About the time we were getting ready to leave Oahu, Steve and I began to think that perhaps joining the Idaho trip and the Hawaii trip into one had been a mistake. We had already been gone for quite a while and were missing home. Then we arrived on the island of Kauai!!
The sign that greeted us as we left the airport parking lot
Our view off the balcony of our apartment...can you see the ocean in the distance?
Every morning at about 6am we were awakened by a rooster who lived out in that beautiful green.
In fact, there were roosters everywhere on Kauai. Literally everywhere!! If you stopped to take a photo at a pullout along the road, there was a rooster there. If you hiked way back in the woods, there were roosters there. Apparently they are protected and have kind of mass multiplied there. They didn't bother us, though. It was fun to see the different kinds and colors.
We got very used to the crow of the rooster.
There could not be two more different settings than our accommodations in Oahu and Kauai. Both were beautiful, but very, very different. We did not even have air conditioning here and did not need it. The breeze was wonderful and everything was so lush and green.
We set out the day after arriving to see the sights around the island. We wanted to kind of get the lay of the land before making any permanent plans. We had arrived in the late afternoon on Sunday on the south side of the island. We had to travel to the north side where we were staying, but didn't really take time to see anything along the way. The Kilauea Lighthouse was our first stop. There is a bird sanctuary here as well, but it was too early in the season to be open.
Hawaii is known for its waterfalls. We would see some of the most beautiful on Kauai.
Opaekaa Falls is the first that we saw.
Such a beautiful cascading split falls
Here we are on the bridge overlooking the falls.....
...and, on the opposite side of the bridge, a view of the Wailua River. This is the river we would canoe on as part of a canoe trip/hike later in the week.
Wailua Falls
And a close up view of the falls
On the south side of the island is the Spouting Horn.
When the waves crash against the coast line, this blowhole goes high into the air.
We were only able to capture a small eruption in the picture.
We also got a Puka Dog on the south side of the island. Jan and John had told us how much they loved them when they were there so we had to give them a try. Delicious!!
Near the end of the road on the south side of the island we began our assent into Waimea Canyon. It is known as the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. This photo was taken as we were just starting up the canyon. As beautiful as this view is, we had no idea how gorgeous the upcoming views would be. Here are a few of them...
At the top of the road, we were so high in elevation that we could see out over the ocean. This is called the Napali coast. There are no roads that go around this section of the island. These cliffs go right down to the water and the area here can only be reached by boat. These green cliffs are seen in the introduction of Jurassic Park.
The photos really can't do any of this canyon justice. It was unbelievably breathtaking!!
Also, at the top was this sign.
The mountain in the center of Kauai is called Wai'ale'ale.
Because it is shrouded in clouds almost all the time, it is known as one of the wettest spots on earth. It is said to get over 400 inches of precipitation a year.
As we worked our way back down the canyon we couldn't resist snapping a few more photos. At this spot we saw, down on the green patch on the left side of the sharp rocks sticking up, mountain goats literally running down the cliffs. It was remarkable.
So beautiful in the shadows
We took this photo of the statue of Captain James Cook in the town of Waimea....
....and took this lovely picture of the sunset at Salt Pond Park. It was an amazing day.
The next day we headed out for the excursion that Steve had really wanted to do. This was the one thing that we booked before even going to Kauai. I will admit that I had a little trepidation about going up on a helicopter tour....
....but it was wonderful!! Here are some of our new friends loading on.
Ready to take off.....well, pretty ready.
I really didn't know what to expect. I thought it would be loud and bumpy. But with the headphones, it was actually very quiet and peaceful with just our pilot narrating the flight...
.......and the ride was so smooth.
We even had a little 6 month passenger with her own little headphones.
She cried for about a minute then had a great nap.
A Jurassic Park view
And again...
The same canyon from yesterday but from much higher up
More beauty
A waterfall along the Napali Coast
Such amazing views can only be seen from helicopter or boat.
It was just breathtaking.
Here is another of Napali with the blade showing in the top of the photo
and the light reflecting on the window. Look at those mountains!!
As we started up inside the mountain, it was so wet and rainy that the windows were covered with moisture and droplets which meant that most of the photos didn't turn out that well.
But the waterfalls and views were so gorgeous!!
So green and beautiful
Flying over the flatter eastern side of the island
Another great rainbow in the rainbow state
Some sights along the northern shore
Such beautiful water
Steve inside a huge dry cave....it went so far back!!
Looking out from farther back in the cave
The trail head of the Kalalau Trail. This is the one that can be hiked to the Napali coast...
...the catch is that it takes two days to get there through treacherous terrain.
We decided to take a photo of the trail head. :)
We did, however, decide to take a cool canoe trip/hike to Sacred Falls.
I promise that even though it was super muddy, wet, and a little challenging, we had a great time!
(not indicated on my face in this photo)
At the end of the hike, we got to swim out under this waterfall. Super cool!!
Steve tried it first....then me. We only got a video of my trip out.
There are the two survivors!!
The pool at our resort on Kauai
The road heading south from where we stayed
We loved the canopy trees along our way so we had to take a photo
A little waterfall along the road as well
The pine trees in Hawaii are so cool looking
And all of the tree trunks are covered in green vines and stuff.
We just really wanted to get photos of some of the greenery before we left the island.
Really, it was just plain and simple breathtaking every single day!!
On our way to the airport, we finally stopped in the little town of Kapaa to get some souvenirs. We had driven through the town many times going from north to south and back again, but had never stopped. We found some super cool shops there and even bought a little wooden rooster!
Kauai treated us very well, indeed. Time to see another island!!!
such fun photos! Hawaii is beautiful.
ReplyDelete