Vacation Part 2: Kauai

So I know this post is long overdue, but I have to be in the 'blogging mood' as I call it. I can't force it. And there is so much stuff we want to include. So I hope you've blocked off an entire hour to read this. Maybe you should make some tea right now so you have something to drink while you read our short novel.

Our flight to Kauai was a very light-hearted one since they know everyone is going there for vacation.  They serve complimentary Mai-Tai's and had a raffle.  The first afternoon we arrived in a torrential thunderstorm.  We dropped off our luggage but couldn't enter the room until 4 so we went to Costco, and our first meal in Kauai was a slice of Costco pizza because we were starving.  Everyone shops at Costco because food prices on the island are so high due to shipping.  Once we were stocked up for the week, it was back in to the hotel and then, since it was early, out to the beach.

 The hotel room was wonderful.  We and the Lentzs each had our own room with a full kitchen, balcony, and living room in between.  We had lots of space and looked down the middle of the compound to the pools and the beach down below.  The thunderstorms were over by the time our luggage arrived, and so we headed down to the beach and got some water-time in.  

Sunday, our first full day in Hawaii we woke up before 5 am and managed to sneak about another hour of sleep before we couldn't take it anymore. Steph and Steven had awoken early and caught the sunrise so we met in the common area for some breakfast.

We headed out in our swimsuits ready to tackle the beach around 8 am and by noon time we felt like we had been out there all day! First thing of the morning I stubbed my toe on a rock and I swear to you I think I broke it. It swelled up to twice the normal size and was completely black and blue. Fabulous ; ) We did our first snorkeling right on our hotel beach (Poi'pu) which had pretty decent snorkeling. Visibility wasn't fantastic but there were so many kinds of fish out there! I couldn't believe it!! I thought we would have to swim to some special place to see good fish. Nope. They are just right out there. I have never seen anything like that before. All kinds of super colorful fish just swimming right around you - I absoutely loved it. However, I had a lot of trouble relaxing using the snorkel. I was so tense the whole time it was a tiring activity. There was also a Hawaiian monk seal basking in the sun on the beach! A man also died that morning right on the beach in front of us, which was odd and slightly depressing on our first day. I guess a lot of 50-60 year old men like to surf that beach until they're absolutely exhausted and go lie down on their towel, have a heart attack, and everyone just thinks they're asleep! We spent the afternoon down the road a bit snorkeling at another beach and playing card games on the grass. We also saw the "Spouting Horn" blow hole but that wasn't that exciting. I've actually seen something similar in Ensenada. That night we made what became the very standard dinner of grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, broccoli and spinach/strawberry salad. We played games while enjoying margaritas (thank you Costco) and took a moonlit stroll on the beach! The stars are so brilliant out there away from the mainland, it was truly beautiful. 

Monday morning brought good news. Steven found out that he did indeed get the firefighting job in Enumclaw. We celebrated by going to the beach : ) We visited another beach on the south shore, Salt Pond Beach State Park. The was a very nice protected area for snorkeling, but not a whole lot to see in terms of fish. After a little swimming we headed to a more shaded part of the beach to play card games under the palm trees. Then we stopped by the 'local' farmer's market which we're pretty sure is extremely touristy and a money trap. Pineapples and mangoes were $6 a piece! We got green beans (a little too waxy), avocadoes to make gaucemole, and tomatoes. We spent the rest of the afternoon around our hotel. We had seen an area by some rocks on our beach where sea turtles (honu in Hawaiin) liked to swim. So Chad and I headed out with our snorkel masks and our boogie board to see if we could get a closer look. With me using the boogie board and sticking my face in the water and Chad holding my hand, guiding me, we were able to swim about 1-2 feet away from the turtle for about 3-4 minutes. Needless to say, it was one of the highlights of the trip! I'm sure all Chad heard was... "OHO URGH, TURLLLL..." In case you didn't get it - that was my muffled 'Oh my gosh Chad! We're swimming with a sea turtle! I can't believe it. This is the most amazing thing ever' through a snorkel mask underwater. Chad had a really fun time showing me the ropes in Hawaii. Since he's been there a gazillion times and knows how to swim well, snorkel, boogie board, etc it was great having him as a guide. We had another grilled chicken dinner, but this time with tortalini, and broccoli, and spinach salad. We finished off the night with more games (are you noticing a trend here??) and Baileys over rocks in the hot tub. Doesn't really get much better then that! Well actually, as far as drinks go, straight Baileys is a bit heavy. 

 Tuesday was the day we spent exploring the North Shore of Kauai. It took about an hour and half to make it all the way up there even though it's not over 40 miles away. Something like 90% of Kauai is not accessible via road, so there is basically one road around the perimeter of the island (that still only goes around about 80% of the way) and the speed limit is often 25 mph. We first went all the way to the end of the road and found ourselves at Ke'e Beach. First of all the North Shore is a little different looking then the South Shore (where we were staying). It's more jungly, even more green (if that's possible), with jagged cliffs and valleys. So to sum it up - absoutely gorgeous. Ke'e beach was stunning, except for the actual beach - a bit twiggy, and tons of chickens! Ugg. Disgusting! I don't want to be sunning with a rooster nearby! However the beach is boardered by giant green verdant cliffs that rise about 1000 feet into the sky, the edge of the beach is speckeled with palm trees and vines.

It was a bit of a misty day which only added to the allure.  The snorkeling here however was crazy good. There is a large reef right off the shore which protects the whole beach so there are no waves and a substantial home for lots of sea creatures. We saw all the usual amazingly beautiful and goofy fish here. As well as a few eels (their mouths are amazingly like a bird's beak) and a tiny blue spotted octopus! I only saw it for a few seconds because I got so excited that I turned away so I could get Chad's attention (probably at the same time flooding my mask with seawater) and when I looked back he was gone. I'm sure I scared him away. I spent the next 15 mintues scouring the coral for another glimpse but no such luck.  After about an hour of snorkeling we went down the road to another beautiful beach where we pretty much spent the time watching Chad trying to snorkel in the waves. We also spent a large amount of time with our mouths agape staring at the gorgeous mountains covered in mist and fog. It started to rain so we packed it up and headed to Hanalei Bay for lunch. I had scavenged this 'best kept secret of Hawaii' from a magazine at work which led us to Pat's Taqueria for lunch. Pat's is a taco truck that sits right infront of the wharf in Hanalei Bay. The choices are slim, but they are tasty! We savoured every bite of our pork burritos. This was actually the only time we purchased a meal, every other meal (besides dinner on the cruise) we made back in our hotel suite. From there we headed to Annini Beach but it was quite rainy and a bit chilly for swimming (except for Chad who is tough as nails). We only stayed about 15 minutes but the best part was when Chad gave Steven a boost up a coconut tree. You should have seen Steven shimmee up the tree! So halarious! We stole two coconuts to take back to our place. Trying to get them open however was a totally different story. We then drove to the Kilauea Lighthouse which is probably the most picturesque lighthouse I've ever seen - and I currently live in New England! We took a few mintues to snap a few photos before heading back to our hotel. The rest of the night was spent in the usual form: dinner, games, hot tub.

 By Wednesday morning we finally started sleeping in past 6 am, I almost felt like I had wasted some time by sleeping in until 7:00! We spent the morning driving up the Waimea Canyon which took around an hour to reach the very farthest look out point. Unfortunately for us, it was very misty and foggy and the visibility was almost zero. There are several lookouts along the way, so on our way back down, we stopped at several and did get some pretty good lookouts from there. The canyon was a deep red littered with verdent green trees. I have never seen the Grand Canyon, but the Waimea canyon seemed extremely large to me at only 1 mile across. I can't imagine a canyon being 10 miles across! Can you even see the other side?! We arrived back at the hotel around lunch time, pretty tired from being in the car all morning long. We took a short break to have lunch and then we got suited up and slathered ourselves with sunscreen and headed off to Shipwreck Beach!

Shipwreck's beach, so named because of a ship that used to be on the sand, but there's plenty of rocks as well. The world boogie-boarding championships are held there, and even the casual boarders we  saw there all could use a boogie-board like a surf board, and do flips, and other crazy stuff. Chad got owned after two minutes in the waves. It was quite humorous : ) Since boogie boarding was not an option we spent the next hour or so jumping the waves getting pummeled every so often. It was super fun! I think my top only came off once : ) 

Since we have been on the road and away from our hotel for the past two days we dedicated Thursday to be a more relaxing day spent by the pool and at the beach. Steven and Stephanie spent a lot of time playing games in our suite and on the balcony while Chad and I spent the majority of the time on the beach reading, boogie boarding and snorkeling. It was kind of nice to have a day just with Chad. I know Steven and Stephanie really enjoyed their time together too. We spent a lot of time at Brenneckes Beach just one beach down from Poi'pu. It was great boogie boarding for beginners/intermediate types like ourselves. We had some really fun runs and we really enjoyed watching the other person catch a good wave. I think that was some of the best time Chad and I spent together. We really do enjoy being active together and there is just something about watching the other person have a blast that really makes good memories. The only bummer about this day was that some how (despite numerous applications of sunscreen) we got pretty burnt! After our usual dinner I had an intense craving for something sweet so we made our way down to the Poi'pu shopping center for ice cream sundaes. Steven and Stephanie decided to make us look like pigs and ordered a single scoop of sorbet to share! : ) I think I skipped out on the hot tub this night because I had so badly burnt my stomach and legs. 

 On Friday we stayed close to our hotel because we were leaving at 1:30 to meet up for the NaPali Coast cruise. We read by the pool a bit and then walked over to Brenneckes beach to enjoy more boogie boarding. After about an hour we walked back to our room, had lunch, showered and got ready for the cruise. I was a little sad this morning because I kept thinking that it was the last time I was going to be enjoying the beach and the ocean. The last time I'll get to boogie board and the last time I'll get to snorkel. The end of vacations are always depressing : ) However we still had much to look forward to! We boarded the boat at 3pm and began the 35 mile trip up to the remote NaPali coast. On the way to the coast you pass two old sugar mills, the longest stretch of beach on Kauai, and a military base (wouldn't that be the place to be stationed?!). It took about an hour and a half to reach the famous cliffs, the whole way just absoutely gorgeous.  The way there was a little rough at times, but Stephanie and I wanted to be right in front, so we were drenched pretty thouroughly by the end of the trip up to the coast. There were lots of 'hanging valleys' - which means the cliffside is eroding so fast that the valleys will 'hang' a few hundred feet up in the air before they drop into the ocean. Before approaching the main NaPali cliffs there are many sea caves and waterfalls to see. It honestly is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I couldn't stop taking picture after picture. I had to remind myself that I needed to put the camera down and just take it all in. Once you reach the main Napali coast line your jaw immediately drops to the floor. The cliffs are just like nothing you've ever seen before - they are so unique and spactacular looking. It really is quite a testament to the beauty of God's creation. We took a flurry of pictures and then we turned the boat around to head back to port. They served dinner and drinks after that so we sat down to enjoy the food as the sun started setting behind us. It was all quite lovely until Steven got sick and started throwing up! Poor guy.... he felt much better by the time docked. The sunset was gorgeous and there was even rainbow over the island! When we got back to our room we were pretty tired. I think we played a few games and finished up packing. 

We left early the next morning to fly back to Seattle and thus ended our marathon vacation.
Thanks to Steven and Stephanie for being wonderful companions and making our vacation so much fun!