Sunday, August 1, 2010

Kauai Adventures: Days 4&5--July 20th, 21st

On Tuesday we woke up and had breakfast on the 4th floor lanai. Chad read us the newspaper and updated me on current-ish events. We then lounged by the pool/beach and read the rest of the morning and early afternoon before heading back up for our massages at 3pm. Definitely the favorite pregnancy massage I've ever had--so comfy! We met in the relaxation room, complete with waterfall walls surrounding us and read some more! We then showered up to get ready for our special dinner night at the world famous Kauai Grill! Can I just say Melt. In. Your. Mouth? It was absolutely delicious. Hearts of palm and coconut salad, bacon wrapped shrimp, Ono (fish) sweet and sour and Scezhuan encrusted Ahi--one of the best dinners we've ever had!!! Oh, and I had a mint pineapple drink to go along with my meal--yummy too!



The next morning we woke up and drove in to Hanalei to grab some snorkel gear and get breakfast from Java Kai--a delicious and funky coffee/breakfast joint in town. So good. We then made our way to Ke'e Beach for our big hike up the Kalaui Trail---a grueling 11 mile hike, intended for some serious hikers. There are several other enticing points on the trail like Hanapali Beach and some waterfalls down the trail, but we only made it to the beach. Actually I only made it just 20 minutes short of the beach. I was feeling fine and hanging in on the hike, but it was the people returning from the beach up a steep and in the middle of sun part of the trail that started scaring me. I asked a couple of people their thoughts on me returning, and they thought I should just turn around. Completely bummed that Chad and I decided I might need to wait until our next trip, I turned back and let Chad head to the beach to see the views, etc. Anyway, when all was said and done, it was a 4 mile hike that took several hours. AND--it was completely worth it---just for the sweat and exercise alone, but the sheer beauty of seeing the Napali Coast was amazing!! No one can drive on the Napali Coast--it can only be seen by foot, air or boat, so we were so happy we hiked it!








During our hike and after it, we fueled up with bananas, beef jerky and water--normally not a great combo, but perfect to give us the energy to survive! Chad was amazing because not only did he do the hike, but he carried my big camera, our bags of food and water (since we didn't have a backpack) and our snorkel gear because we thought we might snorkel at the end of the hike at Ke'e Beach. All of it on him, up and down the steep, rocky trail! My hero!! It turns out we were told that the snorkeling would be much better at Tunnels Beach. So, we drove back to Tunnels Beach. I was pretty ragged after the hike, not thinking I could walk another step, so I chilled on a towel while Chad went out to snorkel. After a little bit he came back in and I thought we were going to head back to the hotel. However, he mentioned that he swam with a sea turtle!!! That completely changed my mind and I could not leave without trying to snorkel with sea turtles! So I mustered up some energy and we headed back in the water! How we wish we had underwater cameras! The fish were beautiful--all different colors and patters AND we saw a whole family of sea turtles---right in front of us. We could have touched them if we wanted to! It was awesome!!! I'm SO thankful Chad came back telling me what he saw and convinced me to go in---it was one of the highlights of our trip!

Finally, completely tuckered out and not having had lunch, we drove back through Hanalei and ate our lunch at 5, grabbing some Bubba Burgers and Hawaiian shave ice---something I HAD to do on our trip! Delicious and refreshing. And I'm wondering as I'm writing this how we even had the energy, but after we got back to our room, we still managed to shower and go back down for yet another, beautiful sunset---what would be the prettiest of our trip (a sunset post to come too)!




3 comments :

jetb@tds.net said...

OK.....I think that every post is better than the one before but this one is FOR CERTAIN my favorite! Love sharing this with you! Jane Barnes

jetb@tds.net said...

I was going to write you an email to commiserate on our love of Kauai but I did not have your address so I will put this on your blog. Jim and I just happened upon the Kalaui Trail....we still cannot remember why we decided to do it, but so glad we did. We, at 58 years, knew that as non-hikers we would be lucky to get to the waterfalls so that is all we undertook....an we LOVED it. A medic that lived in the apartments near where we were staying had warned us to take loads of water and we were so glad we did! We are not hikers, just walkers, and it wore us out! I cannot imagine being 30 weeks pregnant and taking that on! Good for you! We must have stopped every 25 yards for pictures....such a breathtaking hike.....I think it is the Sierra Club's #1 hike in the world.....and you can see why! That shave ice always tasted so good to us after any physical activity we did....and we seemed to do more while there. I even tried to check into a shave ice machine when i returned home ( way too $$$!).....they were the BEST! Enjoying your posts so much!

EBW said...

Good for you to hike!!! I'm so proud of you doing that pregnant! Wow..it was exhausting without..but you're smart not to do that last part. That was definitely the most taxing. Guess you'll just have to go back:)

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