Day 5 - Nov. 15, 2008

Our last day was perfect. It rained a little bit but we were able to relax, take a walk along the beach. One of the coolest parts of the walk were when we saw a HUGE sea turtle in the waves. It was a stormy morning and the waves were huge. This was over by the cliffs on the south end of the Shipwreck Beach. With each wave that came in, I just expected this turtle to be thrown onto the rocks. But each time the wave crashed, you would see the turtle swimming in place, as if the waves hardly affected it at all. Just amazing.

We spent the last part of the day exploring the west shore and eating at our favorite pizza place, Brick Oven Pizza.

Then we went as far west as the paved road allowed and found ourselves on a dirt road for almost 5 miles to reach Polihale State Park - a beach that the concierge told us that she would help to. There are not a lot of tourists. It was a gorgeous beach, the waves were huge (would never get in that water) but the beach never seemed to end. And seemed completely empty. We loved the rainbow and the light.

Darren at the beach

Can you see the rainbow in the background?

Nikki at the beach - sooo windy.

On our way back to the hotel, it really started to rain. Hard hard hard. Maybe it wasn't such a bad time to leave. I actually felt a little bit sad about the people unloading their luggage to this kind of weather at the hotel. 

At the airport, relaxed, tan-ner (for us) and tired, we were glad we got the chance for a little adventure. As we sat in the plastic lounge chairs, we started planning our next adventure.

The End. 

Day 4 - Nov. 14, 2008

This is the day we woke up at the crack of dawn on vacation to drive to the north shore of Kauai. We headed to Ke'e Beach - which is literally the end of the road on Kauai. From there we hiked the Kalalau Trail to the Hanakoa Fall. It was amazing. We didn't have rain (like we did last time) and we made great time on our hike. 

We even got in the water at the falls - which might have been the coldest water in the world. That waterfall might be coming out of a glacier. 

I was a wimp and was in the water for about 2 seconds. 

While Darren preferred to frolic. 

We were sad to have the hike end. I would like to think I was mostly sad because I was pretty tired by the end of the 7 mile hike through humidity. Luckily Darren was a gentleman and offered to carry the back pack. I needed all of the help I could with my balance (which has ever been good). 

Darren being a gentleman with the backpack. 

Our hike could not have finished at a better time - we were climbing into our car when it started to rain! The north typically has a lot of rain, while the south shore is a little sunnier.  Po'ipu was a little overcast, but no rain - we were lucky. 

We soaked in the hot tub for our sore muscles. And to remove some of that red dirt.

But we had to hurry, we had reservations at the Beach House for sunset. Unfortunately though - since it was overcast, there wasn't much of a sunset. However, it was still delicious. It was a little sad though, it was our last night on the island. 

Outside of the Beach House restaurant and our kind of sunset. 

Day 3 - Nov. 14, 2008

This was designated as a strict beach day. Which my really non-tan skin needed. We headed to Kiahuna Beach in front of the Sheraton Hotel. Not a lot of rocks, waves were not as crazy - so I felt a little more safe in the water. 

Beautiful beach, right? 

This a cliff we climbed up outside of the Hyatt - on Shipwreck Beach (the name alone makes me nervous in that water). You can see the Hyatt in the background.

We later were sitting on the beach when Darren fell asleep on the beach. I did what any loving wife would do in that situation. I 

buried him in the sand and took pictures. 

 

That night we were all set to go to the new James Bond movie but it was a tiny theater, the only seats were in the front - so we went to bed early for our hike the next morning. We had to get all of the rest we could. 

Day 2 - Nov. 13, 2008

We left Turtle Bay and O'ahu. We spent the day driving around the island and seeing various sights - like more shaved ice. We were even able to watch the Triple Crown Surf competition - it was pretty amazing.  

Then we headed to Kauai - where we spent our honeymoon. Awwwww. 

Back to the Hyatt  - such a beautiful hotel. Simply gorgeous. 

We were starving when we landed so we grabbed dinner at Roy's. Which was divine. Sushi and that souffle! It can't be shared. One of my favorite desserts ever. 

Day 1 - Part 2

After we put in a few hours of beach time, we headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center. 

It was so much fun and it made me sad that I didn't have some great cultural tradition. I basically can contribute big gulps to society. Maybe casseroles or microwave popcorn?  I digress, it was beautiful and the church does an amazing job ensuring these cultures are celebrated.  

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Here is our little canoe tour of the various islands.

This is Darren in the male Taihitian dance. It was so packed I could only get an upward shot of Darren. The dance resembled an elaborate chicken dance. 

Here we are before the lu'au began.

This is post lu'au - torrential downpour and Darren is over taking pictures. We are a tad wet here. 

I would say the only bad thing was when it started to rain after the lu'au. Actually the rain wasn't the problem. The problem was I was wearing a dress and had to run through the rain to get to the final performance. It was a LOT of rain - the deep puddle kind. So I was wet, tired, and really really cold.  Those fire dancers looked warm and I was a tad jealous that they got to handle fire. I knew I should have packed my Uggs. 

Day 1 - Nov. 12, 2008

Ahhh, we are back. From Hawaii where we just spent 5 very relaxing days. Lovely. I am going to post a little bit of what we did every day. WARNING - there will be a lot of pictures. 

Day 1 - we flew into O'ahu. I have never been to O'ahu before, so we starting things right by stopping at Costco first thing and picked up a few provisions and headed to the North Shore to stay here:

Turtle Bay - What a dump. Okay, just kidding. It was beautiful, we had a great view from our room. Our first day we spent the morning exploring. 

Me on a hammock with really really white skin - I had not been in the sun - YET. 

Darren in the beach cottage area- everything was so green! 

We were lucky to meet up with Clark and Kathleen - they were staying at the same hotel. 

And the famous Matsumoto's Shave Ice. Wonderful. Worth a flight. It's a bold statement, and I stand behind it. 

Day 1 was actually really long, so this will be done in 2 posts. 

Almost there

Here is Glenn Beck's take on marriage. Brilliant!