Day 1
Our first day was a long day of travel, but it went well! We were able
to start the day slow which was super nice. We drove to J’s mom’s place and she
took us to the airport for our 1pm flight. The first flight went well (4
hours), and we had a quick turnaround for our 2nd flight to Hawaii.
That one was definitely long – about 6 hours. I stayed awake for all of them
for the most part and watched a lot of movies. Thank goodness for Delta in
flight movies! We flew into Lihue at about 8pm, and Mom, Neil and J landed just
a bit after us from Maui! So we all took the shuttle together to the hotel by
the airport. We all had some dinner at the hotel restaurant, walked around the
dark resort a bit, and then went to bed. Since they have traveled this trip a
few times, they had great advice for us. We booked a room at the Hanalei Bay
resort, which is less than 10 minutes from the airport. You get in and it’s
dark and then you wake up to an incredible resort and the ocean!
Day 2
I woke up to pounding on my door at about 6am – it was mom! She
excitedly said hurry up put on clothes we’re going out to the sunrise! J isn’t
a morning person so I didn’t even play around with waking him up – I threw on
my dress – backwards and without a bra – and we ran out to the ocean to meet
Neil and J. We just sat by the ocean and watched the sunset come in. How
magical the first day you are in a beautiful place is! I just had so much
overwhelming appreciation for where I was and what was to come! Not to mention,
it’s always awesome traveling with morning people for a changeJ Mornings are my
FAVORITE. Omg I love them so much. After that we got ready for the day, packed
up all our hiking stuff and all of our luggage (since we were moving hotels).
We all met in the hotel restaurant and had a great breakfast. I got some sort
of breakfast wrap it was so good. Then we drove to get our cars and then onto
the hike! Just like with most trips, there was a little hitch in our plan. Our
second car wasn’t ready, so there was a bit of shuffling but we just picked up
on the one car for now and would come back later for our second car.
This part gets a little silly, because as we learned, we missed a huge
lookout point on our way to another lookout point! We drove the about 1.5 hours
to Waimea Canyon from our hotel. It’s a very windy road, so it takes a bit to
climb up there. We missed the lookouts of the actual canyon on the way to
Kalalau lookout – and then onto the Alakai Swamp trail. So note to future
travelers, don’t miss the lookouts! The Canyon is amazing and is the Grand
Canyon of the pacific! We stopped at a pre lookout first and it was AMAZING.
Mom and Neil move really fast though, so we took like one minute to look and then
were off trying to find the actual trail head we wanted. Note to travelers –
the Kalalau lookout is the end of the road, so drive until you can’t anymore.
Once we were finally there. Holy balls. We couldn’t even BELIEVE what we were
looking at. It was absolutely the most amazing thing I have ever seen. And SO
clear! It can be hit or miss apparently, so we were SO lucky to have a clear
day! And on top of that, the clouds were still moving really cool over the
mountains, tempting us that it might rain but it never did!
It was the most believable overlook, with a steep drop. It was pretty
hilarious to watch how nervous mom and neil were each time one of us got even
remotely close to the edge. We spent some time at each view marveling at the
beauty and then continued on to hike the Alakwai swamp trail which goes into
the cliffs of the lookout. It was super muddy and rocky terrain, a fun
adventure. Then once we got to the actual swamp part there were metal
boardwalks and it was wet and darker. We were running late on time to pick up
our rental car, so Jorja and Neil hiked ahead and me, mom and J took our time
looking at views and what not. We turned around after a bit, which was fine,
mom said we weren’t missing anything crazy. We made our way back to the lookout,
gobbled up the rest of our time admiring the incredible view, and then headed
back to the car. We tried to de-mud the best we could and then started the
drive down the mountain. We left enough time to stop at a taco stand once we
made our way down to where some of the cities were. After that we picked up our
second rental car.
Mom and sis dropped of J and I at the helicopter pad (Blue Hawaiian
Helicopters). We signed it, had a little intro video, and then they gave us
numbers. Mine was 2. Once the helicopter landed and was refueled, we lined up
on numbers written on the ground by the pad. I was called first AND I ALMOST
DIED BECAUSE THEY PUT ME RIGHT NEXT TO THE PIOLET IN THE MIDDLE SEAT! Omg I was
smiling so hard and so big. They put a couple people in the back AND THEN THEY
PUT J NEXT TO ME! It was THE BEST. I might as well mention now that they also
had a go pro at the front of the helicopter to record reactions. It’s pretty
much my huge ass grin the entire ride. Woof. But pretty funny! The helicopter
ride was really epic (thanks for the gift Sue!) It was so cool to see the
lookout we just saw from above, and see the hikes we were planning on doing
later in the trip. My favorite part was that they played music in the
background which made it even more magical. It was a bummer that i could only
point and make facial expressions to J, I wish we could have talked and reacted
together to what we saw! We lucked out too because the weather was perfect. I
was barely ever scared, but when we would go over different mountain ranges, sometimes
the wind would shift and we would kind of bop up and down a bit. But otherwise
it was creepily smooth, especially when we were circling down into valleys for
waterfalls and stuff. It went really fast and I would have loved to go for
longer. When we landed mom and sis were waving from the deck!
Next we snuck into the hotel we stayed at the night before and jumped
in the pool to cool off from the previous hike and changed. We stopped at Subay
(lol I know, we didn’t’ want to risk time) and Walmart and got SO MANY
groceries. It was comical seriously. They actually don’t have plastic bags in
HI which is so cool! But a bummer because we had to buy a bunch of reusable
bags – but the best part was they ended up being super handy the rest of the
trip has beach bags/laundry bags. Then we picked up Luke at the airport and
drove the hourish to Hanalai Bay! Oh and yeah we stopped at McDonalds on the
way, ha! We got to the hotel late, and it took forever to check in. We pretty
much all went to bed. Me and J’s room was about a 7 minute walk from mom and
sis. They had a view of the jungle and we had a view of the ocean. It was
pretty great. The beds in any rooms we’re very comfortable, which is surprising
because they are owned condos that work like a resort. I’m pretty sure we slept
like a LOG that night though.
Day 3
I woke up early, like 6 am I think, and walked over to moms in the
rain. One of the reasons I loved Hawaii was because it’s idea for morning
people! You go to bed early and wake up early and have the whole day! It was
the bestJ
Speaking of the rain – the rain is awesome too, because though frequent, it’s
rarely hard and doesn’t last very long, so it’s no big deal at all. Each
morning we all kinda met in their room and they would make a bunch of eggs, and
English muffins and fruit. It was fun to have a spot to congregate in the
morning and figure out what we were going to do that day. This was kind of our
“free day”, we threw in some laundry and hung out by the pool with all the
little kids. Some of us drove to town for the famous Bubba burgers in Hanalei.
It’s a chain, but people love it, and it was good! We shopped a bit in the cute shops, got shaved
ice. The shaved ice was SO good. I had a fancy one once and then just normal
ones like every day after. The fancy ones has macadamia nuts and cream and ice
cream – to die for. We went to Hanalei Bay beach to boogy board and hang out
for a couple of hours, which was so fun. The waves were perfection, so I’m glad
we all went out when we did. They were hit or miss the other days we tried to
go out again. After the beach we headed back to the pool, where lots of people
were hanging out, and jumped in. We hung out in mom’s room for the afternoon
and Neil made clam chowder and enchiladas for everyone. We were pretty tired
early, so we just chatted on the porches and then went to bed at about 10ish.
Day 4
I woke up at 6:30am, walked to moms, and hung out while everyone came
and went for breakfast. At 9am, we met the wedding party ladies at a kayaking
place to kayak. Since we weren’t sure about the waves with the storms that were
happening throughout Hawaii, we went down the river instead of towards the
ocean. Honestly, I wouldn’t really recommend the river. If I did it again I
would go towards the ocean, since there’s not much to see, and you’re right by
the highway. We came back and got ready and then me and J and the boys went out
on a day date. This was the cloudiest/rainiest day we had, which really wasn’t
that bad. At first we tried to go to Ke’e beach, but it was already noon at
this point and it was SO packed. Instead, on our way back the tiny road, we
just stopped at another beach along the way called Haena Beach park. We ate the
lunch we brought while it rained, but it was still pretty fun. The waves were too
strong so we couldn’t go in the water. Once it started to pour we ran to the
cave across the street – Maniniholo Dry Cave. The rain let up a little bit, and
we headed to Hanalei beach to get a little bit of water time in. J, sis and I
sat on the beach under a boogey board since it was sprinkling, and luke hit the
waves. Again, this was like the only rainy day so honestly it was still a good
time! When we got back there was a little pool side birthday party for Finn. That
night we went to the Dolphin in Hanalei and it was delicious. The boys were
freaking out first of all because they saw Steve Nash, a retired NBA player.
Sis and Luke had their first sushi and loved it. It was such a good night! We
got a lobster roll to split and it was TO DIE FOR. Seriously so delicious.
Day 5
We woke up at 5 (j did pretty well considering!), packed up the hiking
gear, and headed to mom’s place. Slowly everyone trickled in and slowly ate
breakfast. Me being the control freak I am I was so frusterated that everyone
was just taking their time! But it was a great humbling experience, because 1.
I need to settle the f down, and 2. Apparently there was a miscommunication
about what time we were leaving. Lesson for me! We ended up leaving about 6:15
from the room. We drove the 20ish minutes to Ke’e beach again, which is where
the head of the Nepali trail is. We didn’t do the full hike (22 miles), you
need a permit to camp and it’s way too long. But we did do the 8 mile round
trip hike to the waterfall. We were so thankful that mom convinced us to get
going super early, because it gets SO hot at the end. So definitely leave
really early if you ever do this hike. About 1 mile in, we were making our way
down a super muddy slope ( it’s a lot of switch backing around the parts of the
mountain), and I stepped on one of the logs that made these sort of steps…and I
slipped and landed right on a rock on my tailbone. I was holding my camera, so
that’s probably the reason I wasn’t able to catch myself. When I went back on
this part on the way back, I noticed it was like the only rock that I happened
to fall on….argggh! Anywho, I landed pretty darn hard on my tailbone. I had to
sit for a little bit, I got a little dizzy and nauseous, which makes sense now
that I know the end result. I slowly got up and started walking. I don’t really
remember what It felt like right away…but I was able to hike the rest of the
trip. It was fine walking, but it hurt when we would stand and look at a view,
I would have to sway a little, so moving was better. If I ever had to take a
big step up on a ledge or rock, I could
feel it then too. There weren’t many people on the trail, which was also a
blessing of the time we left I think, so worth it. Crossing the streams was a
little scary, just because the rocks were pretty slippery. Apparently they were
no where near as slippery as they could be so that was nice! Since I wore Keens
(which was a great choice by the way – despite my fall ha!), I mostly just
crossed the streams right in the water. The other peeps had to take off their
hiking shoes etc. Right before we got the waterfall, we saw chels and adam
stopped ahead. They had passed a hiker who had hit a tree and was bleeding.
Chelsea got to use her PA skills and wrapped him up. Once we got the waterfall
it was INCREDIBLE! But I do have to say, that’s when the injury was the worst,
I was so tired but I couldn’t sit at all. Everyone else jumped into the
waterfall and I wanted to SO bad, but was terrified of hitting my tailbone
again or risking any sort of maneuver. We had brought some food so we just hung
out a bit and ate and rested. Mom said you can tell that it’s been a rainy
season, last time they went to the waterfall, the waterfall was calm and you
could sit and eat right by the edge. When we were there it was SUPER strong and
it felt like it was raining because there was so many splashes off the falls. I
had to be careful of my camera which was a bummer, but I still got a little
footage! On the way back we crossed the streams way more carelessly and didn’t’
really care about shoes being dry or anything. I was a little more careful
since falling again on my ass made me woozy. At one point on the way back, I
did actually fall, I slipped on some mud and almost fell head first down a
muddy cliff, so that was pretty freaking terrifying. It was SO muddy by the
end! The hike back was ROUGH to say the least. The last 1-2 miles was SO hot
and that’s about when your body starts shutting down and says, ok that was a
good workout, but why are we still moving?! We were all really thankful to be
done!
We took showers and naps and tried to recuperate as best we could. Sis
wasn’t feeling very well, I think she was exhausted, but she refused to stay
home when we had dinner plans. Everyone had been raving about the restaurant
Tahiti Nui, and this was the last night we had the chance, so we headed there
for dinner. There was live music and it was pretty cute. I wished we had
another night to maybe go out when everyone was feeling better, but it was
still nice! We saw Steve Nash again, so the boys sat in awe once again.
Day 6
Woke up later than usual, and went to mom’s again for breakfast. Sis
was still not feeling very well, poor thing. But again, she refused to let that
stop her vaca! A bunch of us drove to Anini beach and camped out for a bit. Mom and I
ran back to hotel to get boogey boards, and by the time we got back, the group
wanted to move a bit. It was pretty stressful, but ended up being for the best
because it was less windy, but MOSTLY because Luke saved someones life! The
adults decided to drive, and me luke and sis decided to walk to the next part
of the beach. We got just a few hundred yards when a guy started shouting
“help” in a deep voice, we weren’t sure if he was kidding, until a woman near him
said “someone help him!”. So Luke dropped everything SO FAST and sprinted into
the water SO FAST, I literally am getting the strongest shivers still thinking
about it, it was so amazing. So he saved this sweet man from drowning, and then
we carried on down the beach. We saw a sea turtle! Which was super awesome. The
water was really rough for snorkeling. Where we were was calmer, and we could
go out and just see a few cool fish. I’m not going to lie though, the farther I
went out, as less and less people were around, the more freaked out I was of
sharks. You know, worst case scenario is always the first one you should jump
to. LOL. Chris and Alex went out first
by some coral that was marked off, where the water was super rough, and then
came back saying the saw it and so did Justin. So I went out all by
myself-which was TERRIFYING. But super exhilarating also. My natural inclination
is to panic under water, even though I love being under. So it just took a lot
of trust that even if a wave knocked me out, I’m super buoyant in the water and
flippers are SO helpful. The thing that honestly freaks me out the most is the
coral. I should do more research on it…you hear so many horror stories. Is it
only certain coral that rips you up? Everyone said you could just stand on it
to take a break, but I’m even too nervous to do that haha. I hate when I float
right over it, like my knees are going to touch it. But there was pretty much a
straight shot to get out to where the sea turtle was, and he was still there!
Why would he still be there! It’s like he liked the attention. When I was out
alone though, I’m not gonna lie, I saw him and it was really cool, and then I
got a little freaked out so started swimming backwards away and he kinda
followed me hahahaha, so I swam really fast back to shore. Still awesome
though. Mom went to pick up J too, so he got to join us on the beach (he was
going to stay back and hang out). Mom and Janet were super generous and brought
us a bunch of food and snacks and everyone just sort of dove in. We hung out
and relaxed on the beach until early afternoon, and then went back to the hotel
to get ready for the wedding. Apparently we were late for the wedding, which
wasn’t super well communicated, so it was kind of chaos for me to get set up! I
set up a tripod with my DSLR in the back and then had my Gx7 with me where I
was sitting. At one point, I was heading back to my seat barefoot and just
stubbed THE SHIT out of my big toe. Like to the point where it was profusely
bleeding and you could see chunks of skin that were just ripped off. My
adrenaline was pretty high after that so it didn’t hurt too bad, but then the
ceremony started so I was trying to balance filming while trying to keep the
hundreds of gnats that were trying to get IN MY WOUND away from it. I whispered
to J to go get some first aid stuff and being the amazing man he was, he
totally went. So I wrapped it in a paper towel and tried to hid all the blood. It
took longer than expected for the ceremony to start, and given the whole foot
fiasco, my DSLR ended up shutting off during the ceremony L So I’m super thankful
I had two cameras going. It was a beautiful ceremony, holy cow. Just perfect!
After the ceremony we all headed to the top of the resort where a tent with
everything was set up. The footage I go was really beautiful, with perfect
lighting so that was super exciting. The appetizers were amazing, and just the
whole thing was pretty magical!
Day 7
We slept in a bit this day, and then had to check out of our room. We
brought all of our stuff to mom and Neil’s room and stayed there this night. We
went to Kappaa a town outside of Hanalei with a group. We first stopped for
food at this great little burrito-y place, that I can’t find the name of, but
it was next to Java Kai where we got our coffee and smoothies after lunch. We separated
and went to some little shops and what not. Half of us went biking, and then
others stayed with me since I couldn’t bike because of my ass. So sweet of
them! We stopped at the beach near there on the way home and just hung out for
a bit. Then stopped in Hanalei for shaved ice. ALL THE SHAVED ICE..YUM. Then we
went back to Hanalei beach, which ended up being our favorite since it was the
calmer of the ones we went to.
Our last night with the whole fam was pretty much out of a movie
perfect. Right before sunset, a few of us headed down to the beach that
connects to our resort and the hyatt is also right there. For awhile we just
sat on the beach and ate snack and drank drinks on the beach chairs we bought
(given my tailbone, I just sat on a towel). Then slowly more of the family
started coming down and we brought our drinks into the water with us and watched
the sun set over the mountain of Hanalei bay. It was amazing.
The only not amazing part, was when Luke sprinted into the water (it
was dark at this point when the sun was setting) and ran right into coral and
ripped up his big toe (same on as mine ha!) he stayed in the water with us and
we all joked about a shark attack – right at dusk when they like to play. UG
not funny. We started getting out of the water to watch the end of the sunset
on the beach, and Luke was going to just walk in the sand with his open wound,
so I made him lay down and I shared my medical supplies I had brought for my
own toe. Eventually it was just me and him left in the water, me trying to
balance on one foot and give him first aid while everyone else stared at the
horizon. Eventuallyi just yelled “why is the cripple helping the cripple!”
laughing, and ma came over to help me balance. Once it was pitch black we all
found our way back up to the resort and all had a late dinner at the hotel bar.
It was such a good last night all together.
Day 8
We checked out of our hotel and headed to Lihue to drop the kids off at
the airport. We hung out a bit by the Marriott since there was water – we will
go anywhere the ocean is J
until we were ready to drop them off. Then neil met me and j and mom and we
went to Kalapaki Beach hut for brunch. They had the most amazing fries ever! After
that J and I hung out at the Kaui beach resort by the pool, which mom and neil
exchanged the cars. Since our flight wasn’t until 8pm, we used my mom’s room to
hang out until our flight. We returned the cars and got everything sorted and
then the 4 of us just hung out at the hotel pool, watched a luaoi and had
dinner. I got layed at the show! I was so excited I wanted to cry! The flower
were the most beautiful smelling things I have literally every smelt. Just delicious!
Then J and I took the shuttle the airport and flew back! The flight back was
super pleasant. My tailbone didn’t hurt as bad as one would expect, and we
slept for most of the flight! We got back in at about 1pm and then had the rest
of the day to just relax. It was really an ideal scenario for the way back.
Besides all the amazing incredible, indescribable things that rock
about Kauai…a few of my favorite things about this trip:
Being with my family so much, even though it was stressful sometimes,
just so awesome
There really are chickens everywhere
Driving is so awesome and calm and not stressful
The rain is frequent, but totally not a big deal. And the temperature
is usually warm enough that it isn’t even a big deal.
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