Honeymoon

Day 1: Friday morning we flew from Salt Lake to Lihue, Kaua'i. We landed, picked up our lovely silver Dodge something-or-other, and made our way around the island to Bali Hai Wyndham. There is one main road in Kaua'i. The airport is somewhere in the middle. If you go left in your newly acquired wheels you end up at Port Allen and eventually reach a beach (where you are not allowed to take rental cars...). If you take a right you wind around the island, passing beaches, coconut stands, and several Mormon churches, until you arrive at the Wyndham. If you were to keep driving on that road would end at Haena State Park which is also a trailhead--which we'll talk about later.

While waiting to check in we backtracked to Kilauea Lighthouse. It was closed so we didn't hike in but the waves, sun, and blue sky were fabulous. Very paradisical. We also ran into the neighboring beach town of Hanalei to do some grocery shopping and to grab a bite.

This is the view from our balcony:

Day 2: We got up and fixed us some breakfast with the required amount of mandatory fresh pineapple (heaven) and then packed up our cameras and snacks and headed to the end of the road (Haena). 2 miles down the trail you get to a beach that is only accessible via trail. You can then continue on that trail moving along the breathtaking Na'pali Coast. You can head inland (and up-land) for 2 miles to the Hanakapi'ai Falls. Or you can turn around and head back the way you came. We opted for the waterfall. I'm not going to say I was not excited but had I known how muddy and how long this little hike would end up being I don't know if I would have been quite as supportive...It was beautiful--a picture can't quite capture the misty sweet air and the lush green that is all around you. Beyond the falls is supposedly the wettest place on earth where they average over 400 inches of rain a year. What?!?

This is where we waded across the river (completely soaking the parts of ourselves that hadn't already been drenched by the rain that started half-way to the beach. Our shoes turned a muddy red from the Kaua'i dirt so this was a great opportunity to rinse them off...)

Before heading up to the falls you pass this little gem. Did I actually go in? I think not. But it was working according to the hiker that was exiting on our way back down (is there really any way for it to not work?) and yes, it was even sketchier in person.

To get an idea of how tall the falls were--double what you see above us. And make sure you look for the crazy people swimming under the falls on the right. Definitely not safe. A very nice couple from Park City who work at Deer Valley took our pic. What a small world.

Day 3: Today we got up early and drove around the island to Port Allen where we boarded a catamaran for a cruise of the Nepali Coast. There were about 30 of us on the boat plus the crew and it was a gorgeous day. Zero rain but not crazy hot and with very little wind. (We would have been happy with the wind because then the sails would have gone up and the motors would have turned off but who can complain about a perfect day like that?) As we motored around the island the crew gave us some of the coast's history, along with that of the neighboring island which is natives only, is privately owned by an Italian family, and has zero electricity and running water...I'm not making this stuff up, I promise.

This is our Captain.

You would not believe the dolphins and the flying fish we saw! They came right up next to the boat and it doesn't matter how many of them you have seen. Each time it is amazing and you turn into a four year old squealing "did you see that?" Apparently for every dolphin you see on the surface of the water there are 4 or 5 swimming deeper. The waters were infested.

After an hour and a half, the boat dropped anchor and we all grabbed snorkel gear and jumped into the water. We were above a coral reef so you could dive down (if you remembered not to breathe through your mouthpiece) and explore for as long as you could hold your breath. A member of the crew threw out bits of bread to attract the fish to the boat. It was very "Under the Sea." I'm sure to someone looking down from above we looked very silly--30 tourists face down, bums up, swimming in the same general area around our boat. It was awesome.

Here are some views of the coast.

It was heaven. I could have stayed out there forever. After returning to Port Allen we drove over to the Waimea Canyon, having heard it was Hawaii's Grand Canyon. It would have been great if we had had time to explore there longer. As it was we were exhausted from being out to sea for the day, not to mention being a little sunburned.

Day 4: Today we left Kuai'i and took a plane to Oahu. Oahu is so different then Kuai'i! It's like another planet. Where it felt like we were just two of a few people on Kuai'i, Waikiki was fairly crowded and busy--maybe too much like the real world...

After checking in and getting our bearings we went out in search of the Punchbowl Cemetery only to discover it would be closed by the time we walked there...So we went in search of dinner instead. On our way home we snagged some groceries for breakfast/snacks. We made it an early night because we had to catch the bus to the Polynesian Center in the morning.

Day 5: The Polynesian Center.

We caught the bus at a nearby hotel and headed out to Laie. We picked up our tickets and then decided to walk over to the LDS Temple, located quite close to Poly Center. It was beautiful and we probably should have rigged a camera to get a picture of us together there. Whoops.

Because we didn't sign up for a guided tour of the Center we were free to see what we wanted to see and do what we wanted to do. I remembered it being bigger from when I went there with my family, but the canoe "parade" was the same as was the Luau at the end of the day. After the Luau we headed into the show "KA: Breath of Life"--our favorite part. The show was very well done. The best part however was at intermission when the female BYU Hawaii students started selling bowls of ice cream and the boys ran from back stage bringing refills to the girls' trays. This was more like sprinting than running, up and down the aisles. I feel bad that we were just waiting for someone to trip and land in a pile...but luckily (or unfortunately for us) no one did.

My only regret from the day was not getting a bowl of ice cream during the show.

Day 6: Today was dedicated to Pearl Harbor and it started at 7:30am when we caught up with our tour guide for the day. These tour guides are the way to go if you want to see all the Memorials surrounding and related to Pearl Harbor. They take care of all the reservations, tickets, and scheduling so all you have to do is show up when you are supposed to.

We started at the USS Bowfin, a retired submarine that you walk through. The thought of living there with 30-40 other people, underwater, for any period of time, was almost too much for me. It is incredible what people are willing to do to protect us!

Next we went to the Arizona Memorial. Before heading out to the Memorial, which you get to by ferry, you watch a video about the Pearl Harbor bombing. Watching the video before going over to the Memorial definitely makes the general attitude of the group more subdued and reflective. The Memorial itself is beautiful. There are several places where parts of the Arizona stick up out of the water and it is still slowly leaking oil into the water. The drops of oil are called the "tears of the Arizona." The names of all the men are inscribed along the wall of the Memorial. I was surprised to learn how many sets of brothers there were. It's heart breaking.

From here we went over to tour the USS Missouri Battleship and the Pacific Aviation Museum. The Missouri is huge and I am sure were weren't able to go everywhere. Eric took dozens of pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

On the Missouri our guide was a man who had served on the Missouri (post WWII) and at the Aviation Museum our guide was a little Japanese American man who was living on Oahu when Pearl Harbor was bombed. He remembers being out playing in the street with his friends and seeing the Japanese bomber flying overhead. He said it seemed like the pilot saw the kids in the street and realized he was over a residential area before changing his course towards the harbor. This museum was one of my favorite parts of the day because he was so interesting to listen to.

After a tour around historic Honolulu (which I think I nodded off during) we returned to our hotel. We were spent after the long day. We grabbed some dinner and ice cream and walked along the beach which was lovely.

Day 7: Our last day...

We had to pack everything up this morning but since our flight didn't leave until the evening we were able to check everything in at the front desk before heading out for the day. We decided to rent bikes and make our way over to the Diamond Head Crater. Wow, it's been a long time since I've ridden a bike. No, I didn't have to walk up the hills but it was almost ugly. We parked our bikes at the base of the crater and then hiked up to the top. The trail was super crowded but the view from the top was worth it. We coasted back down to our hotel/bags and lounged by the pool until it was time to get ready to go. The Wyndham was fabulous in that they let us use a room to shower and get cleaned up before flying out and then we headed to the airport.

Traveling home to Boston was pretty long but the layover in Utah was great because we got to see Kathy, Mark, and Erin.

Yeah for Hawaii. I'm sure we will be missing the beach come snowy February.