Sunday was John's birthday. He turned 40! This milestone birthday was the excuse we used to plan this fun trip. We woke up before dawn as usual and headed down the island again to go on a morning hike. Along the drive we saw the tree tunnel, which was more fun than I anticipated. The trees were so tall!
Our destination was Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail, which was Shipwreck Beach to Punahoa Point. This was such a unique hiking experience. We decided to go first thing in the morning because there isn't any shade on this hike.
Hike is maybe the wrong word for it. We more went coast exploring. There certainly isn't any kind of marked trail, just different paths weaving around each other. There was a bit of climbing around and having to backtrack. The surf crashing against the cliffs was so beautiful. It is mesmerizing to watch. Needless to say it wasn't our fastest time/distance walk.
Look at all the criss-crossing paths! There was no signage of any kind.
It is so nice when people offer to take a picture of the whole family, but it is almost impossible to get them to get the right composition. Even when I set it up, it almost always turns out that they have placed our bodies in front of what we wanted a photo with.
Once we got up on the cliff, Holland spotted a sea turtle out in the waves! We were all so excited. I loved hearing our girls squeal about it. It was the first sea turtle of the trip, but it wouldn't be the last!!
Gorgeous rocky cliffs!
I love the sun shining on the water.
I love the waves crashing against the cliffs. They are so inconsistent, and the really big ones always cause some kind of exclamation from us. It is impossible to capture it with a camera very well.
This picture makes me nervous. Did we really walk that close to the edge?
Darcy stayed with me in the carrier while the other four walked out to this peninsula. I loved their silhouettes against the sparkling water.
This would have been very sunny and hot in the afternoon.
These jagged outcroppings were particularly fun to climb down to.
This is maybe my favorite photo from the hike.
The color of the water is insane.
It was super super windy in this area.
We saw even more sea turtles over here. I think there were three or four being tossed around in the waves. It was delightful to watch them.
40 looks good on you!
This hike was next to some fancy resorts, so the bathrooms had a very manicured beach look to them. Fancy!
Next on the agenda was going to see a couple of waterfalls. These ones we could drive to, and although they are quite beautiful I think it would have been more fun to have to hike to get to see them. Does that make me crazy? Maybe! They were gorgeous though.
Wailua Falls was at the end of this long road that seemed in the middle of nowhere. It was so gorgeous. I was surprised to see so many tourists there because of the remote location. There was a guy who got his convertible stuck in a pothole puddle and a whole crowd of people had to get him out. Remind me never to rent things I want to keep nice.
Wailua Falls
John had to stand up on the railing to get this lovely, nearly unobstructed view. A few of the other tourists asked him to take a photo for them.
We must have come during a rush because the crowd thinned after a bit.
Next up was Opaekaa Falls. We couldn't get nearly as close to this one, but I still thought it was so pretty. Maybe especially because of the lush jungle around it.
Great view of the Wailua River from the other side of the street.
Don't accidentally veer to either side of the side walk--they put in these fences to help us be safe.
We loved attending the Sacrament Meeting in Kapa'a. Like other tropical meetinghouses I have been to, this church is not all one building. There is the chapel building, the classroom building, and the gymnasium building. One of the speakers told how he and his family used to live in Utah Valley until they felt inspired to move to Kauai. They have lived there for a couple of years now, and it truly feels like home. Man, that hit me hard. I know that living in Kauai wouldn't be the same as vacationing there, but it just an example that was right in our faces of someone doing what we were yearning to do. We heard their whole story. This trip was just so amazing. Waking up so early together, driving slow, being amazed by the beauty around us. It really made us question our life choices, like why don't we move to Hawaii? While I was writing this, I just went down a rabbit hole of looking at properties in Hawaii. Could our family live in a 2 bedroom condo? May....be....? It is something to dream of.
After church we went to this fun beach right by Princeville--Anini Beach. This was a fun, shaded beach, which the girls loved playing at. It has a reef that protects it from the large waves, which made it a great snorkeling spot. It was gorgeous. I do have a bit of anxiety remembering this snorkel spot because we couldn't find Miriam for a while, but she eventually showed up again. The surf had carried her down the beach while she was snorkeling. They didn't keep the "two people have to stay together" rule, which wasn't great for their mother's mental health.
But the main thing I remember this beach for was the sea turtle! John was snorkeling with Ellie when all of the sudden a sea turtle swam by him only a few feet away. They swam with it for a while and even came back to get me to see it. The snorkeling area is pretty humongous so I couldn't believe that we found it again. John stayed with the little girls while I tried to keep up with Ellie swimming to find the turtle again. I was blown away by how much stronger of a swimmer Ellie is than I am. I mean, it shouldn't have surprised me. She has been conditioning to do swimming for more than a year at this point, but I wasn't even close to keeping up with her. Swimming with the waves was absurdly hard. Swimming against the waves was truly futile, but she managed it. It was exacerbated by trying to rush to find the turtle, which made us both swim a lot faster than we would have normally snorkeling.
When we got back from Anini Beach we found all of these gorgeous hibiscus flowers had dropped. We had to take a photo with them.
Birthday dinner of Costco delights--yummy salad and pot stickers.
Fruit encased ice cream for dessert.
On Monday we had to be out the door before the sun again to get all the way around the island to take our Na Pali Coast tour. All the driving the day before and that day cemented in our minds that we should have moved where we were staying mid trip so we didn't have to drive all the way around Kauai day after day. We loved where we stayed though, so it would have been sad to spend less time there.
We tried to find a tour from the north shore, which is actually closer to the Na Pali Coast, but there was nothing that would accommodate a three year old. They were much smaller boats on that side, more like blow up speedboats. We loved our tour though, maybe our favorite activity on the trip. We went for the morning sail time because we read that the waves are smaller in the morning. Thank goodness we did that. The sail back was pretty bad. The captain kept using the word 'adventure' to describe the rough sea, and we grew to hate that word by the time we got back. The way out was quite lovely the whole time, but the way back was a bit bouncy. We even gave our whole family motion sickness medicine, and it was still not great. None of us threw up though, unlike other people on the catamaran.
No shoes allowed on the boat to avoid slipping.
It was 5 hour tour! Breakfast and lunch were served, and there were sodas and juices available anytime. This probably made it more expensive, but was fun.
We thought the two points in the front of the ship were fun to stand on.
One of the best parts of the tour was when we came across a pod of spinner dolphins. The dolphins were all over! They were jumping out of the water and spinning all around. They were on all sides of the boat. We were fortunate to get a view from one of the points so we could see them on both sides of us. The water was so turquoise, the green cliffs were dramatically sharp, the dolphins all around, and then the captain turned on the Moana song. I felt like I was in a movie!
After that Disney moment was snorkeling. It was so fun! The fish were amazing out here next to the cliffs. We even saw another sea turtle, although it was much deeper than the last one. The crew threw extra cinnamon rolls in the water so the fish swarmed. It was amazing to see and swim around it. We took turns swimming with Darcy since she can't snorkel yet. We loved it!
After snorkeling it was time to see the Na Pali coast! Wow! The Na Pali coast stretches for 17 miles and is completely inaccessible by car. You can hike, helicopter, or boat to see it. Na Pali means high cliffs which is apropos because the sheer cliffs stretch as far as 4,000 feet above sea level in places. We loved seeing all of the waterfalls running down the cliffs. Since central Kauai is the wettest place on earth, there were many waterfalls.
My girls took many photos.
I can't get over the color of that water and the cliffs that seem to go on forever.
Darcy zonked out after the snorkeling and didn't wake up for the rest of the tour! It was hilarious that she fell asleep with the cracker in her mouth. It was pretty soggy by the end of the boat ride.
These beaches and cliffs have been shown in many movies through the years. Honopu sea arch is famous because a dare devil pilot was paid to fly a helicopter through it for a movie. The camera man didn't catch it so they had to do it again.
Hanalei Valley! We saw that from the top only two days before.
Not a great day for those trying to see it from the top.
One of the crew took a family photo of us but accidently got it on a weird mode. Thankfully we caught it and got a normal one.
Amazing
Only stand with your knees locked so the boat doesn't shoot you in the air. Unfortunately Ellie accidentally tried this out and landed on her bum.
So many cans of juice consumed.
On the way back Holland crashed too.
Our last photo before the 'adventure.' Then it was pretty much an effort of endurance until we got back to the port. Thank goodness we took motion sickness medicine.
On the way home we stopped by a couple of more sights and got some Puka Dogs for a quick snack. We tried to get some malasadas, but turns out they all sell out in the morning. We tried several different places, but had to stop the next morning for them. They were amazing.
Hanapepe Swinging Bridge--maybe the most dangerous thing we did on the trip. It felt very unstable.
One of the best parts of the tour was when we came across a pod of spinner dolphins. The dolphins were all over! They were jumping out of the water and spinning all around. They were on all sides of the boat. We were fortunate to get a view from one of the points so we could see them on both sides of us. The water was so turquoise, the green cliffs were dramatically sharp, the dolphins all around, and then the captain turned on the Moana song. I felt like I was in a movie!
After snorkeling it was time to see the Na Pali coast! Wow! The Na Pali coast stretches for 17 miles and is completely inaccessible by car. You can hike, helicopter, or boat to see it. Na Pali means high cliffs which is apropos because the sheer cliffs stretch as far as 4,000 feet above sea level in places. We loved seeing all of the waterfalls running down the cliffs. Since central Kauai is the wettest place on earth, there were many waterfalls. 
These beaches and cliffs have been shown in many movies through the years. Honopu sea arch is famous because a dare devil pilot was paid to fly a helicopter through it for a movie. The camera man didn't catch it so they had to do it again. 
