... in Hawaii!
Although I didn't intend to, I ended up staying up all night before my flight (that's a story for another journal entry), but I managed to leave my apartment before 4am and made it to the airport on time.
I met up with Ali and the gang (a.k.a. her family) in LA and we waited for a while before boarding our flight to Kauai! It was the longest 6 hour flight ever. They had personal video screens but my was broken, despite the efforts of the crew to reboot it several times. I was otherwise unprepared, and all I had with me was my sketchbook. Not in the mood to draw, I ended up writing a paragraph each about all the boys I've kissed which was pretty funny actually.
We arrived in Kauai on Sunday evening. We drove to our houses which were right on the beach. Well, technically there was a small access road between the houses and the beach, but it was very close and we could enjoy ocean views from our porches.
Ali, Jeremey, Caitlin, and I stayed in the Love Shack, which is the best name ever for a rental house. Nicky, Frank, Justin and Julie stayed in the Big Kahuna. The Love Shack was the "stay up later" house, and the Big Kahuna was the "get up early" house.
We headed over to a nearby restaurant for a quick bite to eat, but we were all in zombie mode by that time, so it was pretty quiet. I had a salad with scallops.
The rooster crowed right outside our window before 6am. This did not deter Ali and I from sleeping in until about 9am. By the time we went over to the other house, breakfast making was in full swing and we had fancy omelets and bagels and bacon.
Days tend to blend together for me, so here are things we did on our vacation, in no particular order:
Went snorkeling at Baby Beach, by our house. It was actually the most challenging swim of the trip. We saw lots of fish and sea cucumbers.
Went snorkeling at Poi-Pu beach. This was easier and there was a better variety of fish and other creatures to check out. It's one of those places where the fish are accustomed to people feeding them, so I did my little trick of picking up a handful of sand and sprinkling it around. The fish swarmed all around my hand and bumped into me which was cool. The first time that I got out of the water for a little break, I chose the wrong spot to exit. It was very rocky and I got tumbled. I must have put my hand down at some point to catch myself and two sea urchin spines dug themselves into my hand. Nicky told me that they are easy to squeeze out in the water, so when I went back out, I popped them out. In all the time I've spent snorkeling or diving, I've never gotten poked by a sea urchin, and I must say I hope it never happens again. It wasn't terribly painful, but it wasn't exactly pleasant anyway.
We adopted a little phrase whenever something happened that was kind of a bummer. We'd just tack the words, "in Hawaii" on the end, and you know, it made everything seem a little better. For example: We're out of Ketchup... in Hawaii! I got stung by a sea urchin... in Hawaii! I've got a headache... in Hawaii! We went took a wrong turn... in Hawaii! Nothing seemed that bad. I wonder if I could do the same with ...in Portland! since I'm so happy to be here.
We all had the choice to do one activity, and we narrowed it down to: Chocolate tour/tasting or 7 hour cruise to the Napali Coast and the Forbidden Island (Niihau). Ali and I wanted adventure so we chose the cruise. It was the most amazing trip. We stayed outside on the boat for most of the ride over to the coast and the islands and got totally soaked and salty by the sea spray. It was great. We had hardly pulled out of the harbor when we came across a pod of Spinner Dolphins that jumped and spun for us. We saw several sea turtles along the coast, and watched flying fish fly away from our boat as we raced past.
From the Napali Coast we made our way over to Niihau Island. I stood at the bow for most of that leg of the trip. The water was a deep electric blue. I saw a dolphin! I could almost forget the rest of the boat, standing out at the front there. It was an incredible moment.
We snorkeled along a drop off by Lehua Rock which is a small island next to Niihau Island, but they call it a rock since there are no beaches. The ocean was about 20-30 feet deep by the rock, but there was a shear wall drop off to 100 feet. Most of the fish hung out around the drop, and we even saw a manta ray which was an exciting first for me.
Back on the boat we had lunch and slowly motored over closer to Niihau island. We saw more manta rays feeding at the surface! We also saw a curious monk seal who came over to check us out. They are incredibly endangered with only 30 that live around Kauai, and about 300 for all the islands.
The captain mentioned that they never say that the seas are rough, because they are always rough. Instead they like to say that the sea gets "exciting". Boy was it an exciting ride on the way back. We went through this channel that had white caps and our captain went full speed ahead. He slowed down a couple of times for some particularly large waves. It was so "exciting" that Ali and I chose to stand inside the boat by the bar instead of getting tossed around out on the deck.
We were both fairly exhausted when we got back, so we headed back to the Love Shack for a shower and a nap.
We ate some amazing dinners. Every night we ate somewhere different, but they were all really pricey. I had seafood every night, and Ali and I often shared entrees so we could sample a variety of tastes. My favorite meal was also the cheapest though. On our way to the airport, we ate at a noodle house which was fantastic. I had a sea food stir-fry with glass noodles which apparently are made from beans.
One day we went to a smoothie place that also sold fresh fruit. We bought smoothies and papayas and avocados. We went back the next day for more smoothie action. On Wednesday we found a small farmers market where we bought fresh "apple bananas," more papaya, guava, and passion fruit.
On our very last day, I finally managed to get my butt up early to watch the sunset. I called my mom and described it to her as it was happening. It was pretty amazing. The clouds kept building while the sun rose, for dramatic effect. It started out pale and silvery and warmed up minute by minute until the firey orange sun broke the horizon. The clouds themselves caught fire as they swallowed the sun, and the whole sky flashed into intense oranges, golds, and yellows, anchored by a dark blue sparkling ocean. As the intensity faded, the sun reappeared. The waves were small and curled at the edge of the natural rock barrier. As they broke, the sun rays pierced through and illuminated the clear water, giving the impression that they were made of transparent smokey quartz.
Later that morning, while everyone else went to do the chocolate tour, Ali and I made our way over to Waimea Canyon. When I'd been there before, the clouds were moving in, and by the time I got to the top, there was a total white out. This time I saw the actual view at the top and it was spectacular with dramatic cliff sides, waterfalls and the amazingly blue water of the ocean.
On the way back we stopped off at the Kauai coffee plantation. We sampled the different coffees and picked the best one and bought some for Julie who loves coffee. I bought a burlap coffee sack, which is probably useless, but I love stuff like that.
We hit some "traffic" on the way back, so it took longer than we'd planned. Ali and I hoped to be able to do one last snorkel session in the water since we were leaving that night. We decided to skip lunch so we could get in the water. We went to Lydgate park, which is a bad name for an amazing beach. We actually didn't make it to the "snorkel area," but instead decided to just hop in the water. It was the most incredible sea-green color. Perfectly clear and warm. The waves were fun and not too rough. I think that half hour floating and playing in the waves is my most vivid memory of the trip. Pale yellow sand, bathed in sea green, wearing my new black and white polka dot bathing suit, my red painted toe nails, and a perfectly blue sky with fluffy white clouds. I couldn't ask for anything more.
I met up with Ali and the gang (a.k.a. her family) in LA and we waited for a while before boarding our flight to Kauai! It was the longest 6 hour flight ever. They had personal video screens but my was broken, despite the efforts of the crew to reboot it several times. I was otherwise unprepared, and all I had with me was my sketchbook. Not in the mood to draw, I ended up writing a paragraph each about all the boys I've kissed which was pretty funny actually.
We arrived in Kauai on Sunday evening. We drove to our houses which were right on the beach. Well, technically there was a small access road between the houses and the beach, but it was very close and we could enjoy ocean views from our porches.
Ali, Jeremey, Caitlin, and I stayed in the Love Shack, which is the best name ever for a rental house. Nicky, Frank, Justin and Julie stayed in the Big Kahuna. The Love Shack was the "stay up later" house, and the Big Kahuna was the "get up early" house.
We headed over to a nearby restaurant for a quick bite to eat, but we were all in zombie mode by that time, so it was pretty quiet. I had a salad with scallops.
The rooster crowed right outside our window before 6am. This did not deter Ali and I from sleeping in until about 9am. By the time we went over to the other house, breakfast making was in full swing and we had fancy omelets and bagels and bacon.
Days tend to blend together for me, so here are things we did on our vacation, in no particular order:
Went snorkeling at Baby Beach, by our house. It was actually the most challenging swim of the trip. We saw lots of fish and sea cucumbers.
Went snorkeling at Poi-Pu beach. This was easier and there was a better variety of fish and other creatures to check out. It's one of those places where the fish are accustomed to people feeding them, so I did my little trick of picking up a handful of sand and sprinkling it around. The fish swarmed all around my hand and bumped into me which was cool. The first time that I got out of the water for a little break, I chose the wrong spot to exit. It was very rocky and I got tumbled. I must have put my hand down at some point to catch myself and two sea urchin spines dug themselves into my hand. Nicky told me that they are easy to squeeze out in the water, so when I went back out, I popped them out. In all the time I've spent snorkeling or diving, I've never gotten poked by a sea urchin, and I must say I hope it never happens again. It wasn't terribly painful, but it wasn't exactly pleasant anyway.
We adopted a little phrase whenever something happened that was kind of a bummer. We'd just tack the words, "in Hawaii" on the end, and you know, it made everything seem a little better. For example: We're out of Ketchup... in Hawaii! I got stung by a sea urchin... in Hawaii! I've got a headache... in Hawaii! We went took a wrong turn... in Hawaii! Nothing seemed that bad. I wonder if I could do the same with ...in Portland! since I'm so happy to be here.
We all had the choice to do one activity, and we narrowed it down to: Chocolate tour/tasting or 7 hour cruise to the Napali Coast and the Forbidden Island (Niihau). Ali and I wanted adventure so we chose the cruise. It was the most amazing trip. We stayed outside on the boat for most of the ride over to the coast and the islands and got totally soaked and salty by the sea spray. It was great. We had hardly pulled out of the harbor when we came across a pod of Spinner Dolphins that jumped and spun for us. We saw several sea turtles along the coast, and watched flying fish fly away from our boat as we raced past.
From the Napali Coast we made our way over to Niihau Island. I stood at the bow for most of that leg of the trip. The water was a deep electric blue. I saw a dolphin! I could almost forget the rest of the boat, standing out at the front there. It was an incredible moment.
We snorkeled along a drop off by Lehua Rock which is a small island next to Niihau Island, but they call it a rock since there are no beaches. The ocean was about 20-30 feet deep by the rock, but there was a shear wall drop off to 100 feet. Most of the fish hung out around the drop, and we even saw a manta ray which was an exciting first for me.
Back on the boat we had lunch and slowly motored over closer to Niihau island. We saw more manta rays feeding at the surface! We also saw a curious monk seal who came over to check us out. They are incredibly endangered with only 30 that live around Kauai, and about 300 for all the islands.
The captain mentioned that they never say that the seas are rough, because they are always rough. Instead they like to say that the sea gets "exciting". Boy was it an exciting ride on the way back. We went through this channel that had white caps and our captain went full speed ahead. He slowed down a couple of times for some particularly large waves. It was so "exciting" that Ali and I chose to stand inside the boat by the bar instead of getting tossed around out on the deck.
We were both fairly exhausted when we got back, so we headed back to the Love Shack for a shower and a nap.
We ate some amazing dinners. Every night we ate somewhere different, but they were all really pricey. I had seafood every night, and Ali and I often shared entrees so we could sample a variety of tastes. My favorite meal was also the cheapest though. On our way to the airport, we ate at a noodle house which was fantastic. I had a sea food stir-fry with glass noodles which apparently are made from beans.
One day we went to a smoothie place that also sold fresh fruit. We bought smoothies and papayas and avocados. We went back the next day for more smoothie action. On Wednesday we found a small farmers market where we bought fresh "apple bananas," more papaya, guava, and passion fruit.
On our very last day, I finally managed to get my butt up early to watch the sunset. I called my mom and described it to her as it was happening. It was pretty amazing. The clouds kept building while the sun rose, for dramatic effect. It started out pale and silvery and warmed up minute by minute until the firey orange sun broke the horizon. The clouds themselves caught fire as they swallowed the sun, and the whole sky flashed into intense oranges, golds, and yellows, anchored by a dark blue sparkling ocean. As the intensity faded, the sun reappeared. The waves were small and curled at the edge of the natural rock barrier. As they broke, the sun rays pierced through and illuminated the clear water, giving the impression that they were made of transparent smokey quartz.
Later that morning, while everyone else went to do the chocolate tour, Ali and I made our way over to Waimea Canyon. When I'd been there before, the clouds were moving in, and by the time I got to the top, there was a total white out. This time I saw the actual view at the top and it was spectacular with dramatic cliff sides, waterfalls and the amazingly blue water of the ocean.
On the way back we stopped off at the Kauai coffee plantation. We sampled the different coffees and picked the best one and bought some for Julie who loves coffee. I bought a burlap coffee sack, which is probably useless, but I love stuff like that.
We hit some "traffic" on the way back, so it took longer than we'd planned. Ali and I hoped to be able to do one last snorkel session in the water since we were leaving that night. We decided to skip lunch so we could get in the water. We went to Lydgate park, which is a bad name for an amazing beach. We actually didn't make it to the "snorkel area," but instead decided to just hop in the water. It was the most incredible sea-green color. Perfectly clear and warm. The waves were fun and not too rough. I think that half hour floating and playing in the waves is my most vivid memory of the trip. Pale yellow sand, bathed in sea green, wearing my new black and white polka dot bathing suit, my red painted toe nails, and a perfectly blue sky with fluffy white clouds. I couldn't ask for anything more.