Aloha Kauai!

Yes, Ian and I just got back from the best trip of my life! I seriously have never had so much fun or enjoyed a week off so much! Paradise is truly found on a 30 mile island in the Pacific Ocean where chickens roam free.

We got to Kauai very late Saturday night and fell asleep, so excited to see the bright greens and beautiful scenery in the morning. Sunday we woke up nice and early (thank you time difference), enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast, saw a whale spouting many times, our first of many sea turtles, and enjoyed some glorious sunshine! We also made our only bad dinner choice and voted to never return to Kalapaki Joe's. Boooooo.

one of my all time favorite pictures of this man. 

post snorkeling beach picture.

On Monday, we explored Waimea Canyon! SO beautiful! At one of the overlooks, we got delicious sugar cane, pineapple, and kauai fruit (rambutan). The fruit made for some great hiking snacks! We stopped at all the overlooks, and then headed on the Awawaapuhi Trail (6.4 miles roundtrip). It is mostly downhill and muddy there, so there were some near mudpit instances, but we made it to the end mostly clean and in awe of the view of the Napali Coast our hike brought us to! On the way back, we stopped at the Shrimp Station in Waimea for some divine cajun shrimp tacos. Definitely a favorite. We cleaned up, and headed to the luau on our beach. We treated ourselves to delicious platefuls of food and enjoyed the show! It was great to sit on the beach and watch! 

Waimea Canyon

end of the Awawaapuhi Trail

some of the gorgeous scenery

from the luau

waiting in line to check in at the luau

Tuesday, we headed up to the North Shore! I was excited because Ian kept talking about how different it was from Poipu, but he didn't do a great job explaining. We went to Anini Beach because we heard there was supposed to be great snorkeling there.It was super windy, but we endured, and it turned out to be a beautiful day! On the way back, we grabbed lunch at a Mexican food truck (of course). We also saw two huge waterfalls near Wailua, so that was beautiful!We ended the evening at Duke's, where Ian didn't order fish for dinner, for the only time during our week there.

Anini Beach before we went snorkeling

Anini Beach afterwards when the sun came out!

one of the waterfalls we saw.

view from Duke's

Wednesday we started our day bright and early to hit up the local snorkeling spot that everyone claimed was the best on the south shore. It's next to The Beachhouse restaurant. It was beautiful and we saw some amazing fish! We then headed back to our hotel and we learned how to make traditional leis, and that Ian could become a pro at it! We then enjoyed a peaceful day on the beach, treated ourselves to Puka Dog and some happy hour parmesan fries. We then went to Keoki's Paradise for our expensive meal of the trip, and loved it! I got the Chef's duo or something and both types of fish I got were divine. We then indulged in some hula pie and left the restaurant very full and satisfied!

the Beachhouse beach

GoPro for the win.

after snorkeling

our traditional Hawaiian leis

Keoki's Paradise and our yummy dinners!

Thursday was probably my FAVORITE day! We had to get up extremely early and drive to the north side of the island, but we got to do our boat tour! It was small and we had a total of 16 people on the boat, and it was the coolest thing ever. They took us along the Napali Coast while teaching and telling us great stories about the area. We got to go INSIDE 3 different sea caves made from old lava tubes! We also got to snorkel in the "fishing village" and the only reef along the whole Napali Coast! Obviously I loved it. Afterwards, we got some hawaiian shaved ice finally and went snorkeling and spend the rest of the evening at Tunnels. It was a gorgeous day!

on the boat! Check out that blue water!

our turtle friend, probably #10 of our trip

from the INSIDE of a sea cave

I can't get over how beautiful it was!

Friday was also great! We slept in a bit, and headed to the North Shore once more! We wanted to do the Hanakapai Trail, which is the beginning of the Kaululu Trail that is 11 miles long and takes you along the Napali Coast. We parked by Ke'e Beach and started our hike. It was much different than our other hike because it was surrounded by all these tropical trees, including banana, papaya, and guava trees! We walked along the ridge and down into multiple valleys until we got to Hanakapai Beach, which was full of cairns made out of lava rock! It was pretty neat. We ate pb&js for lunch, befriended a dog, and headed back. We had planned to snorkel at Ke'e Beach as well, but it was closed due to rough waters. Boo. We went into Hanalei got Ian got a ukulele, we got another shaved ice (not as good as the first one!), and we bought some divine apple bananas! YUM! Then we decided to head back to Tunnels to end the day there. It was a great evening! That night, we went to Monico's Tacqueria in Kapaa and it was yummy! Ian was impressed that I had found it. (Notice a mexican food trend? WE LOVE IT! And it's no good in Seattle). We sat next to an older couple from Jackson Hole and were jealous that they were living the dream and staying for 4 weeks. One day...

the beach!

Hanakapai Trail

our dog friend.

overlooking Ke'e Beach

leaving Tunnels at the end of the day

Saturday was the saddest. We packed up and checked out, and then lounged on the beach in front of our hotel again. We walked over towards Poipu Beach and rented paddleboards! It was my first time and Ian's second, and we enjoyed it a lot! My legs were quaking, especially when a wave came and threw off my balance. We also got to see a sting ray jump out of the water and back in while paddleboarding! It was neat!! We went into Koloa for lunch and stopped at a food truck forrrrrr shrimp and fish tacos from Chalupa's, a mexican food truck. Haha. We're ridiculous, and we got some yummy guava nectar to drink! We went back to our hotel for our last snorkeling trip, cleaned up in the hospitality room, got one more Puka Dog, and our long night and morning of airports and airplanes began. We were super bummed to end our trip, and have decided we definitely want to go back! We're so blessed and lucky. It was the best vacation, and I loved being able to spend so much time with my husband, and neither of us worrying about work or school. We're ready to go back if anyone wants to take us, or just have our company....

paddleboarding

paddeboarding

lots of love for Puka Dogs, pineapple relish, and their fresh squeezed lemonade!