Kauai & Oahu Trip aka: 14th Anniversary Fun

So, as many of you know, Norm & I were able to take a trip to Hawaii. Specifically the islands of Kauai & Oahu. We had a great time. Here's a run down of our daily activities:

7/5: Woke up bright & early at 3 am so we could leave by 4 am for the Phoenix airport. Our flight to Honolulu left at on time 6 am. We arrived in Honolulu at 11:30 am Hawaii time. We had a couple hours to kill at the airport before our flight to Kauai. We happened upon a nice garden area where we enjoyed the nice atmosphere. I thought the birds there were really cool looking and fed some of my trailmix to them. They were fearless and I even got a couple to eat out of my hand:

We then flew to Kauai and arrived there at 2pm. We got our rental car and decided to pick up bikes so that we could ride down Waimea Canyon the next morning. After picking up our bikes we found our hotel and settled down for the night.

7/6: We woke up bright and early (actually we woke up around 3 am and had to force ourselves to sleep for a few more hours) and drove to Waimea Canyon with our bikes. On the way we picked up a second rental car for the day so that we could leave one at the bottom of the canyon. We drove to the top and checked our the lookout there. It was pretty awesome to see the Na Pali Coastline from up above. After gearing up, we started the 19 mile ride downhill (well mostly downhill). There were a few uphills and not being in biking shape, I had to walk my bike a few times. Once we reached about mile 12, it was all downhill from there. I was a bit fearfull at first, but I really enjoyed myself. When we reached the bottom we decided that it was so much fun, we wanted to do it again. We took the time to have some lunch and then headed back up the canyon to pick up car #1. We drove both cars down, left car #1 at the bottom this time and drove car #2 back up to milepost 11. Then we did it all again a second time. It was just as fun.

7/7: Another early morning so that we could meet our boat tour. We left at 8:30 and headed up the Na Pali Coast. It was a beautiful morning. On our way up, we saw lots of spinner dolphins and a few sea turtles in the water. The views of the coastline were awesome. We were able to go into a few sea caves and one in particular was really cool. It was completely open on the top and you could see the sky above (see pics below). We stopped for lunch & snorkeling. I was surprised by the saltiness of the ocean water (I made myself laugh when I realized the reason my snorkel tasted salty was because it had ocean water on it). We saw a sea turtle or two and got a really great picture. There were also plenty of tropical fish. Very fun. I just wish I could have stood to dive down lower like Norm, but wasn't comfortable with it.

This is the view from the coastline that we saw from the top of Waimea Canyon.

Inside the cool open cave

Looking up

7/8: We decided that we'd take a hike today. We found a hike that originated at the end of the road on the north side of the island. It was 2 miles to a beach & then another 2 miles to some falls. We figured 4 miles each way, no sweat, that will take us a few hours. When we arrived at the trailhead, the signs there suggested that the hike to the falls & back would take 6-8 hours. What!! We were not prepared, but still figured that with our 2 bottles of gatoraid we'd be just fine. Our last words. We headed out and soon discovered that the trail was very slippery & difficult. Right away I started rationing my fluid intake. We made it to the falls and enjoyed their beauty. I was pretty tired and starting to get a bit grumpy though. I was happy to swim and cool down a bit. It was very humid. The hike back was all about reaching the car. I slipped and fell a few times (you can see evidence in the pic below) which didn't help with my mood. By the end of the trail I was definately dehydrated and wanting to get to a store asap. Once I got some fluids in me I felt much better and appologized to Norm for being so whiney on the way out. I decided I'll never be so unprepared for a hike if I could help it again.

A wet cave near the trailhead

I was pondering do I really want to go any farther? I can see the falls from here.

7/9: After wiping ourselves out on our hike, we decided to take it easy today. We drove to a few outlooks where we could see some of the other falls on the island. We relaxed by the pool, read, and went swimming. I appologize for not knowing the names of these falls. I'll have to look them up and add the info later.

Wailua River: we were planning on kayaking it the next morning.

7/10: We slept in a bit, woke up, and packed our bags. We were leaving Kauai at 9:30 pm. After checking out, we found a place to rent a kayak and headed up the Wailua river to the secret falls. We came to the kayak pull out and hiked the mile to the falls. This hike was much easier than our last, though just as wet. After swimming in the pool, we hiked back to the kayak and headed up the other fork of the river to find the Fern Grotto & swimming hole. At the swimming hole, Norm found a rope swing and took a few turns on it. I couldn't find the courrage and passed. The Fern Grotto was kind of a let down, but pretty none the less. After returning our kayak, we headed back to our hotel, grabbed our books, and read by the ocean for the last few hours we were on Kauai. I was sad to have to go.

That's me at the base of the Secret Falls

7/11: After a late arrival into Oahu the night before, we woke up early to go wait in line to see the USS Arizona. We arrived at around 7 am (we had planned to be there by 6:30, but didn't make it) and there was already quite a line. Once they opened, we were able to get tickets for the 3rd group. It was a great experience to see the film and then take the boatride out to the memorial. It was very moving to think about what had happened on December 7th and the changes that occured.

After viewing the USS Arizona Memorial, we took the drive to La'ie where BYU Hawaii, the temple, & Polynesian Cultural Center are located. We weren't able to attend a session at the temple because they were closed for their summer cleaning. We did walk around the grounds and found them very beautiful. We then went down the road to BYU Hawaii and walked around the campus. Very small in comparison to BYU. Finally, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center to spend the afternoon. It was very cool to see all the different island countries represented and find out more about each of them. We viewed an IMAX movie about the coral reefs. Saw some cool demonstrations & hands on activities. That evening we went to a luau and ate some very good food. They even had a small show there. As part of that show, they invited all couples who were celebrating their anniversary to come up on the stage and dance, so we had a nice dance together. Finally, the evening ended with an awesome show that we really enjoyed. I took some video and will have to post some if I can.

7/12: Last Day :( We began our morning by putting on our suits, grabbing a book, & walked outside our hotel to Waikiki beach. We enjoyed a relaxing time reading & swimming in the warm ocean. We did a little shopping to find the kids a shirt from hawaii and then headed back to the hotel to pack up & head to the airport for our 3pm flight home. When we got through security we looked at the departure board and found that our flight had been delayed for 3 hours. We decided to take advantage of this opportunity and head to the garden, find ourselves a bench & enjoy a few more hours in Hawaii. Our flight left at 6 pm and arrived in Phoenix at 3 am Sunday morning. All we had left was our 2 hour drive home. So, we pulled into our driveway at 5 am Sunday morning. We crashed of course. Greatfully, Aunt Jocelynne told us to relax & sleep as much as we needed while the kids played at her house. We are forever greatful to Grandma Fran for keeping our kidlets occupied while we were away. They had a great time.