We flew out, non-stop from LAX to Lihue, on Monday morning. Brian had worked the Emmy's party on Sunday night, and then started strike, so he was working from 5pm Sunday to 7am Monday. He came home, picked me up, and we went to the airport. The flight was uneventful. Brian slept and I watched a tiny, hard-to-hear version of Pirates of the Caribbean 4. We stayed up in Princeville (the north side of the island) at the Wyndham Makai Club (my parents gave us a timeshare week to use, thanks Mom and Dad!). Monday night was just getting settled, driving around, and relaxing.
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| Views from our Condo |
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| Waipa Beach, with Hanalei Bay in the background |
Wednesday morning we went snorkeling at Anini Beach. There wasn't as much to see, as the surf was a little rougher, but we did see 3 rays swimming along. They were each about 3' long. That was cool.
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| Opaekaa Falls |
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| Wailua Falls |
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| Wailua Falls |
Wednesday afternoon we went on a helicopter ride around the island. That was cool, as I had never been on a helicopter before. It was so neat to see everything from a birds-eye view, as well as see how different the island looks on all the different sides.
We swung by the Kilauea Light House on our way back to our condo.
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| Morning Rainbow from our Condo |
Thursday we went to Ka'a Beach. We wanted to snorkel for a bit in the morning, but the surf was too rough and the lifeguards weren't allowing snorkeling. So instead we went for a hike. We hiked 2 miles on a moderate trail to Hanakapi'ai Beach. It was a really cool beach, with some neat caves that we could get into (it was lower tide).
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| On the hike, looking at Ke'e Beach |
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| Cool Tree Roots |
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| Weird spider with red spiny things |
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| Beach - 2 mile break :) |
We went ahead and decided to do the additional 2 miles (on a pretty strenuous trail) to Hanakapi'ai Falls. It is a beautiful waterfall that is over 100' tall, and it ends in a pool that you can swim in. So, Brian and I went for a BRIEF swim under the waterfall and back. It was brief, because the water temperature was about 33degrees F (at least, it felt that cold to me!). But, it was an amazing adventure.
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| Lots of bamboo groves in the middle of the hike |
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| Huge Bamboo! My hand is wrapped around the back! |
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| We swam in the pool, all the way under the waterfall |
We then hiked the 4 miles back to Ka'a Beach and had lunch (we were starving by that point!). That puts us at an 8-mile round-trip, pretty strenuous hike. Unfortunately, the surf hadn't gone down at Ke'e Beach, so we couldn't snorkel there, but we were pretty tired from the hike, so that's not necessarily a bad thing.
We did go check out the Wet Cave (Waikanaloa) which was kind of neat, but gross water that you can't (nor would you want to) swim in.
On Friday we headed down south. We went to Waimea Canyon, and drove around.
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| Cool bridge with neat trees that we really liked. They were like canopy trees! |
We did a little 3 mile round-trip hike to the middle of part of the canyon, which was really pretty. We were aiming for a waterfall, but apparently it was too dry for the waterfall to be running.
We then drove up to the Kalalau Lookout. It was a gorgeous view. We couldn't tell where the ocean ended and the sky began.
Friday afternoon/evening we went on a Sunset Boat Tour of the Na Pali Coast. That was really cool, to see the coastline, then watch the sun set. So beautiful. Friday night we spent in Lihue (a little too crowded for us, but for 1 night it was ok).
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| Na Pali Coast |
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| Just for Betsy - the arch from Pirates 4 |
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| The arch that Captain Jack Sparrow walks through in Pirates #4 |
On Saturday morning we headed down to Poipu. We drove along Tree Tunnels Road, which is made up of eucalyptus trees that canopy the road for about a mile.
We went snorkeling down at Poipu Beach Park. We saw lots of fish, and this time we were actually surrounded by schools of fish. It was really cool to have the fish swimming around us.
We also drove down to the Spouting Horn to check that out. Then, we unfortunately had to go to the airport to board our flight home.
It was an amazing vacation, and Kauai is such a beautiful place. We can't wait to go back, and do the rest of the things that we didn't get a chance to do.
Here is a link to my snapfish album that has all of the pictures from the trip. You can also view as a slideshow. http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4724965015/a=8015572_8015572/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
