Kauai Honeymoon
This is going to be a little bit different of a post for me. Looking back, I should've written about our long-awaited honeymoon before I encountered a lot of people I know! Boy, ever get like that? You tell the same stories over and over and pretty quick you get tired of telling it again?
So yea, this will probably be relatively brief, but I have plenty of photos to share and give you an idea of what we got into!
First of all, we got up bright and squirrely at 0330 and headed to the airport. No worries there, we made it easily despite the sleet, rain, and wind. And....after a LOOONG day, we finally arrived in Lihue, Kauai! Of course, by the time we got to the rental car counter, the power for the entire island went out. That made the process of procuring a car a little longer, but we finally were on our way. But, since the power was out...the streetlights didn't work and we took a wrong turn right off the bat. Jiggy jogging through town we finally found our highway and headed to our condo in Poipu. Checking in was done by flashlight and we got glow-sticks as a consolation prize. There we found out that all the restaraunts and stores were closed, so our first dinner in Kauai consisted of trail mix and tap water. Not exactly the "welcome to Hawaii" we anticipated! Luckily my camping instinct hadn't completely abandoned me as I had actually packed a headlamp! A couple hours later, the power came on and we were able to poke around our room more.
The next morning we went to a presentation on "things to do on the island," booked some trips, and made our way to Polihale State Park on the far western edge of the island...end of the road so to speak. Of course, on the way we stopped and got Subway sandwiches of all things and I darn near made myself sick scarfing that at the beach. I was hungry!
Polihale or "barking sands" beach
We didn't spend too much time in the sun there and didn't venture too far into the water. The currents were supposed to be trecherous and we didn't want to get TOO burned our first full day in the sun!
JUST missed the sunset on our second night. This is at Poipu beach.
Friday evening we had scheduled a night at a Luau, so we had the whole day to play. What to do? How about go as far NORTH as we could go from the Waimea? Up the canyon we went! We wound our way up the narrow road and got some views of the famous Waimea canyon "the Grand Canyon of the Pacific" on our way up, spent a little bit of time in the visitor center / museum, then went on a 1/2 mile hike to check out some views of the Na'Pali coast.
Emerging fern
The clouds parted and we were able to get some photos of this famous canyon. (Can't remember the name.)
Sarah on the trail
Uhm...now I'm lazy 'cuz I don't want to move this photo.
This was our condo...upper left room.
BACK at the canyon!
Playing with ferns
We took a different road on the way down and got some neat views looking southeast back toward Hanapepe.
Uhm...a little more east.
Good opportunity at our little vantage point for some photos
Awww
That night we made our way to the Luau! With 200 of our closest friends! It started off really well as it was an open bar and they had a lot of little local vendors outside selling stuff to the tourists. Good combination! We got a bunch of little trinkets then went back to the table we were assigned to get ready for dinner!
That's when our first "situation" occurred. We had put our little chair-holding-cards on the places we figured we'd sit after looking at the vendor's wares. When we sat down, a fella, his wife, and two little girls showed up. He accused US of taking THEIR spots! WTF? Long story short, this guy had moved OUR cards, put HIS down so that his two young daughters could "see the show better." Well, this just made things uncomfortable and finally Sarah couldn't take it and confronted him. Then I couldn't take it and joined in. I leaned in and said something like, "You having a good day man? Listen. We can go stand in the corner if you want. I don't want to sit here and get the cold shoulder all night." His reply was, "No, I don't want that. I'm just going to eat and watch the show." Of course, I was getting riled up and followed with, "That's good. You'd better."
Hmmm. Uncomfortable much? Our saving grace was that nothing really happened on stage until AFTER dinner when they said, "now for everyone facing away from the stage, could you please turn your chairs so you can watch the show better?" HA! He ended up getting a CLOSER seat after all! Let's just say he didn't make eye contact for the rest of the night and acted pretty sheepish.
The banquet hall...that's a mango tree growing through the roof!
Well, it was a good show. It was basically a musical of how the natives got to the island in little canoes from Tahiti. Very captivating and entertaining. It even ended with some fire dancing which was a sure crowd pleaser.
The next day we met our tour group to go on a kayak trip up the Wailua river to some hidden falls. So, drive two miles up a river and meet a very unorganized group. Get in a van and drive back DOWNRIVER to the mouth of the river and launch. Paddle PAST where we parked the rig, turn the corner and beach the boats. Take one hour to walk one mile. Spend about 45 minutes with a buncha other people near the falls and walk back. All the while, the gal from New Jersey did NOT SHUT UP. Ugh. We were both DONE by the time we got back to the car.
Ooh, but on a side note. Before we went on this little trip...I did it. Yeppers folks, I bought a MAN's sarong. Ha!
The "hidden" falls
Sarah in said falls. The water was cold!
All the other tour groups
On the way out Sarah and I tried ditching New Jersey but she kept dogging us. I tried to point out a MONSTER fish to her (about 5 feet long by 12" in diameter) but she didn't pay attention. Her husband asked what we were pointing at and she said, "Oh just another stick in the water."
*sigh*
But, we hit the main channel and she got caught in the upstream breeze. So Sarah and I poured it on and finally got about 1/3 mile away from her. Jeez, you could still hear her at that distance!
Tired and DONE.
Oh yea (again, sorry) before we went up there we stopped at a farmer's market in Lihue. We got some jams, nuts, and fruits there. One that I was particularly impressed with were called "dragon eyes."
Don't look like dragon eyes to me....
Ohhhh, that's why!
They were tasty! Kinda melon-ey.
So one of those mornings, Sarah went for a run and I went down to the beach to take some photos.
Awesome, quiet, morning
My classic tropical photo. HAD to do it.
Playing with the camera
Palm tree roots
Sunday we got up and found some turtles playing in the waves near a beach to the east of us. Then we headed back to Lihue to jump on a helicopter tour of the island! That was a very nice trip and the pilot was very smooth and quite the tour guide. We saw locations of all sorts of films like Jurassic park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Six days and Seven nights, etc. We had the doors on, so the photos didn't really come out too well. Therefore, we bought the video that they took during our flight. Pretty neat stuff.
The Na'Pali coast was the best part. Accessible only by boat or helicopter. It means "cliffs." Go figure.
The north shore....a place we never quite made it to.
In order to get $100 dollars apiece off of our flight, we had to attend a time share presentation. Which, was, very, uncomfortable. This guy basically told us we were wasting everyone's time for $100. Hmm, thanks a lot. But he wanted us to SIGN right then! Bite me. But that was Monday and we hit some more shops up at Kapaa then went snorkling!
There were a lot of these critters running around
Cute little buggers
Uhm, one of those nights we went to "Spouting Horn."
Palm tree berries? I didn't realize some had berries.
The palm in question
Waiting for the sunset that never quite materialized
"Let's get a photo of being mad in Kauai!"
So if you don't know, there are wild chickens everwhere. EVERYWHERE. And we, like everyone else, took photos of them.
Trying to be creative
So uhm, this was actually on sea-turtle morning. Pretty.
Our last evening in Poipu, I was determined to be on the beach for the sunset. It turned out perfectly! I went snorkling (which I'm addicted to) and ended up further out in the ocean than I've ever been...out with the surfboarders and paddle boarders!
Sunset amber ale at sunset!
Yes yes, we got a little bit of sun
I'm definitely not as sophisticated as Sarah. This photo was taken specifically for Rod.
Sarah stole my camera and caught me in the background beachcombing!
I love doing this!
There are worse things than this...
Checking out tidal pools
Havin' fun
Realizing we're dorks
But love each other for it
Strike a pose!
Playing again
So a turtle came up on the beach. We both wanted them to leave it alone.
After a couple quick photos of course. Doesn't it look irritated?
Sunset is on it's way!
I like this shot
There's the sunset I was looking for!
Vair' nize
And....it's gone.
So, the next day we only had to drop the car off at about 1500, jump on a plane at 1700, spend some time in Honolulu...then head to the mainland! So, we putzed around and looked at some shops in Koloa town. We got to the airport with no trouble, but then found that Delta was closed until 1700! What the hell? We thought that was weird and finally asked some gal that said we were flying Hawaiian, FOR Delta (or something like that.) Good thing we asked, because we'd have missed our flight!
We both thought we'd be able to sleep on the six hour flight to Salt Lake City, but couldn't, so ended up being up for a total of over 36 hours! That's enough I'll tell ya. We landed in Spokane in a snowstorm and drove home in the same. The next day, I took off work and a very happy Lucca and I went for a stomp in the swamp.
Lou-dog posing for me!
Aren't we cute? I was happy to be in the woods again! (With NO PEOPLE!)
So, sorry that was kinda choppy, but it is what it is. We had a great time and we already know that we will be going back someday. I never accomplished my lifelong task of acquiring black sand! And we never saw the north end of the island! I left a lot of relaxing and snorkling on the beach so I'm gonna have to go back and get it methinks.
My best quote of what it felt like is, "It was like highschool summer break before you had a job." Remember those days? Sunny, dewy morning...drinking coffee, thinking, "Hmm, I think I'll go fishing today."
So yea, this will probably be relatively brief, but I have plenty of photos to share and give you an idea of what we got into!
First of all, we got up bright and squirrely at 0330 and headed to the airport. No worries there, we made it easily despite the sleet, rain, and wind. And....after a LOOONG day, we finally arrived in Lihue, Kauai! Of course, by the time we got to the rental car counter, the power for the entire island went out. That made the process of procuring a car a little longer, but we finally were on our way. But, since the power was out...the streetlights didn't work and we took a wrong turn right off the bat. Jiggy jogging through town we finally found our highway and headed to our condo in Poipu. Checking in was done by flashlight and we got glow-sticks as a consolation prize. There we found out that all the restaraunts and stores were closed, so our first dinner in Kauai consisted of trail mix and tap water. Not exactly the "welcome to Hawaii" we anticipated! Luckily my camping instinct hadn't completely abandoned me as I had actually packed a headlamp! A couple hours later, the power came on and we were able to poke around our room more.
The next morning we went to a presentation on "things to do on the island," booked some trips, and made our way to Polihale State Park on the far western edge of the island...end of the road so to speak. Of course, on the way we stopped and got Subway sandwiches of all things and I darn near made myself sick scarfing that at the beach. I was hungry!
Polihale or "barking sands" beach
We didn't spend too much time in the sun there and didn't venture too far into the water. The currents were supposed to be trecherous and we didn't want to get TOO burned our first full day in the sun!
JUST missed the sunset on our second night. This is at Poipu beach.
Friday evening we had scheduled a night at a Luau, so we had the whole day to play. What to do? How about go as far NORTH as we could go from the Waimea? Up the canyon we went! We wound our way up the narrow road and got some views of the famous Waimea canyon "the Grand Canyon of the Pacific" on our way up, spent a little bit of time in the visitor center / museum, then went on a 1/2 mile hike to check out some views of the Na'Pali coast.
Emerging fern
The clouds parted and we were able to get some photos of this famous canyon. (Can't remember the name.)
Sarah on the trail
Uhm...now I'm lazy 'cuz I don't want to move this photo.
This was our condo...upper left room.
BACK at the canyon!
Playing with ferns
We took a different road on the way down and got some neat views looking southeast back toward Hanapepe.
Uhm...a little more east.
Good opportunity at our little vantage point for some photos
Awww
That night we made our way to the Luau! With 200 of our closest friends! It started off really well as it was an open bar and they had a lot of little local vendors outside selling stuff to the tourists. Good combination! We got a bunch of little trinkets then went back to the table we were assigned to get ready for dinner!
That's when our first "situation" occurred. We had put our little chair-holding-cards on the places we figured we'd sit after looking at the vendor's wares. When we sat down, a fella, his wife, and two little girls showed up. He accused US of taking THEIR spots! WTF? Long story short, this guy had moved OUR cards, put HIS down so that his two young daughters could "see the show better." Well, this just made things uncomfortable and finally Sarah couldn't take it and confronted him. Then I couldn't take it and joined in. I leaned in and said something like, "You having a good day man? Listen. We can go stand in the corner if you want. I don't want to sit here and get the cold shoulder all night." His reply was, "No, I don't want that. I'm just going to eat and watch the show." Of course, I was getting riled up and followed with, "That's good. You'd better."
Hmmm. Uncomfortable much? Our saving grace was that nothing really happened on stage until AFTER dinner when they said, "now for everyone facing away from the stage, could you please turn your chairs so you can watch the show better?" HA! He ended up getting a CLOSER seat after all! Let's just say he didn't make eye contact for the rest of the night and acted pretty sheepish.
The banquet hall...that's a mango tree growing through the roof!
Well, it was a good show. It was basically a musical of how the natives got to the island in little canoes from Tahiti. Very captivating and entertaining. It even ended with some fire dancing which was a sure crowd pleaser.
The next day we met our tour group to go on a kayak trip up the Wailua river to some hidden falls. So, drive two miles up a river and meet a very unorganized group. Get in a van and drive back DOWNRIVER to the mouth of the river and launch. Paddle PAST where we parked the rig, turn the corner and beach the boats. Take one hour to walk one mile. Spend about 45 minutes with a buncha other people near the falls and walk back. All the while, the gal from New Jersey did NOT SHUT UP. Ugh. We were both DONE by the time we got back to the car.
Ooh, but on a side note. Before we went on this little trip...I did it. Yeppers folks, I bought a MAN's sarong. Ha!
The "hidden" falls
Sarah in said falls. The water was cold!
All the other tour groups
On the way out Sarah and I tried ditching New Jersey but she kept dogging us. I tried to point out a MONSTER fish to her (about 5 feet long by 12" in diameter) but she didn't pay attention. Her husband asked what we were pointing at and she said, "Oh just another stick in the water."
*sigh*
But, we hit the main channel and she got caught in the upstream breeze. So Sarah and I poured it on and finally got about 1/3 mile away from her. Jeez, you could still hear her at that distance!
Tired and DONE.
Oh yea (again, sorry) before we went up there we stopped at a farmer's market in Lihue. We got some jams, nuts, and fruits there. One that I was particularly impressed with were called "dragon eyes."
Don't look like dragon eyes to me....
Ohhhh, that's why!
They were tasty! Kinda melon-ey.
So one of those mornings, Sarah went for a run and I went down to the beach to take some photos.
Awesome, quiet, morning
My classic tropical photo. HAD to do it.
Playing with the camera
Palm tree roots
Sunday we got up and found some turtles playing in the waves near a beach to the east of us. Then we headed back to Lihue to jump on a helicopter tour of the island! That was a very nice trip and the pilot was very smooth and quite the tour guide. We saw locations of all sorts of films like Jurassic park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Six days and Seven nights, etc. We had the doors on, so the photos didn't really come out too well. Therefore, we bought the video that they took during our flight. Pretty neat stuff.
The Na'Pali coast was the best part. Accessible only by boat or helicopter. It means "cliffs." Go figure.
The north shore....a place we never quite made it to.
In order to get $100 dollars apiece off of our flight, we had to attend a time share presentation. Which, was, very, uncomfortable. This guy basically told us we were wasting everyone's time for $100. Hmm, thanks a lot. But he wanted us to SIGN right then! Bite me. But that was Monday and we hit some more shops up at Kapaa then went snorkling!
There were a lot of these critters running around
Cute little buggers
Uhm, one of those nights we went to "Spouting Horn."
Palm tree berries? I didn't realize some had berries.
The palm in question
Waiting for the sunset that never quite materialized
"Let's get a photo of being mad in Kauai!"
So if you don't know, there are wild chickens everwhere. EVERYWHERE. And we, like everyone else, took photos of them.
Trying to be creative
So uhm, this was actually on sea-turtle morning. Pretty.
Our last evening in Poipu, I was determined to be on the beach for the sunset. It turned out perfectly! I went snorkling (which I'm addicted to) and ended up further out in the ocean than I've ever been...out with the surfboarders and paddle boarders!
Sunset amber ale at sunset!
Yes yes, we got a little bit of sun
I'm definitely not as sophisticated as Sarah. This photo was taken specifically for Rod.
Sarah stole my camera and caught me in the background beachcombing!
I love doing this!
There are worse things than this...
Checking out tidal pools
Havin' fun
Realizing we're dorks
But love each other for it
Strike a pose!
Playing again
So a turtle came up on the beach. We both wanted them to leave it alone.
After a couple quick photos of course. Doesn't it look irritated?
Sunset is on it's way!
I like this shot
There's the sunset I was looking for!
Vair' nize
And....it's gone.
So, the next day we only had to drop the car off at about 1500, jump on a plane at 1700, spend some time in Honolulu...then head to the mainland! So, we putzed around and looked at some shops in Koloa town. We got to the airport with no trouble, but then found that Delta was closed until 1700! What the hell? We thought that was weird and finally asked some gal that said we were flying Hawaiian, FOR Delta (or something like that.) Good thing we asked, because we'd have missed our flight!
We both thought we'd be able to sleep on the six hour flight to Salt Lake City, but couldn't, so ended up being up for a total of over 36 hours! That's enough I'll tell ya. We landed in Spokane in a snowstorm and drove home in the same. The next day, I took off work and a very happy Lucca and I went for a stomp in the swamp.
Lou-dog posing for me!
Aren't we cute? I was happy to be in the woods again! (With NO PEOPLE!)
So, sorry that was kinda choppy, but it is what it is. We had a great time and we already know that we will be going back someday. I never accomplished my lifelong task of acquiring black sand! And we never saw the north end of the island! I left a lot of relaxing and snorkling on the beach so I'm gonna have to go back and get it methinks.
My best quote of what it felt like is, "It was like highschool summer break before you had a job." Remember those days? Sunny, dewy morning...drinking coffee, thinking, "Hmm, I think I'll go fishing today."
posted by geotracker12 at 8:51 AM
3 Comments:
You didn't look through my pictures before you posted this! I had some good ones of the kayak trip (minus Jersey) and a few others. You'll have to post more pics :)
Great pics AND story Tom! If the Wildlife Writing does'nt pan out, think of submitting some of this blog and photos to a scout that may be looking for Travel Writers!
Nancy and I may be looking at Equador this fall (incuding a cruise out to the Galapogus sp? Islands). If you can't come out with us, I'll scout it out for you two for later...
- Jim
What an amazing trip -- you did such a great job of capturing it all & captioning it all for the rest of us. We've been, but I'm ready to go back -- chickens or not.
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