Kelly and I decided to finally take a trip with just the two of us. This trip was a combination of many things, celebrate our 20th anniversary (6 months later), end of investor meetings for Kelly, 40th b-day for me, get away from the cold and winter blah for both of us.
Our destination was Kauai, but we had a little adventure getting there first. Our flight took us to Seattle with a long layover so we took some time to explore a little of the city (Kelly has been here before but not to explore the city, I have only been in the airport, so it was new to us both).
We used Uber for the first time, had a great driver who said he could take us to all of the "touristy" spots on the way to drop us off down in the market.
We were excited to find the sun shining after we had a bite to eat.
Finding some Malta, a drink Kelly enjoyed while in Venezuela.
Our flight to Kauai was a red eye and lucky for us was not very full so we each got out own seat section. If only I would have been tired enough to take advantage, but I got into a book and couldn't put it down.
Our first day we explored some of the island.
In search of waterfalls along the road. These are the Opaekaa Falls and can be seen from the road.
Across the road from the falls is a view of the Wailua River Valley. We would be kayaking down this river the next day.
Next up we took a hike up the Sleeping Giant Trail where we were treated with various views of the island. It is named so because the shape of the mountain is a giants profile lying down. It was a muddy mess, but we were prepared for the mud. It was a short, but steep hike (about 1000ft)
Poli'ahu Heiau is located within the Wailua River State Park, near the Opaeka'a Falls lookout point. It is one of seven heiau along the Wailua River. The age of the heiau is unknown, though it is believed that it was built by the menehune, the legendary little people of Hawaii. It is believed that the heiau was in use during the 1600s and 1700s, but it may be older than that.
Later that evening we headed to the south end of the island Poipu to find dinner and check out the beach. We came across a seal napping on the beach as well as a sea turtle. We had the biggest tacos ever at a place called Island Taco. The were not the best tacos ever, but they got the job done and we could not finish them all.
The Spouting Horn
The next day's adventure was a kayak trip down the Wailua River to a trail head that leads to the Secret Falls, also named Uluwehi Falls. It was about a 2 mile kayak trip down the river and then a muddy hike to the falls.
Our guide kept telling us to just go with it in the mud and that trying to go around it only made things worse. So we embraced the mud.
of course this picture isn't the worst of it.
Having to cross the river. The water was pretty high and very strong this day due to rainy season and lots of water on the island at the time.
Arriving at the (not so) Secret Falls.
We spent some time a the falls eating lunch/snack and rinsing all of the mud off in the water and under the falls. The water was cold but refreshing. The power of the water in the falls was amazing. It was so strong I could not get myself (wimp) to go all the way under the falls because of the suffocating feel as I got closer to the falls. Kelly loved it and enjoyed.
Apparently February is the time for people in the Northwest to leave the cold and head to the island. In our group was a couple from Utah, Spokane and Idaho. Our guide gave us lots of great information about the island and tole use that his favorite happy hour place after work was Lava Lava Beach Club. Dining right on the beach. We decided to take his suggestion (although we didn't believe that he really hung out there) and went there to eat that night. Turned out that he was there at the bar and that it was a great place to dine and yummy food. I had the best burger, although I don't know if it was really the best or if I was just really hungry for a burger that night.
Pool view at the resort we stayed at
This little guy worked at the resort. We think his job was to keep smaller animals away from the premises.
Full moon during an evening walk.
Next day was zip lining at the north side of the island outside of Princeville. For this adventure we were joined by a big family from Utah and some cute ladies from California.
Safety First!
This was the first day that we actually saw some rain. It wasn't a heavy storm until later in the day after our zip lining adventure.
The final line also the longest. It has two lines and we could race one another. I tried to get a head start and still lost the race (in my defense the more weight the faster one goes).
After zip lining we explored more of the north part of the island. We explored Hanalei Bay and went to find the trail head for the Na Pali Coast trail. At this time it was pouring rain and we were not prepared for the longer hike so we explored the beautiful beach and thought we may try the trail the next day. This is the wettest part of the island and was so beautiful (now several months after our trip to Kauai there were really bad floods in this area and last I heard the trail and coast line area had some bad mudslides and other destruction, it's too bad we didn't take a hike there when we had a chance). The beach and water was so beautiful!
By now we were so cold and not really wanting to swim so we checked out the beach then headed back to Hanalei Bay for some chili and rice and macaroni salad.
Okay.
Pretty
The next day our original plan was to go back to the Na Pali Coast and hike but as we got packed up and started driving we realized the sun was out shining and decided to go back to the resort and soak up the sunshine and relax by the pool.
We also had beach side access at the resort and took some time to play in the waves.
Later that day we drove back up north, stopping at some landmarks on the way.
First stop was Kilauea Lighthouse. Here we admired the beautiful coastline and also got to see whales from afar.
We didn't get any pictures but we did see a whale out beyond
We also visited Queen's bath. It was a steep muddy hike down to the "bath". While there we saw a sea turtle swimming and enjoyed the beautiful rocky shores and blue waters.
(**NOTE --->>>have pictures but need to get them downloaded to this computer)
SUPER windy morning run to lighthouse
Since we weren't as cold as the day before we had to stop and get a famous JoJo's Shaved Ice.
Last morning we explored the area around our the resort on foot visiting (morning run) two different lighthouses.
Ninini Point Lighthouses
Smaller one
2nd light house
This was a little surfer memorial.
We also spent some time in some of the little towns exploring and looking for unique souvenirs.
Wailua Falls
These are the falls shown in the opening credits of Fantasy Island. Normally there are two falls, but because of all the water at this time it was one big water fall.
Enjoying another Hula pie before out red eye flight back to the main land.
Mahalo Kauai!!
We had a fabulous time and loved every minute. We also missed the kids and want to take them some time soon. Maybe to another island next time.
