One Year Ago We Were in Kauai...

I was attempting to organize our thousands of photos on dropbox into their own folders, and I realized we have so many amazing pictures from our Kauai trip and I haven't really done anything with them. I mean, I did put tons of pictures in the several blog posts dedicated to Kauai, but I thought we should have something tangible that we could flip through. So I decided to make Joe a photobook on Shutterfly as a Valentine's gift. But then when the package arrived yesterday, I was too excited and made him open it right away. Since the cat's out of the bag, I thought I'd share it here on the blog as well.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Build your own high-quality photo books at Shutterfly.com.

Kaua'i: Part 4 - Kayaking, Mud, & Saying Goodbye

It's the last day of February and it's kind of hard to believe that we were in Kaua'i at the beginning of this month. So much has happened between now and then - the culture-shock of returning to work, Back Beat on Valentine's Day, and finding a new place. So, before March begins, I'm finishing up the Kaua'i series with a recap of Day 5: our kayaking and hiking adventure and some goodbye photos.

Originally, we wanted to join a kayak tour up the Wailua River, however, the tours booked up fast, so we opted to rent a kayak and do a self-guided tour to the Secret Falls. It was a sunny, windless day - perfect for outdoor activities, and the views from the river were gorgeous. Once we got going, we were happy that we went with the self-guided tour instead of a group. We got to paddle at our own pace, which turned out to be surprisingly fast considering one of us is pregnant, and the other one hasn't kayaked before. We didn't want to risk our phones, so the only camera we brought was a water camera. The quality was a little eh. Also, I suck at taking water camera pics:

Whoops, here's the only pic of Joe kayaking (now you see why he's our main photographer)

The View Paddling Up the Wailua River

The banks of the Wailua River are lined with trees, so every now and then we'd come across a giant leaf floating in the water. Then I would feel frenzied paddling on one side of the boat, the boat would nearly capsize, and suddenly Joe's paddle would be hovering near my head, with him shouting that he had a "present" for me. By the time we ended our kayaking journey, my feet were covered with a pile of giant, wet leaves that he had collected along the way. He's still sad that I left them in the kayak instead of bringing them home with us as souvenirs.

Every now and then, either in Joe's quest for leaves, or because we're just not excellent kayakers, we would veer toward the tree-lined river bank and have to overcompensate by frantically paddling toward the left. Whenever this happened, Joe would shout out in an Australian accent, "Aye, lads! Brace yourself for impact!"

After about two miles of paddling up stream, the river forked and we continued to the right, paddled a short distance through a narrow, tree-lined stream, to a little beach filled with kayaks. This is where the real fun began: hiking through mud. Joe asked the kayak rental employee if he could wear sandals on the hike and the employee laughed and said he would only come back with half a shoe because the trail is so muddy. So Joe wore his old sneakers, and I wore old hiking boots. In the beginning of the hike, it was mildly muddy/slippery, and as we were trying to step carefully through the mud several returning hikers, with mud-streaked faces, passed by laughing and said, "It only gets worse!" They weren't lying.

Before we even got to the real muddy part, we had to cross a stream, using a rope to steady ourselves:

The path continued upstream and this is where the terrain started getting very muddy. At first we tried to avoid the giant mud-puddles in the middle of the path, and stick to the sides, but eventually Joe realized that stepping directly in the sloppiest parts of the mud was actually less slippery, because your feet got suctioned to the ground. After nearly a mile of trekking through mud, and stopping to let children and old people pass us by, we came to a muddy hill that literally went straight up at a 90 degree angle and was about one or two stories high. So that was the end of the hike for me. Our end destination was supposed to be the Secret Falls, but I was not hauling my pregnant self up that hill, so we spent some time in the peaceful stream instead:

Despite not reaching the falls, I'd say our first joint kayaking adventure was a success, and I think I made it pretty far up that trail carrying Ezzy around in my uterus. We did come across one other brave lady on the muddy trail who put me to shame - she was carrying her baby in a strap-on carrier on her chest. Of course, it was at that moment that Joe slipped and nearly took down the pregnant lady and the new mother in one swoop. Luckily, we all came out unscathed. Then it was time to head back: exhausted, hungry, bug-bitten (Joe), and sunburned (me), but very happy overall.

The rest of our day was mellow, we ate, and then did one last photo shoot of "our beach."

It was such an amazing vacation. It's probably the only time we will visit Kauai, since there's still so much of the world to explore, but we could not have asked for more beautiful scenery or fun adventures. Other than the double rainbows (we saw surprising few rainbows for how often in rains in Kauai), we managed to cross everything off my Kauai wish list, and then some. To cap it all off, here are a few more collages of some of my favorite Kauai memories.

Ezzy in Kauai

Beautiful Kauai Scenery

Joemance, Kauai-style

Next time we go on vacation, Ezzy's going to be strapped to one of our chests, taking it all in - only nine weeks to go!

Kaua'i: Part 1 - Turbulence, Roosters, & a Luau
Kaua'i: Part 2 - Waterfalls, Whales, & Malasadas
Kaua'i: Part 3 - Snorkeling, Fern Grotto, & Robinson's Island

Kaua'i: Part 3 - Snorkeling, Fern Grotto, & Robinson's Island

Day 3 - Fern Grotto & Snorkeling
Our third full day on the island was designated for water activities. First stop was Fern Grotto, right up the river from our hotel. They used to let you walk right into the Grotto, where a band would play the Hawaiian Wedding Song for you. But after a hurricane a few years ago, they built a platform facing the Grotto and that's as far as tourists are allowed to go. There also used to be a giant waterfall there, but that was diverted to the Taro fields years ago. Now there's just a small trickle. The trip up the river, the short hike, and the view of the grotto were all gorgeous, so it was still worthwhile. And a band still performs the Hawaiian Wedding Song from the platform, so according to Hawaiian tradition, everyone on the platform that day is now married.

A replica of the Smith's Boat we took to Fern Grotto

Us on the Boat

Gorgeous View on the Wailua River

Fern Grotto

Fern Grotto Again

The short hike provided lots of Joe's favorite photo subjects: Leaves + Water

After the Hawaiian Wedding Song, one of the singers was kind enough to take our picture

Aww!

Our second destination on Day 3 was Wailua Falls, which is famous for being in the opening sequence of the TV show Fantasy Island. I've never seen that show, but the falls were absolutely gorgeous. The first thing we saw when we parked at the falls was this seemingly dead dog. Don't worry though, eventually she got up and ran around greeting people, so she was just taking a little dog nap here:

Wailua Falls up close

Me looking very pregnant

Such a nice little swimming pool beneath the falls

Our next big water activity of the day was snorkeling in Poi'pu, on the South shore. The waves by our hotel on the East shore were pretty big and uninviting, but the water on the South shore was completely calm, clear, warm, and shallow. There were tons of fish right by the shore, so we didn't even have to venture that far out, which was great because I have a fear of sharks and like to stick near the shore with plenty of other shark bait (aka - other snorkelers) between me and the open water. We used a disposable water camera for these pictures, and the twenty-seven shots were gone within a matter of minutes. Next time: bring two cameras! The quality actually turned out much better than I was expecting:

Snorkeling in Poi'pu

Kinda cool with all the bubbles

Underwater Belly Shot - 6 Months Pregnant

Handsome :)

Doggy Paddle

It's worth pointing out that on our drive to Poi'pu, Joe suddenly realized that Ezzy's due date is May 4th. As in May the forth. As in Star Wars day (May the forth be with you). He's had Cinco de Mayo stuck in his head as the due date for months, but now he's 100% on board for a May 4th due date. In fact, he says Ezzy MUST be born on that day. Since I don't really want to be pregnant for more than nine months, I fully agree. So Ezra, if you're listening, come out on May the 4th. I'll remind you again in a few months.

After snorkeling we were exhausted. And starving. While we were in the water it felt like it took no effort at all to float around, but I guess flapping our fins and walking in and out of the water with fins on was actually quite a workout. We went to a nearby shopping center and ordered Caesar salads, truffle fries, and ice cream. Yum! Our timing turned out to be perfect because they were doing their first annual taste of Kaua'i at the center that day. There were dozens of booths with samples of delicious foods and drinks. We wound up buying three jars of homemade jam: Tahitian Key Lime (my favorite - tastes just like key lime pie filling!), Sweet Tomato (which flew off the shelves - we left for awhile to debate if we really wanted the jam, and by the time we came back there were only two jars left), and Lilikoi - which I still haven't sampled. I happened to see the Lilikoi flavor hiding behind some other jars, and the lady running the booth said she wasn't even openly displaying those because she has so few jars, so unless you asked for it by name you couldn't get it. Of course, that meant I had to have it. I'll let you know later how it tastes.

Day 4 - Waimea Canyon and the West Side
While we had successfully completed our malasada mission back on Day 2, we still hadn't given up on the Kmart Malasada Lady. So on our way to the West side of the island, we decided a little detour to Kmart in Lihue was in order. Sadly, her stand was closed when we slowly drove by. But a lady walked out of the side door and Joe braked so I could ask her if she was open that day. She promised fresh malasadas as soon as her oil was done heating up in about fifteen minutes! After our hours-long and several cities-wide mission the other day, fifteen minutes seemed worth the wait. And trust me, it definitely was. Her malasadas were hot and fresh, which made all the difference. We got six and devoured them in the car on the way to Waimea Canyon.

Me finally trying one of the infamous Kmart lady malasadas

Yum - warm, sugary sweet bread

Waimea Canyon was surreal. I've never been to the Grand Canyon, but I imagine it was a prettier version of that. It had the same red earth as the Grand Canyon, but lots of green contrast as well. It reminded me a lot of something out of Jurassic Park:

Proof we were actually there

We drove all the way to the top of the mountain to check out Kalalau Lookout and take a short hike. The trail we wanted to take was supposed to start at Kalalau Lookout, but we couldn't find it anywhere. And we were also running out of gas, so driving around to find it wasn't an option. We were content with checking out the cloudy views, and I also took the opportunity to finally sample my star fruit. 

My first star fruit - juicy & citrusy

Kalalau Lookout made you feel like you were walking in the clouds

On a clear day, you can see the private island of Niihau, which is owned by the Robinson family. That's right, I own an island! I plan on retiring there. Although apparently they still speak Hawaiian, not sure if that will be an issue. It's hard to make it out in the picture below, but the third paragraph is where it explains  how my family owns this island:

After we made it back down the mountain, with Joseph coasting most of the way to conserve gas, we filled up the tank (no thanks to Yelp, who led us a mile in the opposite direction of any gas station) and then went in search of food. The West side is definitely where the residents of Kaua'i actually live and work. There were a lot more factory/plants (not sure what they're for), as well as fast food and residential areas. The West side was also a lot sunnier and warmer than where we were located on the East shore. Overall, other than Waimea Canyon, which was breath-taking, the West side was my least favorite part of the island. All the restaurants seem to close in the mid-afternoon, it was too hot for my pregnant self to enjoy, and it just wasn't as pretty as the other towns we had visited. We actually wound up eating fish fillets from McDonalds because the one other restaurant we found that was open was extremely hot, and they took forever to even take our drink orders. On the bright side, while we were searching for a place to eat, we came across the Hanapepe Swinging Bridge, which we wanted to check out anyway:

Joseph on the swinging bridge in Hanapepe: "This view is beautiful. Now let's get the hell off this bridge!"

Kaua'i Cats

In addition to roosters, stray cats are pretty abundant in Kaua'i. I, of course, favored the black cat in the bottom left corner. I think the two cats on the right are good examples that it's not just the dogs that sleep like they're dead. Must be something about the Kaua'i laid-back lifestyle.

Coming back to work is a shock to the senses after vacationing in Hawaii for a week. It's nice to reminisce with all these pictures. And I promise, I'm almost done with the Kaua'i posts. Just one more about our kayaking and muddy hike adventure.