Kauai Part 2

Day 6--Kayak Wailua River & Hike Secret Falls
Our college friends who live on the island gave me a list of must-do activities on Kauai many years ago when my parents went and I tried to stick to it.  Wailua River was on that and such a great way to spend the day.  We kept thinking we were lost on the river, which is just about impossible to do, but just got in some extra kayaking practice before making it to the trailhead for Secret Falls.  Do you think the trail can get dangerous at some spots?

It wasn't all that muddy and we found our way just fine, after thinking we were lost again at the starting point.  In our defense, one tree and "path" looks just like the rest in a jungle-type setting.

 

We made it to Secret Falls, okay it's not so secret but you do have to hike about a mile to it, and even though I have an aversion to cold water, I got in as it wasn't that bad.

We made it safely back to our kayak and back to the starting point, getting showered on for a few refreshing minutes.  Just up the road is Opeaka'a Falls and overlooks for Wailua River.

 Look, we kayaked that and it was beautiful!

 We watched the sunset again (how could you not?) and I played with the camera settings a little bit.

Day 6--Grand Hyatt Gardens & Dinner at Beach House
I had to work an hour or so in the morning but one highlight was getting this view while working.

If you head east from our condo there is a little footpath that leads to the Grand Hyatt hotel, and grand it is!  The gardens are beautiful and take an army to maintain and they have multiple scenic pools and a faux beach area I saw kids kayaking in.  I don't know if I could afford the rooms but it was nice to stroll through the garden area and pretend to belong.

 The Grand Hyatt looks out on Shipwreck Bay which is aptly named as the surf is rough and not many venture in the water.

We went to Poipu Beach again in the afternoon and saw a sea turtle come up on the beach.

After getting cleaned up from one beach, we went to another for dinner and saw this monk seal just chillin.  I'm pretty sure monk seals are tagged as lifeguards know where they are and place protective markers around them as they are highly endangered.

 We ate dinner at the Beach House Restaurant and went out on the lawn for the obligatory couples photo at sunset.

 The view from our table, no the candles weren't for us but for the table in front of us. Once that couple left I snapped a picture of the unobstructed view.

Day 7--Ziplining

When my parents and two youngest siblings came to Kauai a few years ago (no I am not bitter that my youngest siblings were brought here by my parents) they went ziplining and said it was a blast so I thought we'd give it a go. We went on a 9 zipline course on Kipu Ranch (parts of the credit of MASH and a scene in Jurassic Park filmed there) with a swim at the end and it was great.  My favorite part was going upside down on two of the lines over a jungle canopy.

All geared up and ready to go.

Our last line, an 1,800 foot tandem,  This is one time I really wish we had a Go-Pro to document the thrill.

The swimming hole looks dark but the water was so clear as the bottom is lava rock.  We got to swing down on a t-bar which we both did as well as jump off an 18 ft ledge.  So refreshing and private.

We got some takeout dinner in Koloa recommended by our guide and went to another beach to eat it, see another seal, and enjoy the ocean.

Day 8--Catamaran up Na Pali Coast & Hanapepe

Early on day 8 we headed to Port Allen for our catamaran tour.  We went up the coast a bit and then stopped for snorkeling.  We swam with the fishies and I saw a dolphin (thought it was a shark at first), monk seal, and a turtle--it was great!  We moved up the coast some more and saw dolphins.  The water was so clear and I got some great pictures of them as they were right by our boat.

 We should have gone all Titanic for this pose but I still like it.

 Moving further up the coast we saw the military base (I keep asking Eric if he could get a year post out here for something radar related), Polihale Beach, and then the beautiful Na Pali coast.  Sadly Eric got a little seasick and wasn't able to thoroughly enjoy it but it was pretty amazing.

We sailed back to harbor, reversing our course and eating lots of yummy food and drinking (virgin drinks for us of course).  Once we got our land legs back we headed over to Salt Pond Beach to relax for a little, drove up Waimea Canyon again, and then enjoyed the Art/Food Friday night festival in the small town of Hanapepe.  As we sat eating dinner on the stoop of a closed diner I swear two different people took our picture, it was weird.

We went across the swinging bridge at Hanapepe, almost makes you sick with its sway.

Day 8--Hindu Temple & last time at Poipu Beach

With everything on our must-do list complete, we went for some other tourist things.  The Hindu temple outside of Wailua has beautiful grounds and is a very peaceful place to visit.

 Back at Poipu Beach for one more snorkeling session and beach time. I own this beach!

 Last sunset from our condo.

Day 10--Hike to Makauwahi Cave

Continuing past the Grand Hyatt hotel is the Maha'ulepu trail to Makauwahi Cave and Gillin's beach and is just gorgeous.  I ran it a few times and decided to walk it with Eric on our last day.  My favorite shot of the day was this one of the random chair someone left on the coastline so one could sit in comfort while looking out on the ocean.

A view of the coastline with the golf course just to the left.

 

Makauwahi Cave, or at least the sinkhole area.  We had a little "tour" inside.

Entrance to the cave.  What, does a hobbit live in there?

A land tortoise we saw on the preserve by the cave.

Gillin's Beach all to ourselves for a few minutes.

And finally, our sad faces since we had to leave beautiful Kauai.

After our little hike/walk we sat by the pool for a little bit before packing up and heading to the Edward's house for another wonderful dinner.  Back to the airport we went for an overnight flight (boo for little sleep but it gave us an extra day on the island) and back to reality of work, kids, and regular life.

Kauai, thank you for a wonderful 10 days and hopefully we'll be back again to continue exploring all you have to offer!

Kauai Part 1

As I sit here writing this blog post, it is raining and hailing outside our home and I wish we were back in Kauai. Our 15 year anniversary is this month so we celebrated a few weeks early and visited the garden island of Kauai.  I have a fabulous mom who made it possible and watched our three girls for 10 days while we enjoyed kid-free time in paradise.

A few things about Kauai:

• It truly is a garden island!  We went to Oahu 10 years ago and when we landed at Honolulu it looked just like LA to us.  Kauai is beautiful throughout with some really rainy parts with more vegetation and other drier parts with a desert-like beauty and vistas (but better than Arizona!) and then many gorgeous beaches.
• After 10 days on the island I hope the laid-back feeling of everyone there seeped through me.  The highest speed limit on the island is 55mph with a lot of areas 25mph so you just don't rush or hurry things.
• We went in a shoulder season between spring break time and summer when kids are out of school so it definitely did not feel touristy or over crowded to me.  There weren't vendors on the beach hawking their goods like I've been bombarded with on Mexican beaches.  It was kind of funny running into the same people at the touristy spots or on the beaches--"hey didn't we see that guy on the plane coming over" or "weren't they on the hike we went on?"  At one point we had an entire beach to ourselves and it was so peaceful.
• The island forbids structures over four stories high (maybe 5) so it isn't built up and commercialized like Oahu which I loved.  There were many scenic drives just a minute from the beach and all beaches are accessible to the public.
• The wildlife is amazing and close by.  My favorite snorkeling spot was Poipu Beach right next to our condo and we swam with many different kinds of fish and even a sea turtle.  Sea turtles and monk seals came right up on the beach and people were good about letting them be.  Whale season ended a month or so ago but they would have been cool to see as well.
• The water is WARM!  I don't think I can go to a California beach again as Hawaii water is warm and so clear and inviting.
• There are hens and roosters all over the island!  It was kind of funny to be sitting on the beach trying to relax and then have a rooster walk up to you and crow loudly.  They are somewhat protected by law so we're just supposed to let them be and not try to eat them for dinner.

Have I convinced you to travel to Kauai yet?  Are you ready for some pictures and our travel log?

DAY 1--Travel

I am not the biggest traveler as I don't like long road trips or long airplane rides but when you're not with cranky kids and just with your best friend, long airplane rides are okay.  We had a 4-hour layover at LAX so what did we do?  Got lunch at In-N-Out of course!

DAY 2--Try out the Beach

We rented a condo for our 10-day stay a couple minutes from Poipu Beach on the south shore of the island and this is the view we got for meals or just sitting out and relaxing.

Poipu is known for its great snorkeling and we kept coming back to it to relax whenever we were done with our morning excursions.  Our first morning we got rained on and then again in the afternoon so not the best start weather wise to our stay but the sun came out and stayed for the rest of the trip which was fabulous!

 After getting rained out the afternoon we went on a little drive up to Lihue, ate dinner, and checked out Wailua Falls.  Some people were down at the bottom and I couldn't for the life of me find the trailhead they took to get there, it was probably illegal anyway as most of the area was fenced off with signs saying this is not a trail.

DAY 3--McBryde Gardens

Just up the road from Poipu is Allerton & McBryde Botanical Gardens.  Each tour is separate and we just went to McBryde and got this view of the Allerton plantation from the shuttle bus.  The beach is very hard to get to and even though beaches are public, sometimes the paths to get there are not.

The gardens were beautiful as we strolled around for two hours.

 This is probably the only house we could afford on Kauai but won't last very long, only 3-4 years.

 After the garden tour we went across the street to spouting horn, my camera didn't want to capture the highest spouts but here goes.

We tried out Beach House beach in the afternoon and then went back to watch the sunsets.  There is just something about sitting and watching the progression of the sun on the horizon.

DAY 4: Happy Mother's Day & Ke'e Beach
For Mother's Day I wanted to drive to the end of the road on the north shore.  We hiked up Kalalau trail to the 1/4 and 1/2 mile lookouts and loved the views of Ke'e Beach and the Napali Coast.

This is what the trail looked like, very muddy since a rainstorm had just come through and well, it's the north shore and rains a lot more than the south.

A view up the coastline

 I got kind of sneaky with my phone and with all the beauty of the ocean ahead, Eric looked back at the grandeur of the mountains.  Hey, we're from Colorado now and absolutely love and are always awed by the mountains.

After a relaxing stay at the beach (minus the roosters) we headed back down south and had dinner with some friends from college that have lived on the island for awhile.  Thanks Brady & Karen for feeding us!

DAY 5--Waimea Canyon

The west side of the island isn't very populated and is considered more of a desert but it has the Grand Canyon of Hawaii.  The road ends at the top of Waimea Canyon and even though it's only a few miles as the crow flies to Ke'e Beach, you have to drive all the way around the island to the other end of the road to get there.  In the span of five months we have now visited both Grand Canyons and they are spectacular in their own way.  It was a little overcast and foggy when we went and I still need to learn how to edit pictures.

 Have I mentioned how blue and absolutely clear the water is here?  Love it!

After the canyon we headed back to the Koloa/Poipu area and went to the farmers market there to try some fruits.  Lychee is sweet and yummy as is strawberry papaya.  We went back to Poipu Beach for an afternoon swim and more snorkeling and then had dinner at Keoki's Paradise trying out some swordfish that was actually really yummy.  I don't really take food pictures so none of those.  

Part 2 of our trip to follow.