Friday, October 16, 2009

Kaua'i

As many of you know, we got to go to Hawaii for a week with our good friends Rachael and Greg. We went to Kaua'i and I had no idea how amazing that place would be. I wish I had taken a picture of a bumper sticker we saw there which said, "If you love Kaua'i, send your friends to Maui." This island was paradise with so much to do. I started this post thinking, I'll just post a few pictures - but it turned into a BUNCH and I still have more to share! It'll give me plenty to write about for the next few weeks....



Sunset from our condo (special thanks to Shayne's parents for letting us use their timeshare to make this possible!)



Queen's Bath



Snorkeling Queen's Bath (we snorkelled EVERY DAY! and lived in our swim suits)


Hawaiian Shaved Ice goes WAY BEYOND a snow cone. I can't explain it - but I'm ready for another one.

Wailua Falls

Not only did we see the falls, we took a little treacherous hike down a steep hillside and SWAM under the falls! The water was muddy - but so refreshing after that muddy hike!



Kipu Falls. My only regret was that I didn't dare do the rope swing by these falls. I should have just done it (as Shayne did!). When will I get a second chance?!?!



Wild roosters EVERYWHERE! And they were tough to catch too.....



The 4 of us - at the top of Waimea Canyon - which is coined the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." How that Grand Canyon just exists on this island is beyond me - my pictures didn't come close to showing the grandeur and immensity of this place.
Sunset from Waimea Canyon
We did a rafting trip to see the Na Pali Coastline. It is a part of the island that does not have roads - and you can see it 3 ways: by boat, by air (helicopter or airplane), or by an 11 mile hike. The boat trip was AWESOME. En route we had some company:



This was a landmark that I was thrilled to tell my boys about. We love the Popeye move (with Robin Williams) and this is where they filmed the ending scene with the octopus!


Na Pali Coast (this is just 1 inch of the most amazing scenery I've seen in my lifetime)

can you find the turtles?

There are probably 50+ turtles in the previous picture. I focused in on this picture so you can see the turtles better.
We weren't prepared to do an 11 mile (overnight) hiking trip along the Na Pali coast - but we did venture on the first 2 miles to a remote beach. It was HOT and HUMID - but the scenery was once again, breath-taking.

Na Pali Hike


Next to the beach, there was a creek/river/stream that flowed down to the ocean. That particular beach is considered dangerous - so Rach and I cooled off in the stream. It was SOOOO refreshing.


On our last day - we went to an area called "Secret Beach and Secret Lava Pools". They aren't very secret anymore - but we were the only ones there. I took about 75+ pictures at this one site - the waves were massive and powerful. I tried to capture it on film....
(Where's Waldo... I mean Greg?)

For my eternal sweetheart:
May we continue on our path, hand in hand, loving each other more every day. Thank you for loving me!


10 comments:

mindy said...

How fun!! Thanks for sharing. I found waldo (greg)! lol.

Kristy said...

That was so much fun to see some of the same places we visited. Can't wait to get together, compare pictures, and talk Kaua'i.

Alisa said...

WOW!! W.O.W. I can't wait to see some of it!! Looks like you had a blast!

Anonymous said...

You look like newlyweds!!!

Laura said...

That looks awesome!!!! What a fun trip. We've been to Oahu and Mau'i, but not Kaua'i. You've practically convinced me to go! (except our last trip was almost free since it was a company trip. haha)

Chari said...

BEAUTIFUL!!! Someday I'll make my way there too, you make it so appealing! Glad you had a great trip!

Greg and Lara said...

Loved your descriptions. I can't wait to the see the other hundreds of pictures. Kodak gallery time?

Devri said...

Wow! I'm glad you had a good trip. Awesome pictures! Thanks for cleaning my tub yesterday. I really appreciate it!!!

Stormi Winscot said...

Beautiful pictures. I especially like the last picture. That is priceless.

Rachael said...

It was such an amazing trip! And you guys were so great to put up with us the whole week - esp me and my paranoia that someone might rob our car, sneak into our condo, steal the keys from our towels - I'm such a nutcase...