Luau

I've never been to a luau before but I've attended a few luau themed parties; grass skirts, leis, pork, etc. There are several different places to attend a luau on the island but we picked the Kilohana Plantation as our destination. A bus picked us up at 3:45 at the condo and then we took an hour long ride to the plantation. Jeff and I thought that was a little early, especially considering that the meal didn't start until 6pm but the time really flew by. We arrived and got to walk around the grounds a little; then got leid and had a professional picture taken with some of the dancers (we actually purchased this picture but now that I look at it in clear daylight it's not the best picture of us); then we looked at some local crafts (for sale of course); and walked around the plantation and took pictures before returning to our designated table.

Jeff and I both took pictures next to this gigantic anchor. One craft table had a necklace that was perfect for Jeff. He doesn't even wear jewelry but this was a uniquely-Jeff necklace. I wish we had bought it or at least taken a picture. It was $45 which we both thought was a little steep. There were hundreds of people there and the building was huge. 

I had two drinks which were both pretty awful. A few dancers got the crowd going before the meal was served. It was buffet style and we were sent as a table to the line. Here's my plate (I know it's blurry--sorry).

The poi was the worst! Disgusting stuff. A lady at our table kept saying, "Why do they even put that out? Why would they serve that to tourists?" She and I were the only ones brave enough to even try it at our table of 10. The taro mash wasn't so bad (the purple stuff). We also had taro rolls before the buffet started and it was probably the best part of the meal. The pork was good but too salty and my favorite thing was the salmon and tomato salad (no mayo). The best part of the whole experience was the show. It was spectacular. Jeff and I were both very impressed and the fire dancing was incredible. All my pictures are very poor and I could only fit my iPhone into my itty-bitty purse.

The lighting was dim for dramatic effect anyway so I don't think it would have mattered. As the show ended we headed back outside to find our bus. I snapped this shot of the pig pit. 

I didn't see them pull the pig out so I wonder if this was just for show. The luau was supposed to be authentic but there were just so many people there, some corners were probably cut. We had a great time and I would recommend that anyone visiting any of the islands attend one luau. Our bus driver took this picture of us. I love Jeff's model pose. 

Paddle Boarding

We went paddle boarding on Friday. This was probably my favorite thing all week. Why? It wasn't cheap and we only paddled for about an hour. I think it's my favorite because the funniest stuff happened to both Jeff and I during that hour. Plus, I've never paddle boarded before and I never thought I could since my balance is pretty poor (plus the vertigo stuff). Here's an example of my BFF Jennifer Aniston paddle boarding.

Jeff wanted to snorkel (again) but he also mentioned paddle boarding on our last full day. The idea kind of sunk in fast and my mind was made up. We talked to a New Zealand guy (leaving one paradise for another?) and his prices were outrages.

Well, they were to Jeff; I didn't know any better. We left and found a more affordable place in the Hanalei shopping area. We were given two paddles after measuring our arm length and then a guy on a bike met us at Hanalei Bay to unlock the boards from their station. He gave us simple instructions--because it turns out it's a really simple activity, and we had about 3 hours to play. I can't remember if it was before snorkeling or paddle boarding that Jeff said I should let him know when I was ready to head back to shore by using a code word. His code word suggestion was for me to yell 'shark'. We started off practicing in a cove on our knees (as seen in the pic I took below)

and then we just stood up and headed out to the bay. The bay is also the marina. Here's a shot of the marina from far away.

You also saw it from above in the heli ride post. Here's where we headed which was to the left of the cove.

Here's a shot of the bay to the left of the pier. 

On to the funny stuff. The bay is really big and the waters are crystal clear and calm (except for the occasional slight wake from motor boats). I'm just paddling along and I look for Jeff. He's pretty far from me and is near the pier. I avoided the pier because there were more people over there and I would hate to fall on someone. Well, I'm getting closer and closer to the boats. I'm trying to make my board go to the left toward Jeff and away from the boats. I mean, I'm paddling hard. It's very difficult to turn those behemoths. The only thing that's happening is I'm going even faster toward the boats. I look at Jeff and he throws his hands up like, "Do something!" So, I plop down and straddle the board and paddle like a fiend. The front of my board was in the boats anchor line. Having my legs in the water and my furious paddling helped the board stop and I was able to backup and paddle away while still sitting on the board. At a safe distance I got on my knees and then stood back up. I looked for Jeff again hoping he hadn't seen the whole thing. I look up just in time to see him tip his board and completely fall into the water. It. Was. Hilarious. I was bent over laughing. He gets back on his board totally drenched. We're both laughing now and trying to enjoy the view as we paddle around. We decide to head back to the cove after 10 more minutes. Well, I'll be damned if I didn't somehow head right back to the boats and almost ram another one! I think at this point Jeff tried to act like he didn't know me. I got control about a foot from disaster and made my way to the cove. The one on the right was the first almost accident and the one on the left was the second. 

I lost my balance a little after a motor boat went buy but I never did fall in the water. That was all Jeff. Jeff was still standing on his board as we approached the shore. His board slammed into the shore and he kind of runs and stumbles into the sand still tethered to the board. Also hilarious. We were both laughing so hard. I decided to get back on my knees and prepare for the shore impact. Such a fun time. Jeff was able to get this picture of me displaying my awesome paddle boarding skills. 

We returned to Hanalei Bay on Saturday to look for more shells. I wish we had taken pictures because all the locals were camping on the beach, grilling, socializing, and the younger crowd had pool floats and noodles in the water. The entire bay is like a giant swimming pool and I wish I had taken pictures of all the tomfoolery. We did have some success finding shells here. These are my prize finds.

The bottom one is a cowry shell. Score! And it's creature free.

Heli Ride

A chance to see the Na Pali Coast is probably the number one suggestion to anyone visiting Kauai. You can only see it by boat or by air. Jeff, the snorkel lover, wanted to try for one of the boat tours that offered a little snorkel time (sea turtles and dolphins are practically a guaranteed sight). Well, most of those tours are 6-7 hours. I can't handle being on the water that long so we tried for some of the 3.5 to 5.5 hour tours. They were all booked until Sunday or Tuesday the following week. Jeff worked out the snorkel situation so that was no longer a priority. Another option was 4 to 5 hour sunset cruises along the coast. Those also booked quickly and our chance was gone. Next we looked into helicopter rides. We read reviews on at least 3 different companies on the island and finally decided to go with Island Helicopters.

Most expensive 50 minutes of our life. Since all of our other options to see the coast were gone I'd say the cost was well worth it. Plus we got to see a lot of the island that you can't see by boat. I wore a motion sickness patch plus I had about 3 other remedies on hand. I chewed two pieces of ginger gum during the trip. Jeff took a ton of pictures. Poor guy. I hope he had a chance to enjoy the ride and the views for himself. So, what follows is basically a photo dump of the island. Here we are getting ready to board the heli.

There were six passengers and one captain/pilot. We were smooshed in there like sardines but the time flew by (ha!) and we got over it quickly. This is liftoff. The pilot played a little James Bond theme music to lighten the mood. It was pretty funny.

This is the waterfall from the opening scene of Jurassic Park, hence the name of the tour; Jurassic Falls. Dozens of movies have been filmed in Kauai. There's even a tour that takes you to all the movie film spots. That would have been fun if we'd had the time. 

I think this is Waimea Canyon. And Jeff's left hand.

The next several pictures are of the Na Pali Coast. It looks like we were there are separate days because some of the shots are gloomy and some are sunny. 

Can you see the trail below? I'll discuss that more.

The next few are of Hanalei Bay. Hanalei Bay is gorgeous. It was where we paddle boarded and visited a couple times to look for shells and watch the locals. Hanalei is mentioned in the Peter, Paul and Mary song Puff the Magic Dragon. 

Puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea

and frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee

I think this was taken about mid-way through the trip.

Here we are again, safely on land. 

Our cool captain. 

I did not get sick on the trip. My stomach did flip a time or two but everything went very well. I also haven't been on a helicopter since I was about 6 so this was an exciting adventure. Jeff got some really great pictures and I think I might have to pick one to enlarge and frame. I still wish we could have taken a sunset boat tour, especially since our one attempt to get sunset pictures was on a cloudy evening. 

I did mention that a month wouldn't be long enough to see and do everything you want in Kauai. There's also the chance that I may have gotten sea sick on a boat tour and that would have ruined a day so there's that to consider. 

Snorkeling

We snorkeled twice in Kauai. If it were up to Jeff we would have snorkeled every day. We rented snorkel gear at a local shop. Most tourists rent everything from snorkel gear, to camping equipment, to beach chairs. It's hard to fit those things in your luggage on a plane. We snorkeled at Tunnels Beach, also called Makua Beach. Does that ring a bell? Did you see the movie Soul Surfer? Probably not but you've most likely heard about the female surfer with only one arm, Bethany Hamilton. Tunnels Beach is where a shark attacked her and took/ate her left arm. She was much farther out to sea and I didn't find this out until after our first snorkel visit, thank goodness. Our second snorkel visit was much shorter. Anyway, we lugged our snorkel gear from the parking lot to a spot on the beach. On the way we saw this fella.

Jeff said, "Do you see that dead seal? Everyone's taking a picture." This monk seal was not dead, just resting. Apparently they beach after a meal to rest and digest. Lifeguard's will rope them off (see the arrow) so people don't disturb them. A lot of pictures and video were being taken.

I watched it's belly rise and fall a few times and then went on my way.
Here was an easy spot to enter the water to snorkel.

There's enough area for people to get their masks and fins on and then start swimming. You can see the reef formations easily from the beach. This was only my second time snorkeling so I still had that newbie hyperventilating breathing reaction for the first few minutes but I was fine the rest of the time. We only wore our fins on the second day. I didn't really like them.

They were huge and we didn't have much swimming space between the reefs and the other swimmers. We saw TONS of fish. Way more than in St. Lucia. Plus I didn't get sick breathing in diesel fumes. We could also take our time.

I call this one the fish photobomb.

I think this is a shot of my favorite fish (again with the arrow). It's neon; bright, bright, neon.

I think this Google image example is the same fish.

It looks way more florescent in the water. We also tried to look for some shells. I finally found a cowry shell. I've wanted to find one since I was about 10 years old. I gave it to Jeff to keep in his swimsuit pocket. It actually looked a lot like this one with the spots on top but dark instead of light.

Ten minutes later we looked at our finds and the cowry shell had limbs coming out of the opening. It was still inhabited so we had to throw it and pretty much all our shells back for the same reason. Jeff used his underwater camera that I bought him a few years back. After 10 minutes in the water it stopped working and he hasn't been able to use it since.

At least we were able to get a few pictures but that stinks about his camera breaking. Snorkeling was a very fun and cheap activity (probably the cheapest thing we did all week including eating). I'm getting more relaxed with it and I even dove down a good bit. On our second snorkel day Jeff said he wanted to go back to our towels so I headed to the shore. Instead he stayed in the shallow water looking for shells and kept spitting at me through his breathing tube. Disgusting. Apparently Tunnels and Anini Beach were the best for snorkeling. We walked around Anini but didn't return to snorkel.