1672.  This is so far the oldest thing I have spotted on the island.  Churches, spirit houses, and village fountains are all dated.  Being this old may explain why it is standing almost alone and so close to the coastline.

I spotted this and had to blink a few time.  It looks as though a large chunk of the hillside fell out and now trees are left dangling.  It almost looks like a painting.  I am shocked that it seems the tree roots are just hanging there.

We kept following ricers to see where they would go...and there were so many beautiful waterfalls that we captured.

While we were our snaping photos, the rain rolled in, so we headed back home taking a road that cuts throught the center of the island.  Since the rain was on again off again, we got some awesome rainbow pics.

Then we spotted this guys.  I think they were all on their own with no farmer following.

Holy goats!  Lots of em'!

I also had to throw this pic in that we snapped as we were looking at a place known as Quinto do Martelo (a guest house with what I hear is an amazing dining experience).  They weren't open due to the holidays, but we will go back now that we know where it is located.  Ah, but we spotted this and had to snap a pic since we are really unsure of what it is.  Looks like corn drying, but otherwise, not too sure.

So that was it for our adventures out for that day.  I just wanted to leave you all with happy thoughts brought on by this amazing rainbow.  Wishing you a great 2010!

QUESTION: When was the last time you saw a rainbow?  A waterfall?  What is your fave nature scene?