Friday, July 8, 2011

Kauai Day Seven, Tuesday

Kauai Day Seven, Tuesday


We planned on driving up to the North Shore of Kauai, a near two-hour trip each way, and meant to leave by ten.

Yeaaaah. We left at nearly noon.

The drive up was beautiful, as is everything in Kauai, and we saw lots of little towns and resorts and beautiful beaches and the most beautiful mountain ranges ever. By the time we arrived it was one o'clock and lunch was sounding good. Instead of getting lunch we decided to hike first, snorkel, and then eat. We set off in search of the trailhead.

Yeaaaah. We found where the trailhead was supposed to be, two miles down a one-lane road, and there was a house, a friendly dog, and it was sectioned off. We decided to hike a trail we'd seen on the road off to the side instead, called Okoleani at the base of He'emanu Mountain, which means manta-ray. The thing about mountains? That I conveniently forgot? Is that they go up. We hiked for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours up, which sucked, but was really pretty, and then we ran into a local who is something of a guide, and she showed us some neat plants such as awapuhi, which softens hair. She also told us that the trail goes for about five hours to a scenic overlook. We decided to turn back. The hike down was not nearly as long but it was difficult, and we slid a few times in the steep mud.

Finally we made it! We were down, and alive, and we were covered in mud which we washed off in a convenient stream. Yay!

We then headed to Anini Beach to snorkel, which I didn't do because I was tired and hot, so I decided to hike back fifteen minutes down the road to a public restroom because I don't do the whole “Bladder Bay” thing. Andra picked me up on my walk back. They snorkeled and I swam for a few minutes to cool off in the very shallow sandy waters, and then lay on my towel in the shade.

For dinner we ate at Hanalei town and I had Hanalei Gourmet fish sandwich and the others ate at Bubba's Burgers, which is apparently famous because celebrities have eaten there. Mine was delicious!

We drove home and enjoyed the beautiful views again, and then Clay and I went in the jacuzzi and then we came back and I went to bed and read for awhile before falling asleep.

Kauai Day Six, Monday

Kauai Day Six, Monday


This morning I woke up about 8:30 and made some chocolate macadamia nut coffee, which then was left in the pot for awhile because I decided to go to the gym along with Drew. My usual workout is some weight training and mostly treadmill and the stair machine, but Drew suggested some weights and new workouts and some killer crunches. I was too tired to run after!


Breakfast was half an everything bagel with scrambled egg on top, mmm! And the neglected coffee. ^_^ Andra and Drew went off to Costco while the rest of us had a lazy morning, reading and dozing and getting ready. Once they came back we decided that today we wanted to snorkel today!


We headed to Lawai beach and rented snorkel gear for $5 a day from Boss Frog's and then got in the water! It was very rocky and it was easier to swim through the shallow water than to walk with flippers. Right away we saw tons of beautiful fish! I recognized those moor fish, parrots, angelfish, and most definitely the two sea turtles that we found! Or rather, Andra and I found one farther out (he hid under a coral cave but then came up and bobbed about getting air!) and then the others found one right by the shore! We got scraped up by the rocks in about one foot of water at times, and have a few cuts but ohmigosh it was soo close and cool! The waves were pretty strong and were knocking us around and we had to be careful not to get knocked into the turtle! He was just chowing down on the food on the rocks, ignoring us. We got out after a while and rinsed off, then decided we were all starving and needed pizza.


We drove to a Pizzetta restaurant and had freshly made calzones and pasta! I had a Hawaiian calzone, delicious. Then we drove back and relaxed. I went to load more photos in the lobby and now am back in the room eating popcorn and watching the movie Mario. Good times. ^_-