A Saturday Afternoon Hike

We successfully made it to our second island, Kaua'i, on the fourteenth. The day after we drove up to see Waimea Canyon, and at the end of road, 20 miles in, we decided to take the Pihea Trail to the Alaka'i Swamp - the highest swamp in the world. Lucky for us it was dry and sunny, but you can see why the boardwalk was installed in the pictures below. To quote The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook, "The Alaka'i Swamp Trail leads to the edge of cliff (they're not kidding!) where the Kilohana Lookout affords a majestic view of Ha'ena (the town where we are right now) on the north shore, clouds permitting. The ancient Hawaiians used this trail to get to the north shore when the surf precluded going by sea. Once at Kilohana, they went over and down the 3,400 cliff to the valley floor and along the sloping valley to the ocean. All this for west siders to visit family on the north shore in the winter." You can see Ha'ena in the top left of the bottom photo. That's the ocean.

Minutes after we got to the end, clouds flew right up the valley walls with amazing speed creating a complete white-out. We chatted with another hiker and watched it dissipate again. It was a four hour hike round trip, and we treated ourselves with shave ice from Jo Jo's which is quite a wonderful treat that deserves a post all its own.

16 years ago today we got engaged, and this was a pretty cool way to spend it.

Surfing the North Shore, Oah'u

 

Here's me with surf instructor, Mason, who it turns out is a fan of our Dinosaur BBQ. People we're kind enough not to subject him to a garbage plate on his visit.

I am not a natural at anything that requires athletic skill, but I took to this...yes, like a fish to water. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done, and thanks to Mason's excellent teaching skills I stood up the very first time I tried. As I paddled out to catch the second wave I said to myself, "I'm moving to Hawai'i." Unfortunately the Lottery ticket B and I brought with us wasn't a winner otherwise you wouldn't have seen us for at least a few more weeks.

There is nothing cooler than the ocean flying beneath your board and propelling you to the shore. I'll definately be doing this again. Mason if you read this, can you comment and leave me the name of that town to go surfing in Rhode Island? It's the only New England state I haven't been to, and I sure have a reason to get there now.

The Day in Pictures

Better than I even dreamed. Please send my furniture.

A, if these weren't children's sizes you woulda got one. I was so psyched and then bummed.

Pineapple Rick!

Whales, Purple Potatoes and More

 

We saw whales! Off of the trail that leads to the Makapu'u lighthouse the ocean is designated as a Humpback whale sanctuary, and they know it. The whales come from Alaska to do their family making here. At first you see the massive splashes - imagine cars intermittently being dropped into the ocean from a plane - then you just watch that spot, because it seems a whale cannot jump just once. Above is one we were lucky enough to catch!

Some other notes of interest of the day were the sunrise over Kailua beach, a regular looking sweet potato that is as deep purple as an eggplant on the inside on my dinner plate and being completely dumped off our sea kayak upon takeoff. We thought landing would be a repeat disaster, but we brought our craft in like pros. It was a good thing, too, because a couple on the beach was betting that we would dump it.

Sunrise

 

Tuesday morning.