Hawaiian Honeymoon Part 2: Kauai

Friday:

Jacob had been to Kauai previously with his family and he told me frequently how much I would love it. Kauai is known for it's beautiful landscape; many movies have been filmed there including Jurassic Park. Jacob think it is the most gorgeous of all the Hawaiian islands, and while I have only been to one other so far I'd have to agree. It is much less developed then Oahu so it feels more like a tropical island. After hearing how great the nature was supposed to be we just had to spend our first day seeing as much as we could, I think we drove around most of the island.

First we stopped at this beautiful waterfall. There was a Hawaiian native there selling hand woven grass baskets, we ended up returning the next week to buy one for our souvenir.

Back behind where the water fall started we found a little path that led to this cool abandoned bridge and a little lagoon type area.

I loved this tree at the bottom of the waterfall, its harder to well in this picture though

Next we went to see the "Grand Canyon" of Kauai. I had no idea there was something like this on the island, it was incredible! The colors were so brilliant: green, orange, and red. I wonder if there is a way you can hike through part of it, maybe next time.

After scanning through our travel brochure we spotted what was supposed to be the most romantic beach in Kauai. I wish I remembered the name of it. Once we got there we had to turn off onto a bumpy dirt road and drive about 5 mph. The going was slow but definitely worth it. The beach was the best I'd seen so far. I normally don't like getting into the ocean a whole lot but here I had to make an exception, it was too pretty to pass up. We have fun splashing around in the waves. Sadly we didn't get any pictures here.

Saturday:

The main road around Kauai circles about 3/4 or more of the island but does not connect through that last quarter. This is area of the island is made up of gorgeous mountains and coves that have remained untainted by human civilization. The only way to access them is by hiking up mountain trails that lead to the coves or by kayak, boat, or helicopter. To hike all the way in is approximately 11 or so miles. It is a popular hike for backpackers who stay the night at the end of the trail and then head back the next day. Jacob and I hope to do this someday but we'll have to become a little more hard core first. We decided instead to do a 4 mile round trip hike that took us to the first cove. The hike was steep, rigorous  and very rocky, but I have never been on a more beautiful hike in my life. The views were fantastic and the trail itself was lined with vibrant plant life and mini waterfalls/streams.

When we reached the cove Jacob headed straight out into the water. I was pretty nervous about it because the waves looked much rougher than beaches we had been to but at least I knew he was a much better swimmer than most. He really enjoyed himself and I had fun taking pictures of the scenery.

Once we had returned from the hike back to our car we realized that we were right by a popular snorkeling spot so we had to use our gear we had purchased back in Oahu. I had tried snorkeling for a short time a few days before but this was still a relatively new experience for me. Jacob was a good teacher and I did well with breathing while under water. We swam around looking at some beautiful reefs and some cool fish but then I'd had enough and was ready to head back to shore. I hadn't realized this before our honeymoon but I am somewhat afraid of water, especially the dark ocean, and so when small waves rolled over me I got a little freaked out. I let Jacob keep going while I hung out on shore and he ended up seeing two big sea turtles swim right by him. He was sad I missed them but I'm just glad he had a good experience since he really likes snorkeling.

Sunday:

On Sunday we enjoyed a very relaxed day. We went to church at this really cute blue and white LDS building. The sacrament meeting room's side walls were constructed almost entirely of glass windows that could open up to let in the breeze and there were several fans above our heads. That Sunday happened to be their seminary program so we got to here several of the youth talk which was cool.

After church we drove out to a popular sightseeing spot to see a lighthouse and got some great pictures. Later on in the day we headed to a smaller beach so that Jacob could get one more chance to snorkel before the end of our trip. I had gotten my fill the day before so I laid out a towel and read a book.

Monday:

Our last day, so sad but we were also getting a little excited to start our real life together back home and move into our first apartment so that made it a bit better. We had lots of things to fit in before our 8pm flight that night. The first to do on my list was riding bikes down this paved path that went along the waters edge for 8 miles. I had seen signs advertising cheap bike rentals a few days before and really wanted to do it. The bikes we rented were these really cute hipster looking bikes with no gears and back-pedal brakes. We had so much fun riding them and got to see parts of the beach that aren't accessible from the road. I wish we had some pictures from it as this was one of my favorite things we did on Kauai.

Another thing on our to do list was finding an authentic Hawaiian farmers market. We had been trying our entire time in Kauai but hadn't found much luck. We finally hit the jackpot in a Kmart parking lot, kind of funny. There were all kinds of fruits and vegetables for sale. Since we had to eat whatever we bought that day we settled with a small bunch of apple bananas (these mini bananas that kinda taste like a mix with apples). We also purchase the most delicious little freshly made scones/donuts from a kiosk right by the door into Kmart. I wish every Kmart had those for sale outside of them, they were so good and made a great pair with our apple bananas. We took them with us and headed to a more touristy beach close by to enjoy our snack and the view one more time.

After that we headed back to the airport but we made sure to take the road that would lead us through my favorite landmark, the tree lane. Just a little tid bit about me, I LOVE trees, a lot. That fact and the romantic in me makes a treel lane just about the most amazing, gorgeous thing ever. My dream is to someday have one leading up to our house, at least they have a lot of trees on the east coast.

At the end of the day we arrived at the airport ready for our red eye home. We both decided to take NyQuil to help us sleep on the plane, worst idea ever, for me at least. Jacob was out like a light. I, however, have a history of sleeplessness on planes and this did not solve the problem. Instead it made my limbs feel all weird like I couldn't move but I was still awake and could not fall asleep. It was such a strange sensation and a very rough night. But that one bad experience did not take away from how amazing our vacation was. I couldn't have hoped for a greater honeymoon or a better start for our marriage :)

Hawaiian Honeymoon Part 1: Oahu

Sunday (April 22nd):
The day began early, at about 4:15am to be exact, as we had to be at the airport in time for our early flight. I think we always forget how small the Idaho Falls airport is though so we were there with plenty of time. After a stopover in San Francisco, we flew into Oahu at around noon with the time change. Once we had obtained our rental car we still had about 4 hours before we could check into our condo so we decided to take a trip to Pearl Harbor. The fact being that WWII has always fascinated me and Pearl Harbor is one of my favorite movies, it was high on my list of places to see. Jacob had never been there either so he was excited about it too, I think it might have had something to do with getting to see big military guns.

We wandered around a bit while we waited for the next tour group to start. After about an hour we had our turn to ride the ferry out to the famous battleship Arizona.

It was a very cool yet sobering experience to know we were right above the massive sunken battleship. I felt sad for the many young men who were trapped beneath it's surface and lost their lives on Dec. 7th, 1941. I am grateful for their bravery and service as well as for the those who served with them and those men and women who continue to serve our country today.

The Arizona's gigantic fuel tank is still leaking today and has adversely affected the harbor. If you look out at the water, oil can be seen as it continually bubbles up to the surface.

 We had a beautiful view of the monument and nearby ships as we headed back to shore.

After we finished looking around the vistor center and museums we headed into Honolulu to check out our Condo, which was located on Waikiki beach. We made a trip to Walmart to stock up on supplies and purchase snorkeling gear before calling it a night, with the early travel and time change we were exhausted.

Monday:

On Monday we made an early start, waking up at about 6 am. We kept this up for most of the trip, it felt great to go to sleep around 9:30 when it got dark and then have so much time in the morning to do fun things. Our first adventure of the day was a trip to Diamond Head National Park to hike to the top of an old volcano that looks out over Honolulu. We had a spectacular view!

Hawaii weather is pretty random, one moment it's super hot and then the next clouds roll in and it starts raining. Or even weirder, it's bright, sunny, and raining. One thing thats constant though is the wind, it was a blessing on this hike as it kept us from getting too hot but it does make it hard for good picture taking.

View in the opposite direction from Honolulu

There were ruins from an old military post at the top. We had fun climbing into the concrete dugout that   only had a sliver of a window for the barrels of big artillery guns to point out through.

When we were finished with our hike we decided to spend the rest of the driving around most of the island. This turned out to be a great idea as we got to see parts of the island we probably wouldn't have traveled through otherwise. We were both impressed at the variety of the landscape, from lush green mountains to flat farmland, it was gorgeous.

We stopped at a little park for lunch and Jacob tried out our new scuba gear for the first time. The water was a little too choppy and weather too rainy for me to be brave enough to venture out there myself.

Our final destination before returning home was BYU Hawaii and the temple. After hearing so much about the school it was fun to see the campus in person.

The temple was just right around the corner.

I love the palm tree lined path leading up to it, the temple looked so majestic at the top of the hill surrounded by all the beautiful foliage.

Tuesday:

We spent the morning relaxing and walking along the beach a few blocks in front of our condo. Around 11 am we left for the Polynesian Cultural Center which is located on the other side of the island, back by the temple and BYU Hawaii. On our way there we gave in and treated ourselves to a Dominoes pizza, which was delicious (later on we were thankful that we had eaten such a filling lunch). 

We arrived around 12:30, only a little after it opened. Throughout the afternoon we attended presentations for various Polynesian countries. 

New Zealand: They performed with poi and showed us how to play a fast paced stick tossing game (it used to be a training exercise for their warriors). When singing and chanting their women make their eyes bulge out really far, it's pretty creepy looking.

Fiji: We got to practice our musical abilities by banging bamboo poles against the floor along with the music, changing our rhythm each time the presenter signaled us. 

Tahiti: We learned how to do the native dance, which for the girls involves rotating your hips up and down super fast while the boys turn in a circle knocking their knees together. I felt a little silly but we had fun with it.

Tonga: The men played huge drums while chanting and calling out shrilly. They had some volunteers come up and attempt to copy them. It was pretty entertaining to say the least.

Hawaii: They taught us a hulu dance and we got to practice it all together in a group

In between all of the presentations we also found time to take a canoe tour through the park. We also watched the canoe pageant which was really fun. All of the different countries are represented on flat bed canoes. They dance and sing as they float past you, I loved all the bright and colorful costumes.

Next it was time for the luau. We were seated in a huge room with many other people. There was entertainment in the form of dancing and singing. The food was buffet style and filled with many interesting foods unique to Hawaii. My favorite was probably the purple rolls which are made from dark purple sweet potatoes.

The best part of dinner though came in the middle of our meal, the guy in charge of the entertainment asked everyone who was in Hawaii to celebrate their honeymoon or anniversary to come on stage. Although it took a little bit to convince Jacob to stand up I think he secretly enjoyed it to. Once on stage they had us dance to a cute song Hawaiian song and share a kiss, to which everyone applauded.

We ended the night with watching the show Breath of Life, which was spectacular. It was full of dancing, fiery tricks, beautiful songs, and cool special effects. We loved it and were so glad we had fit the cultural center into our trip. 

*We forgot our camera so all pictures of the Polynesian Cultural Center are courtesy of Google

Wednesday:

This was our last full day on Oahu. Ever since we had decided on Hawaii for our honeymoon I new that I wanted to go parasailing. However, when the big day cam around I was getting pretty nervous. I've always been a little scared of heights and even more scared of the ocean. Jacob tried to lighten my mood by joking about the sharks in the water, it didn't exactly help. But once we were on the boat cruising away from the beach my nerves calmed down and I was just excited. I love riding on boats so I think this helped. Also, we got to watch another couple go before us which was good because then I knew what to expect. Soon it was our turn, luckily we got to go at the same time. We strapped on our harnesses and held on tight as we were yanked up in to the air. It was beautiful to see Honolulu from 750 feet up, you could also see Diamond Head national park. I loved every second and did not want to come back down. I will definitely be up for going again next time we get the chance.

After getting back to shore and drying off we headed to the University of Hawaii football stadium parking lot where an outdoor market encircle completely around it. We had fun looking all all of the goods but were disappointed to see that most things seemed to be shipped from China or other cheap suppliers rather then having been made in Hawaii by locals.

We then drove across the island to see the picturesque north shore. We had heard the beaches their were the most beautiful on the island and we weren't disappointed.

 

That evening we walked down the beach in front of our condo for the last time and looked at more shops. This time they were more of the really high end expensive sort, it was cool to see so many brands that I had previously only heard about but never been to a shopping place nice enough to see.

Thursday:

Because we had to check out of our condo that morning, we packed everything up, loaded the rental car, and headed out for a full day activities since our flight wasn't until late in the evening. We started by going downtown to see all of the historical sites.

The trees were really interesting, the branches grow down into the ground and join the trees roots, slowly widening the trunk of the tree

We saw a copy of this same statue at the Capital building in D.C.

Before leaving down town Jacob really wanted to make a stop at in exotic car dealership down the street. He had gotten so excited each time we'd passed the store earlier in the week I couldn't help but agree. Once inside it was surprisingly easy for him to convince the lady working there that he was a real customer, with only the 25 year old age limit standing in his way of renting one of the expensive cars for the day. She showed us all around and we got to see some really beautiful cars. I especially loved the light blue, California Ferrari. Hopefully someday we'll be back :)

We spent the rest of our afternoon drving once more around the island, which was one of my favorite things because it was such a great way to see as much senic views as possible. During one stop off the side of the road we saw sea turtles swiming in the water just off the shore.

Further down we went off-roading a little bit and found a cool rocky outcropping as well.

Our last stop before the airport was the Dole Pineapple Planation. We couldn't miss this stop since we both LOVE pineapple, especially grilled :)

The fish pond was so full the fish were stacked on top of each other close to the bridge, they must have been hoping for food, it was kinda gross but cool.

Once again I found another fascinating tree, it was multi-colored!

Later that evening we turned in our rental car and took the short flight over to Kauai to continue our honeymoon adventure!

Part 2 coming soon...