Summer Vacation Part 3 - KAUAI

The final leg of our Hawaiian vacation - three days in Kauai.  Once again, this island was completely different than the other two we had visited - plant life was everywhere and we were told that it would grow extremely quickly due to the large amount of rain the island receives.  We were very busy on this island, so we definitely ended our vacation with a bang!

KAUAI DAY ONE

Jack Harter Helicopter Tour = = Poipu Spouting Horn Blowhole = = Picnic Lunch from Brennecke's Beach Broiler = = Poipu Beach Park = = Dinner at Beach House Restaurant

 

All ready for our 65 minute helicopter tour of Kauai!  While we LOVED the view and the experience,  unfortunately we all felt extremely nauseous by the end of the ride.  The helicopter's hovering and sinking really affected us in the second half of the tour.  We were holding on to our "Aloha Bags" just in case!  The following pictures will not do the beautiful landscape justice - imagine the view without the glass reflection, and the colors so much more vivid!

Manawaiopuna Falls in the Hanapepe Valley.  Better known as the waterfall in Jurassic Park where their helicopter lands.  It was absolutely beautiful and enormous.  

Waimea Canyon from above (known as the little Grand Canyon).

Waipoo Falls in the Waimea Canyon.  We saw so many waterfalls on the helicopter tour, but I am attempting to limit the pictures in this post!

Napali Coast - the reason for the helicopter tour.  The only way to see the Napali Coast is by boat, in the air, or a long and strenuous hike.  This Coast was just beautiful - it looked like a ribbon of a canyon with bright turquoise water, and you could see the coral/rocks that were below the water.

It has become a bit of a tradition to find unusual signs on vacation and take pictures of them.  This was the strangest one we found on Kauai.  Illinois doesn't seem to have a large feral chicken population!

The next two pictures are of the Poipu Spouting Blowhole.  It was very difficult to time the pictures to see the blowhole at its best.  The first picture shows the largest of the blowholes, with a smaller one in the back of the photo.  The second photo was me attempting to get photos of the other tiny blowholes located around the large one - almost impossible to see in the photo, but there were about 5-8 other very small blowholes.  The sound that these blowholes made was so interesting.

Picnic lunch from Brennecke's - yummy sandwiches!  The feral chickens were quick to feast on any food that fell to the ground.

We spent a few hours enjoying Poipu Beach - an absolutely beautiful beach!  We were lucky enough to see a 7 year old female monk seal resting on the beach.  She was roped off, rolled around a little bit while we were there, and was quite the sight - she was enormous!

We were at Poipu Beach as low tide was becoming high tide.  There was a small sandbar about 60 feet off of the beach that we were able to walk to through the ocean (while fighting the waves coming perpendicular to the shore from both sides).  It was so lovely to see the beach from this point of view and to play in the waves.  By the time we had left the beach for the day, this sandbar was almost completely covered by the tide.

Half of Poipu Beach has black lava rocks that break the rough surf and make for a fairly calm beach area - this is why the monk seals like this beach.  The other half of the beach does not have this rock barrier and is much rougher.  The kids preferred to play in the calmer area.

A view of our lovely hotel - Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa.  This was our favorite hotel of the trip - great pools, beautiful ocean front views, beautifully landscaped, and good restaurants.  Plus many of our lizard friends made an appearance!

Ending our first day on Kauai with dinner at the Beach House restaurant on the Nahumaalo Point.  My only suggestion would be to eat dinner here a bit later, right before the sun has set.  We arrived about 45 minutes before sunset, and the entire restaurant was in the full glare of the sun.  Once the sun set for our dessert, it was a much better atmosphere!  The kids most enjoyed watching the surfers (look in the background of the picture) before dinner was served.  There were so many good surfers on this section of the ocean - definitely not for beginners as we could hear the crashing of the waves during our entire meal.

KAUAI DAY TWO

Outfitters Kauai Kipu Safari Kayak Tour = = Swim at Hotel Pools = = Dinner at Tidepools

Our seven hour day began by kayaking two miles on the Hule'ia River.  I really enjoyed doing this!  If we lived on the lake back home, I think I would be investing in a kayak.  On a side note, Ethan observed that the river looked a lot like our recent Florida Everglades trip since mangroves lined the river.  Good to know he was paying attention in the Everglades! 

After the kayak, we then hiked to the Kipu Ranch.  The below picture was a lava tube pool that was used in a scene from final Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Taking a tractor ride through Kipu Ranch, where the triceratops scene from Jurassic Park was filmed.

Nounou Mountain - also known as the Sleeping Giant.  Do you see his head on the right, arms folded over his stomach, and his feet on the left?

After a filling lunch, our group of 20 people was suited up for two ziplines.  It was on our family's "bucket lists" to try ziplining, and it did not disappoint.  The kids and Joe had no issue at all with the zipline, while I hesitated on the platform before taking the first step onto the line.  It really hits you once you get up there and look down!  But, I had two successful ziplines!

 

Before ziplining, everyone had to walk across a swinging suspension bridge high above a canyon to get used to the height of the zipline.

There goes Ethan on the first zipline!

Olivia had no problem with the ziplining, even though she dreaded it the entire vacation!  She held onto her rope for dear life the entire time.

Joe taking a zipline selfie.  Probably the first and last time he will be able to do that!

Our fantastic tour guide Aaron checking Ethan before the second zipline.  The second one was a tandem zipline, so Joe and Ethan zipped together, and I zipped with Olivia.  This zipline was about 1400 feet long and lasted close to two minutes.  We started on one platform, zipped past the final platform to the end of the zipline in the forest, and then zipped backwards back again to the final platform.

Why is this picture upside down?  Because on the second zipline there was the option to go upside down.  So Joe jumped off of the platform, immediately flipped himself over and wrapped his feet around the top of the rope, and did the zip upside down.  Ethan also flipped himself over for a bit of the zip but then flipped back.  Olivia and I did not even attempt it!

If you squint, you can see Ethan on the zipline.

Ethan coming in for the end of his trip.  In order to get off of this zipline, we had to grab onto the ladder and climb down to the platform.

Olivia and I ending our tandem zip.

After ziplining across the jungle, we then ziplined into a lava tube pool - but for this zip we were required to let go!  All of us took turns doing this - but the kids obviously loved it the best!  

While hiking back to the river to return to our car, our tour guide Cathy pointed out this cliff to everyone.  People joke that the two caves on the side look like a turtle and Homer Simpson holding a beer!  And, I have to agree with them!  In reality, these caves are sacred burial grounds that are basically inaccessible.

And the seven hour adventure finished with a boat ride back to the beginning.  What a great day of firsts - kayaking, ziplining, and swimming in a lava tube pool!

A little R&R back at the hotel's sandy bottom pool before dinner.

The day ended with a lovely dinner at Tidepools (our table was next to a waterfall ending in a koi pond) and a long night of sleep!  We were all exhausted!

KAUAI DAY THREE - FINAL DAY OF VACATION

Hanapepe Swinging Bridge = = Drive to Waimea Canyon = = Lunch at Shrimp Station = = JoJo's Shave Ice = = Kauai Coffee Plantation = = Kilohana Plantation

A final view from our hotel room balcony before checking out.

The hotel had a lei drop area where you could place your lei that you received at check in.  Sort of like a good bye for now and we hope to return.

Our flight back home didn't leave until 9pm, so we had a full day in Kauai before heading home.  Unfortunately, we didn't do any beach time since we didn't want to be sandy on the looooong flight home.  We first visited the artsy and funky town of Hanapepe.  We played on the swinging bridge, enjoyed eating Ono Pops at the Aloha Spice store (we enjoyed the Lilikoi 50/50, Lilikoi Cheesecake, and Pineapple Li Hing flavors), and shopped in some art stores.  This is the town that Lilo and Stitch were from in the Disney movie.

A roadside view on our way to the Waimea Canyon.  Bright red dirt with a gorgeous waterfall and stream. 

We drove up to see the Waimea Canyon.  It is nicknamed the little Grand Canyon, and Hawaiians believe it is the prettier of the two!  It was stunning to see - the red dirt, green shrubs, shadows from the sun, waterfalls, and an ocean view.  Beautiful!

 This was the Puu Ka Pele view of the canyon.  This stop had the best view of the Waipoo Falls (also viewed from above in the helicopter tour). 

And our final stop in the Waimea Canyon was the Puu Hinahina lookout.  It did not have a very good view of the waterfall, but gave a much deeper look into the canyon.

We enjoyed shrimp tacos and shrimp burgers in the town of Waimea and then treated ourselves to one final shave ice at JoJo's.

Our final stops in Kauai included the Kauai Coffee Plantation - a fun self guided coffee walking tour, and the Kilohana Plantation home (not really recommended to visit).

Hopefully our pilot taking us home has better directions than what are on this sign!  Aloha!