Luau

We spent another day snorkeling and going back to our favorite beaches.Poipu Beach (Poy-poo)After a full day of playing we went to the Smith Plantation, where we saw the beautiful gardens.
The Luau dancers were great.

Dinner was good and I liked eating all the fresh fruits. I tried the poy but there is not much taste and the purple color threw me off. I guess I expected it to be white. The pineapple was the best.

The natives do a ceremony before eating the pig to honor it.

The underground oven where they cook the piggy.

Taking the layer of sand off that keeps the pig hot.

Catamaran Trip

What a great way to spend our anniversary.This is not my photography and I did not get a great shot at the dolphins but they followed our boat on many occasions. We also seen some spinner dolphins they are smaller and jump high out of the water and do a spin in the air. They were fun to watch and they seemed to be following the whales.

We saw lots of humpback whales along the Na Pali Coast, this also is not my photography but they were very tricky to catch because the boat is moving with the waves and they only come out of the water for a second. This is what we seen them doing. The whales can be seen in Hawaii from Dec.- April so we were at the very end of the season but we seen them everywhere. The whales come to Hawaii for the winter to give birth, mate, and nurse their young before heading back to Alaska where they eat all summer long.

Beautiful! Na Pali coast

Hey I actually did catch a fin coming out of the water.

Ty was able to go scuba diving, he had a blast, I think the neatest thing was that he was able to hear the whales under the water.

I stuck to snorkeling while Ty was scuba diving at one point I was surrounded by fish and I came up to take a break from the mask that I couldn't seem to stop breathing through my nose with. When I did so I realized that the captain of our boat had thrown some pretzels out. I had heard that they will sometimes go into a feeding frenzie and I didn't want any part of that so I started splashing them away as quick as I could. Right after that I heard someone in the water yell Shark! I looked at them and they seemed to be fine so I thought that they were joking. I looked at the boat and the captain was watching us and he didn't say anything either. I continued to snorkel and when I came back up I was the only one left in the water. I went back to the boat and was later told that there was a baby shark spotted in the water. I am glad that I did not learn that while I was out there, because I would have panicked.
What a fun trip!

Beach Bums

One of our favorite activities on the island was "beach hopping" Kauai has so many beaches and the highway runs right next to the ocean. We drove the whole island because it is so small you could really do it in a day. We stopped at many different beaches and collected a small baggy of sand at each one. I thought that a sand collection would be really fun to start, and maybe an excuse to see some more beaches. I am going to find some little glass bottles to put the sand in.

This is the view from the lighthouse that we visited, there is a bird refuge there and is also a great look out point to see humpback whales. We did not see any whales from here but it was breathtaking. Even I look like an awesome photographer, what can I say I don't think you could find an ugly spot on the island.

The lighthouse was built in 1913, and is still working today. We were able to see it at night too.

We happened to see another Walking Tree, so here is a better view of the whole tree. This one is small.

Many birds live here at the refuge on this hill, I am not much of a bird watcher so I could not tell what kind they were but apparently they are endangered. I thought that it was very neat to learn that the helicopter tour companies left this part of the island alone so as not to disturb the birds (or crash).

This tree looks like a pineapple tree but I was suprised to learn that it was really called a false pineapple tree or another name was the Walking Tree and the female trees had the fruit and the male trees did not. The fruit that looks like a pineapple are actually seeds and they can float and be carried away by the ocean to other lands.

Here is a mother and baby Monk seal snoozing on the beach.Here is a field in Hanalei that was planted with taro. Just above it is a huge waterfall.Ty and I decided this could definately be a new career for us. Beach Bums. As you can see the beaches are not crowded and you really can have a private beach to yourself. On several occasions we were the only ones out there.

This is not a great shot of the mom and baby Monk seals but it gives you a perspective of just how close you can get. I was sitting just four feet away from the pair when I took this picture. I actually decided to back up when the mom was getting irritated with the baby because he was trying to coax his mother into returning to the water after sunset and she was not done sleeping. She barked at him several times. One time she heard my camera phone click and she opened one eye to see me then check on the baby with the other eye and went back to sleep.

Another perfect ending to a perfect day on the island of Kauai.

Kayaking the Wailua River

We had so much fun kayaking, it was a great way to see the mountains from ground view because a hike was waiting for us at the top of the river. We started near the bottom where the river emptys into the ocean and paddle up stream to the top where it soon narrows. Believe it or not the breeze makes paddling up the river easier than paddling back down.

To begin our hike we had to cross the river where there were ropes to hold onto to get across the strong currents. I don't know why I was thinking that I could wear jean shorts because the river was up to my stomach.

At the end of our hike was a beautiful waterfall called Secret Falls. The trail was muddy and somewhat difficult to walk in but the falls was worth it.

Of course Ty is never a party pooper so after eating lunch he was the first to go for a swim. I was not exactly wanting to be wet again. Here is a picture of George of the jungle vines that we saw all over the forest, or I would say jungle. They really do bend just like a rope.

The rocks below are what is left of a native village that used to live in the area. They had paths lined with rock and garden walls built by stacking rocks. The houses were dug underneath the ground and usually had rocks above for defense. This one we were told was the Kings house.

We were able to see a Walking Tree. Yes it really does walk. The roots stay somewhat above the ground and the tree walks toward the nearest water source. The back of the tree uproots and a new root grows in the front and slowly the tree moves toward the river or whatever water source is around. This tree might be more helpful in Utah to give a sign of which way the water hole is. I can't think that the natives really needed to find water that often in Kauai since it rains alot.