Friday started with the most lovely sunrise. Going to bed really early and waking up really early was so nice on this trip. The kids were able to get a bunch of homework done in the morning. We were able to pack what we needed to without rushing or scrambling. I was startled with how relaxed I felt with starting my days much earlier than I normally do. Of course the trade off is not having the long extended relaxing evening, but everything closes early in Hawaii anyway.
A few hours after we woke up, we headed to a nearby attraction--the queen's bath. This one we had to plan for. We had to pick a time when there would be low tide. People have been washed out to see and died during high tide or stormy weather. There are all kinds of warning signs on the fence trying to inform people. The gate stays locked too except during more safe times. Parking is crazy limited, so we got there early and easily got a spot. We were nervous that we wouldn't be able to do it though because the person that came to lock the gate was pretty late. Thankfully she came, and we were able to enjoy it! This hike was shorter than the previous day's hike, but it was steeper. We were also surprised by how slippery and muddy it was. It was sweaty and slippery and fun. We hiked in our swimsuits, so at least we weren't worried about getting mud on our clothes. I was surprised how much mud we got on our inner legs by brushing the other foot across our legs while we took steps. We found some hiking sticks that helped more than I anticipated.
It was hard to hike with all of our swim gear, but it was worth it! We loved swimming in the Queen's Bath! There was fun snorkeling, and we even met a couple who worked with our next door neighbors, the Davises. We enjoyed pulling out our underwater camera and filming especially when it started to rain while we were snorkeling.
That trail was pretty wild, but it was all part of the adventure.
After running home, showering, and changing, we headed to the Princeville Botanical Gardens for a tour. We debated about doing this activity because it was pretty pricey--$40-$95 per person for a 3 hour guided garden tour and chocolate tasting. We went for it though because it was so US. I am so so glad we did. It was one of my favorite things we did on the trip, although there are a bunch of favorite things, really.
I was surprised at how thorough this tour was. They called to confirm that we were coming. No one else on the tour had kids and in the intro they told us to hang back if the kids were being loud. Haha, little do they know our kids. Our kids love plants and gardens. Well, Darcy got a little restless, but then she ended up falling asleep in the carrier for part of the tour. Our girls were given little bags that they could collect anything on the ground in all of the colors of the rainbow. That was really fun for Holland.
I loved the gardens. I was a little surprised how not manicured it was in places. It kind of looked like regular jungle but just more beautiful. There were manicured terraces. I was impressed with the diversity of the plants. There are almost 10,000 varieties of plants on the 9 acre gardens.
One thing that blew me away was learning about orchids. There are 25,000 varieties of orchids in the world and only one is edible--vanilla. The blooms are only open 3 hours a day and have to be hand pollinated.
The orchid on the right is the kind of vanilla that we eat. Their pods have 1 million seeds in them.
This is the Ceiba tree, which is the national tree of Guatemala. They consider it the tree of life.
I can't remember what these trees are called but they were so fragrant in the best possible way. Walking along this path was a treat because of the lovely smell. I wish I had taken more videos to identify what the different plants are!
This is a huge, amazing monstera! I want one of these for my house!
I loved all of the random orchids attached to trees around the garden! I guess that is why you don't plant them in soil, just bark.
Are you kidding me? The stream with the bridge and the plants. Gorgeous!
Holland was a little shadow to the guide. I think it was really sweet.
Our other girls were taking as many photos as possible. I don't really have access to them, so I can't include their photos here easily, but I am glad they loved it so much!
This is the elephant leaf garden. Elephant leaf plants were considered significant to the Hawaiian people. I understood that it was an important dietary component for the people. One funny thing is that the fibers of the plant have to be cooked to be edible. If not there are sharp crystals in the fibers that will cut up your mouth and throat. Our guide told us that he learned this the hard way when he thought he and his sister could subsist on this on a campout. Apparently the sister hasn't quite forgiven him yet. Yikes!
Flaming Jade Blossom
This looks like a Pony Tail palm but it isn't quite that.
Aphelandra Plant
Those are some big Elephant Ears!
Gorgeous waterfall at the end of the walk.
Staghorn Fern
Jackfruit Tree
The red leaves are the Hawaiian Ti plant.
Red Leaf Bromeliad
Lots and lots of spider plants. I think it is fun to see the plants that we keep as house plants, just growing in Hawaii. I guess they have to be able to grow outside somewhere.
I am so impressed with how well the kids did on the tour. No real complaining at all even though it was hot and sweaty. I am sure the other people in our group were happy about that.
Giant Fishtail Palm
I thought the Spotted Begonia was pretty eye catching.
It is so pretty! I love the pink Anthuriums. I got earrings as a souvenir from this trip that are in the shape of anthuriums.
Miriam with a gorgeous peace lily.
Group shot after Darcy's nap!
The chocolate tasting was a fun change up in the middle of the tour. It was fascinating to hear more about chocolate bean cultivation and preparation. We learned about how the nuances of chocolate flavor is from the the river it is grown from. There are also differences in flavor depending on how dark/light the cacao beans are roasted. The instructor predicted that the chocolate of the future will marketed a lot more like coffee with different kinds of roasts. It was amazing to hear about these differences and then try the little bits of chocolate to actually taste the differences.
What I learned was that there is really, really good chocolate out there. All of the types we tried were fantastic. I also learned that cacao nibs are actually amazing if they are quality. Okay, it was all amazing because it is all quality. We also learned about how the flavor changes depending on what river it is grown by. We learned about movements to improve the working conditions of those that grow the chocolate. It was a longer presentation than I anticipated and was super enjoyable and interesting. It was nice that one of our party doesn't like chocolate so we got to split her portions of the tasting. Awesome!
These were all fantastic, but our favorite was actually the ones grown in the Princeville Botanical Gardens. That one was phenomenal. Unfortunately they don't make enough to sell because they use it for these tastings. We ended up purchasing a Luisa Abram red bar. It is delicious.
Part 2 of the tour were in these layers of gardens with these giant retaining walls. They were huge and lovely. One thing that makes the Princeville garden so great is that they have so many unique plants. We loved walking around and seeing all of the colors of orchids around the garden. They were just growing on various trees.
We also loved the fruit tastings along our walk. We tried so many interesting tropical fruits. I especially loved the cocao nibs that were grown there. I guess they are delicious if you get really quality ones. I loved the rambutans also and the fresh honey.
Dragon fruit and fresh coconut. They had exactly the number of pieces for each tour member. I guess this is why they were so intent about confirming our attendance.
My little sunshine picking up her colored leaves and petals.
No idea what this tree is. It turns out that a google image search of this tree brings up many many different kinds of trees.
Mussaenda philippica 'Queen Sirikit'
This spiral ginger was so fascinating.
Huge anthurium behind Holland
Beehive Ginger cones
I love compilation of the tropical plants in this photo especially the red leafed Ti plant. But I especially love the girl. :)
The orchids growing on these trees were amazing. I know that they were probably 'planted' there, but I still am blown away by their ability to grow on the tree like that.
Butterfly Ginger Lily
Just so beautiful
Cinnamon tree
Gorgeous orchid just hanging out up in the tree.
So many bromeliads.
Baobab tree which is a succulent, which means that during the rainy season it absorbs and stores water in its vast trunk, enabling it to produce a nutrient-dense fruit in the dry season when all around is dry and arid. This is how it became known as "The Tree of Life". Baobab trees grow in 32 African countries.
Rose cactus--I need to know more about this plant.
Can we move to Hawaii yet?
Sago palm maybe?
So many varieties of orchids
And so many varieties of bromeliads!
Sleepy sweaty baby by the end of our walk.
Holland gathered so many colors of leaves and flower petals.
After the amazing botanical garden tour we had the best meal of the trip...in the van. We were rushing to make our next activity and ate our fancy food from Hanalei Gourmet while driving. It was expensive (like over $130) for lunch, so I wish we could have savored it a bit more. We had fish tacos, salad with fresh grilled fish, and yummy sandwiches.
Our next activity was going to the Kilauea Lighthouse. This is an historic landmark and wildlife sanctuary. They were really intense about not bringing food of any kind out of your car here, which is why we had to hustle to eat our fanciest meal of the trip.
Perched at the northernmost tip of Kauaʻi, the 52-foot Daniel K. Inouye Kīlauea Point Lighthouse was built in 1913 as a beacon for traveling ships. Although its light was turned off in the 1970s and has been replaced by an automatic beacon, it still serves as one of the island's most frequented attractions.
The view off the rugged northern coastline and the deep-blue Pacific makes this the perfect vantage point for photos. The lighthouse is located within the KÄ«lauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, a sanctuary for seabirds. Signage throughout the refuge identifies the various native bird species that nest or visit the area, including great frigatebirds, wedge-tailed and Newell’s shearwaters, brown and red-footed boobies and Laysan albatross. Watch them soar the skies or see them up close in their burrows.
The lighthouse is about 200 feet above sea level, and the cliff is a dramatic drop. We were amazed at all of the types of birds we were able to see.
The view over to Princeville.
Holland wants to see if this book is available at our local library.
A bird burrow!
Next up was getting family pictures taken at Hanalei beach. We booked a photographer through flytographer.com and was really pleased with how many great photos we got. We also got a lot of cheesy photos, but still happy. It was so much more reasonably priced than googling photographers in the area. I agonized over our photo outfits, but am happy with how they turned out. We had a couple of people just volunteer to take photos of us with our phones after the photographer left. We only booked her for an hour. I was pleased with how well the anti-frizz hairspray held the curl in my hair.
Playing in the water with dresses on was a fun treat!
We found these massive snails on the way back to the van. They are like 6 inches long!
I love the nighttime hibiscus.
On Saturday we took advantage of waking up crazy early in Hawaii and left before the sun was up. We had to drive all the way around the island, almost as far as you could go to go to Waimea Canyon State Park and Koke'e State Park. The entrance is along the same road, but I guess they are two different parks. We went to the far end of the road and worked our way backwards, and I am sure glad we did.
Gorgeous sunrise along the drive.
The Southern/Western side of the is so dry and flat! There used to be a lot of farming of sugarcane along here.
We had to stop along the side of the road for minute and found a fun place to walk.
Waimea Canyon is amazing! It is called the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. Waimea Canyon is so lovely, but the morning light made it pretty shadowed. It is quite a bit smaller than the real Grand Canyon but still huge.
Grand Canyon of the Colorado river is 277 miles (443 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and over a mile deep, while Waimea Canyon is “only” 10 miles (16km) long, 2.5 miles (4km) wide at its widest point and 2800 feet (850 m) deep.
Mountain Goats!
After that morning stop to overlook Waimea Canyon we drove the rest of the way up the road to Koke'e State Park, which overlooks the Napali Coast. The first overlook we stopped at was Kalalau Overlook. Koke'e State park is over 4,000 feet above sea level at the highest points. That is quite the drop to the ocean.
The things we do to get a good photo.
The next overlook was Pu'u O Kila. This was at the end of the road and had a fun trail that led us along the rim of the canyon. We were told that we should try to get there as early as possible which we did. We understood that the cliffs get foggy in the heat of the day. I didn't realize how close we were cutting it, but check out the progression of the fog as we walked along the rim of the cliff.
Sometimes I go beyond the railings to get a good photo, but not in an unsafe way.
Sometimes my children follow my example. Yikes!
Kalalau Valley is stunning.
The view the other direction is interesting. I love that you can see the ocean on the other side of the island too.
The Pihea trail along the top of the Kalalau valley was so interesting. We only hiked for about a mile, but it was sure fun. If we hadn't had such a full day planned with a lot of other hiking we would have gone farther. The hikes was Hawaii muddy, weirdly bumpy, but so fun. I loved the terrain. Being right next to the steep cliffs with small children was a little nerve wracking, but thankfully Darcy was still in the carrier.
I loved all of the ferns everywhere--bright green and purple.
More slippery than it looks because of the wet mud layer on everything.
So glad we came early enough to see this view!
Those ferns are purple not dead.
And the fog rolls in.
The trail was so interesting.
Pretty soon you couldn't see in Kalalau Valley at all! There were so many people showing up at this time. That's got to be so dissappointing.
Wild hydrangea.
We stopped by the Koke'e Visitor Center for lunch. It was yummy and the picnic area was beautiful. One highlight was the swing hanging from one of these giant trees.
Oh how I love my little one.
The visitor center was fun to explore. I liked this metal model of the island that shows the topography. So interesting!
We went on the little nature walk around the visitor center.
Haha that sign is upside down.
I love my hiking girls.
Next up was our big hike for the day. It was Canyon Trail that took us down into Waimea Canyon. It was about 3.6 miles long and had a pretty good elevation change. It was rated as moderate, but as we all know, moderate can mean a lot of different things. It was about an 800 ft elevation change, but the incline was pretty steep and didn't have switch backs. I would consider it hard for our family. It felt like a never ending hill, but honestly it felt more like that on the way down. I was pretty stressed about how hard hike back up was going to be. Turns out it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, but worrying about it almost ruined the hike for me. Haha, I think there is a life lesson in there.
This felt like the most dangerous hike we went on. Those cliffs were no joke, but still fun to go explore it with my family.
At the end of the trail (or at least where we turned around) was Waipo'o Falls.
This is steeper than it looks--it was a big help that Darcy decided that she could walk part of it. Phew!
Hazards along the trail.
Amazing view!
A rainbow!!
Same overlook at the morning but we could see it a lot better with the afternoon light.
We stopped at a Hawaiian/Japanese Fusion place for dinner--Kenji Burgers. It was pretty good, but the best part was the lychee milkshakes. We were fans!
The chocolate tasting was a fun change up in the middle of the tour. It was fascinating to hear more about chocolate bean cultivation and preparation. We learned about how the nuances of chocolate flavor is from the the river it is grown from. There are also differences in flavor depending on how dark/light the cacao beans are roasted. The instructor predicted that the chocolate of the future will marketed a lot more like coffee with different kinds of roasts. It was amazing to hear about these differences and then try the little bits of chocolate to actually taste the differences. 
After the amazing botanical garden tour we had the best meal of the trip...in the van. We were rushing to make our next activity and ate our fancy food from Hanalei Gourmet while driving. It was expensive (like over $130) for lunch, so I wish we could have savored it a bit more. We had fish tacos, salad with fresh grilled fish, and yummy sandwiches. 
Next up was getting family pictures taken at Hanalei beach. We booked a photographer through flytographer.com and was really pleased with how many great photos we got. We also got a lot of cheesy photos, but still happy. It was so much more reasonably priced than googling photographers in the area. I agonized over our photo outfits, but am happy with how they turned out. We had a couple of people just volunteer to take photos of us with our phones after the photographer left. We only booked her for an hour. I was pleased with how well the anti-frizz hairspray held the curl in my hair. 
After that morning stop to overlook Waimea Canyon we drove the rest of the way up the road to Koke'e State Park, which overlooks the Napali Coast. The first overlook we stopped at was Kalalau Overlook. Koke'e State park is over 4,000 feet above sea level at the highest points. That is quite the drop to the ocean. 
The visitor center was fun to explore. I liked this metal model of the island that shows the topography. So interesting! 
Next up was our big hike for the day. It was Canyon Trail that took us down into Waimea Canyon. It was about 3.6 miles long and had a pretty good elevation change. It was rated as moderate, but as we all know, moderate can mean a lot of different things. It was about an 800 ft elevation change, but the incline was pretty steep and didn't have switch backs. I would consider it hard for our family. It felt like a never ending hill, but honestly it felt more like that on the way down. I was pretty stressed about how hard hike back up was going to be. Turns out it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, but worrying about it almost ruined the hike for me. Haha, I think there is a life lesson in there. 
We stopped at a Hawaiian/Japanese Fusion place for dinner--Kenji Burgers. It was pretty good, but the best part was the lychee milkshakes. We were fans!
