We stayed at the Kaui Mariott in Lihue and loved it. We tried paddleboard surfing one afternoon and although I'm tempted to claim the pictures below as our own, we didn't look quite as graceful as these individuals do on their boards. We didn't take any pictures since we were both out in the water, but even if we had the pictures wouldn't have been too impressive. Catching a wave on a paddleboard was much harder than traditional surfing, and I'm sure the locals thought we were fools, but we had a good time.
Kaui is famous for it's waterfalls and hiking 4 miles to Hanakapiai Falls did not disappoint! The water was FREEZING, but we couldn't not swim in such a spectacular setting.
The Kalalau Trail runs along the beautiful Na Pali Coastline and is the trail we used to access the falls. The surf was huge this day and it was awesome to watch the waves crash against the cliff faces. These pictures do not do the ocean justice, it was so much more beautiful in person. I kept telling Eric it was "speaking to my soul" and he thought I was crazy!
To get an even better view of the Na Pali coast, we took a catamaran tour. The scenery was spectacular, but once again the surf was big so we couldn't get up close to the cliffs, go into caves, or snorkel like we hoped to. But we did see lots of whales, turtles, and dolphins.
We were only in Kaui 4 days (since we lost a day with the flight delay) but we still managed to see and do pretty much everything we had hoped to do. We loved everything about Kaui - the quaint little towns, the gorgeous mountains, the chickens and roosters that roam all over the island, the waterfalls, snorkeling with turtles, and the aqua blue ocean. We can't wait to go back!
After we returned, we had a couple days to spend with my family in SD before driving back to GJ. We took the kids to the beach (which was totally anti-climatic after Kaui), played at the park, and got to know Erika's new little puppy, Kirby.
We also went down to Balboa park to walk around and let the kids play on some little rides. It was great to spend some time with the family and the kids were so sad to leave. I don't think the kids missed us at all when we were in Kaui since they were being spoiled by their Nana and having sleepovers with their cousins. I think it went so well we should do this once every other month!
I'm still dreaming of Kaui and wishing I was still there. This morning when my alarm went off I was dreaming that we were at the beach in Kaui and Eric was telling me it was time to go catch the plane and I was in tears! Hopefully we make it back soon.
