Thursday, 20 February 2014

February 20, 2014

Kauai

John watches the NCL cruise liner "Pride of America" come into port at sunrise.


Kalapaki Beach

Menehune Fishpond

Meanwhile, Leah is in  the lobby checking to see if Averi messaged in the night.
The lobby is the bottom of the building.
A morning visitor.

The grounds and pool area.

Our breakfast spot.
We spent many mornings eating breakfast on this log by the ocean!

Twice a year they trim the palm trees.

In Kauai, there are roosters EVERYWHERE!

No day is complete without fresh fruit from the market.

Time for shave ice - YUM!

Tunnels Beach
Leah follows a fish along the drop off.  
The dark water is a steep drop off, the bottom of the ocean is so deep it is out of sight.
This fish would not go on the deep water side.


Rubie?  Did you come to Kauai?

An outrigger tour arrives at the beach.  They paddled the Napali Coast.


John hiked the Kalalau Trail to the Hanakapi'ai Beach.
Leah joined along for all the major viewpoints 
and then hiked back to read on Ke'e Beach.

Ke'e and Tunnels Beach



The Napali Coast!  Stunning!

John arrives at the beach.
With this warning - no swimming here!

Big waves!  Strong current!


Stunning everywhere.

This is the Hanalei Town main road.
The arrow points to Tahiti Nui Restaurant,
this restaurant was featured in the movie:  
The Descendants

At this lookout a newlywed couple - literally married a few hours earlier
asked us to take wedding photos for them.  Gorgeous spot!






Wednesday, 19 February 2014

February 19, 2014

Kauai

 John watches the sunrise from Kapaa!


Wailua Falls
Wailua Falls Video


The Tree Tunnel Canopy of Eucalyptus Trees.
The tunnel lines Maliuhi Road - the gateway to the south shore.

 Shipwrecks Beach looking east.

 Shipwrecks Beach looking west.


The Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail.
Our first hike in Kauai!  


 The hike brings you through a tunnel of trees.

Our first look at the beach - the hikes destination!
All the red water is from the red dirt and recent rain.   
It enters the ocean via a creek which we will have to walk through to get to the beach.
The Gillin beach house (now a vacation rental) is the lone property on Maha'ulepu beach.

From the far end of the beach looking back at the trail.

 Time for a swim.
Since we didn't know it was a great swimming beach we didn't bring bathing suits.  
Leah swam in her t-shirt and shorts!

On our way back we stumbled across this sight!

 John crosses the red creek.


Part of the trail is alongside Poipu Bay golf course. This course hosted the PGA Grand Slam of golf
 from 1994 - 2006

 For lunch a well earned Puka Dog.  Yum!

 Poipu Beach Park. West of the tombolo. This side was great
for snorkeling.

 Poipu Beach Park. East of the tombolo. This side was great
for swimming.

 Great snorkeling - surprisingly good for such a public beach!


Brennecke Beach.
This beach is nicknamed:  "Break Neck Beach" - We wonder why the nickname?

Kiahuna Beach

Spouting Horn Blow Hole!













After the sun set we went back to our condo for Brick Oven Pizza - Yum!

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

February 18, 2014

Kauai

John gets up early to watch the sunrise from Lydgate Beach Park!


The farmers market that is walking distance from our condo.
Coconut Market Place


Small Town Coffee becomes a morning routine!









A lookout north of Kapaa.









The first whale sighting!  We saw many whales everyday!
Common Ground for lunch.  Common Ground is a restaurant John learned about from a podcast.
They use the "fresh from the fields" approach - everything is organic and local.  YUM!

The entrance to the Common Ground gardens.

A visitor...

Another visitor...



The Kilauea Light Station.
Built in 1913, America's westernmost lighthouse and served as a beacon for ships on the Orient Run.


This whale was close to shore!

The lighthouse has recently been restored. The four year volunteer led renovation coincided with the
 100th anniversary of the lighthouse in May 2013.


Baby Albatross - this nest can be seen from the lighhouse lookout area.
Adult Albatross has a 6 to 7 foot wingspsan.


Red-footed Boobies - there were hundreds of them on this hill (white specks aplenty)


Kalihiwai Beach

We stumbled across this waterfall between 
Kalihiwai and Secret Beach.

The entrance to Secret Beach.

The trail to Secret Beach was lush and very "Jurassic Park" like!


Secret Beach - note the lighthouse on the point.

Spotted our first paddleboard surfer!

Anini Beach
The Taro Field in Hanalei Valley
We may be the very first people to take a picture of these fields from this vantage point!