Anyways, the plane ride there was 7 hours long, however, there is a 3 hour time set back, so we got to the island early afternoon. Flying over all the other islands was so cool! It is the coolest thing to see tiny little houses and cities out the airplane window, I couldn't look away for a second! But finally I saw our beautiful island of Kauai, topped with beautiful lush mountains, gold sandy beaches and the bright blue ocean. And the perfect vacation had begun.
We started our glorious trip by going to Costco. Costco is one of my favorite restaurants (polish dogs all the way!) so we ate there. Getting into the Hawaii spirit! (not!)
So, this map is to explain where the heck everything was that I did. I don’t know why, but visuals help show how small and wonderful this island is.
The airport is on the south side at Lihue. It took us 1 hour to drive to our little beach house. The drive is a one lane highway through tall trees and pretty little neighborhoods. My family jammed to Jack Johnson (because you have to when you’re on the same island that Jack Johnson makes his beautiful art).
We stayed at a little house in Hanalei Bay, a 2 second walk to the beach and a 5 minute walk to a little strip shop road with a bunch of shaved ice shacks and tourist boutiques.
Our beach had the most pillow-y sand and soft warm water. It was so nice. We spent the evening there.
The next day we drove all the way to the west side of the island, to a snorkeling beach called Poipu. I’ve never been snorkeling before, but very quickly fell in love with it. The fish were so beautiful, and I felt like a mermaid (always a good thing). Then my family beach hopped. We went to one beach to just play around in the water, we went to one to take a walk in the sand, we went to one to watch a blowhole, we went to another mini snorkeling one, and we went to a whale watching beach! By the end of the day I was covered in sand, salt and sweat, and I was beyond happy that I was. And I couldn’t tell you my favorite beach; they were all so beautiful.
On Thursday the plan was to go on a boat ride down the coast. I learned on the way there that this wasn’t just a pretty boat ride, it was a whale watching one! GAH! I’m terrified of whales, so suddenly the boat ride I was so excited for sounded like a death trap. I was still excited, but extremely nervous as well! Luckily, the waves were too big for the boat to go out, so we had to adjust our plans for the day.
We decided- after a breakfast of donuts and watching the sunrise on the beach- we would do a hike along the Napali Coast, to Hanakapiai waterfall. Originally we thought it was a 4 mile hike. We were wrong. It was actually 8 miles and all we had for nourishment was a bag of melted mnms. Good thing I’m soooo in shape (haha!)!
Anyways, this hike is actually the prettiest hike there is on earth! It’s right along the coast, with huge cliffs, and hidden beaches. Also, bonus, I felt like Jane (Tarzan) hiking through the jungle (basically). We finally made it to the waterfall where all exhaustion was forgotten about and all we wanted to do was swim. I finally fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams of swimming behind a waterfall! Woohoo!
After the hike we went out to eat at little Hawaiian places. I am a sucker for salads so I got some Hawaii mixed fruit salad and it was gone in a matter of seconds.
So, sidestory time. This whole vacation my family had been joking that we were gonna meet Jack Johnson on the island. I seriously believed it was entirely possible, especially when this man sat down and started playing his guitar at the trail head. It was so great! Granted he wasn’t Jack Johnson, and he only sang about chasing pretty girls and getting high, but nonetheless, he became my “Jack Johnson” for the week (or at least for the 30 seconds I sat next to him).
On Friday we rented a couple surfboards and spend the day surfing it up! I’m awful at surfing, but I absolutely love it (until the board smacks you in the head and you swallow a gallon of water). Plus, SO MANY hot surfers this week, it was eye candy everywhere! And I felt like a pretty fly kid for surfing some 4 foot waves. You’ll be seeing me at the next Women’s ASP Surfer competition (step aside Stephanie!).
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| (I'm the one in the middle) |
--- (random story I wasn’t sure where to put) ----The first thing we noticed getting off the plane (besides the wonderful humidity and heat) were all the roosters wandering around! It’s the weirdest thing, there are literally thousands of roosters just doing their thing, regardless of where you are on the island. Apparently, once upon a time someone brought roosters to Kauai, there was a huge hurricane and the roosters spread all over the island. I’m used to having seagulls on the beach, trying to nab my goldfish, but not a seagull in sight! Just roosters! It was hilarious until 4 in the morning when every rooster wakes up and decides it’s time for the rest of the island to wake up too. ------
Saturday meant try 2 for the whale watching boat ride. And, to my mother’s great joy, the water was perfect to go out on! The boat ride was 7 hours long, and just 5 minutes out we already had seen 2 whales. But, I was too busy looking at the cute little dolphins to really notice.
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| But just look how pretty!!! |
We snorkeled again at a turtle place, and sea turtles may just be my new favorite animal after they just swam right up to me to say hello (another mermaid moment). The only downside to snorkeling there were the whale sounds you heard underwater. It was haunting. Like, they were mocking me and I didn’t stay in the water very long for fear of swimming right next to a whale.
The whole boat trip was absolutely beautiful! We saw more whales than the captain had ever seen (thank you, not) and one even decided it wanted to breech 10 feet away from me. (Whale splash on Hannah Price resulted in screaming and changing my clothes.) (I could see its barnacles. IT’S BARNACLES!) I never wanted to be that close to a whale, and lucky for me, I was the closest one to it!
Anyways, side story time again! On the boat I met Philip. He is from Germany, and from the second he said “Have you eaten all the cantaloupe?!” I knew we’d be friends. We spent the morning of the boat ride eating almost the entire tray of cantaloupe slices, and talking about all the cool places he has been. We spent the afternoon stealing 12 cookies and teaching me how to pronounce his last name. We’ve stayed in touch since the boat ride, and I honestly never believed I could get a best friend in 7 hours. But Phil is definitely one of the best!
Sunday was our last day. We went to the happiest branch ever! The people in Hawaii are so so so nice and they really have the Aloha spirit. We then went to Tunnel’s beach and I collected little treasures and broken shells. We visited a little snocone shack with the best snow cones on earth! I don’t know how the Hawaiian people make ice with syrup taste like heaven, but they do!
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| we also played cards. you can probably guess who was losing... |
On Monday we made the sad flight home. I plugged in my Jack Johnson and fell asleep for most of the ride. The torture of feeling the cold Utah air was not very welcoming, and I still haven’t thawed out. I am in need of another beach trip ;)
And that sums up my wonderful Hawaii vacation! Hopefully it won’t take me months to make the video (sigh).
Mahalo Hawaii!
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