Honeymoon Blog: Day 4

Wednesday 6/ 29

Today, we woke up (in pain), ate breakfast and booked our Catamaran for Saturday!!! We then decided it was time to explore the North side of the island so we started the 2 hour long drive. Along the way, we stopped at what our Bible (the Kauai tour guide book) claimed to be a great, short hike to some swimmable tide pools. It lied. We slide our way down the trail being closely followed by a band of mosquitoes. Once out of the mud and trees, we hiked about a half mile over lava fields only to find the  tide was too high to get to the pools, don’t worry, we could see them from where we were. We had to back track… In the end, we made it to the Secret Beach as well as to the Secret Lava Pools. Connor took a dip in one and we got some great shots.

We continued to make our way up the coast to Ke’ke beach. It was a (for lack of a better word) shit show. Absolutely no where to park. Tickets being issued. Mustangs stuck in mud. Not a good scene… Connor’s sass also came out. We ended up back tracking, though Ke’ke is suppose to have the best snorkeling on the island, to the Tunnels beach. We got a spot right away and we were able to snorkel and have lunch. The “waterscape” was a beautiful sight to see!

We made our way back to our hotel stopping along the way at another farmers market! We got a lei, an avocado, and more apple bananas. We are obsessed with the farmer’s markets here. No idea why anyone would shop anywhere else. 

After the farmer’s market, we cleaned up quite well. Connor’s Mom and step-dad had prearranged an all inclusive dinner at the Beach House. It was amazing. The food was fabulous! We started with cocktail hour, of course! We split a watermelon salad and crab cakes while sipping on our Mojito and Lava Flow! Elise had seafood pasta while Connor had a 7 oz Ahi with mashed potatoes. We watched the fabulous sunset as we ate part of our carrot cake. We returned to the hotel full Full FULL! We cannot begin to thank Connor’s Mom and step-dad enough for the meal. It truly was out of this world.

Honeymoon Blog: Day 3

Tuesday 6/28

We woke up early, ate breakfast, grabbed our new camera and headed to the West Side of the island to view the sights of the Waimea Canyon. After a winding drive up 16 miles to the trail head, we took an 11 mile, almost marriage ending hike, out to view the Na pali Cliffs  from above. Photos do not do this view justice.  We both agree that it was the most amazing sight we have ever seen. Connor would like to clarify that this was not an almost marriage ending hike, though an hour of Elise at her worst. After an earlier discussion of believing that we would be done with the hike at 1 p.m., we later realized we would be done at 3:30 p.m. Elise had a right to be a little bent out of shape. *Connor would also like to declare that Elise is writing this.

After the hike, we descended the mountain to arrive at the much acclaimed Shrimp Station, which is more of a Shrimp Shack. We arrived at 4:58 and were able to get the last order of the day! Over priced Coconut Shrimp, which were actually great. We then headed to another dive hole, Jo-Jo’s Hawaiian Ice, also much acclaimed, however they were lacking in sanitation as well as friendliness. We found this quite delicious. Our shaved ice was Tropical Rainbow: On the bottom was Macadamia nut ice cream topped with ice flavored of Passion Fruit, Mango, and Pineapple. 

After making our way back to the South side of the island, we went for a little swim in our backyard to cool off. Con ended up making a “sand castle” and then we ended up watching the sunset. After an 11 mile hike, we called it an early night.

Honeymoon Blog: Day 2

Monday 6/27

• First walk on the beach at 6 AM, and we saw an endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal resting on the shore.  He had similar sleeping habits and demeanor to Otto, so Elise named him “Ottwo.”
• Went and hiking along the Poi’pu coastline amongst the Lithified Cliffs.  One sea turtle was spotted, rolling in the waves along the shore.
• Snorkeling along the Poi’pu shoreline, with our favorite finds being an eel and multiple parrot fish.
•  After a lunch break, we headed to the local farmer’s market, where we drank some coconut milk straight from a freshly macheteed nut.  We also purchased locally grown mountain apples, apple bananas, mangos, papayas, avocados, carrots, and pineapples.  A success to say the least.
• Then we headed to Costco to purchase some necessary provisions for the week.  We also purchased a new Nikon camera for the trip.
• Next, we headed inland to the Wialea waterfall.  Once seeing it from above, we decided to descend to the bottom to swim in the pool below (despite the “DO NOT ENTER” sign posted along the trailhead).  It was breathtaking and we were in awe.
• Free Maitai’s at the Sheraton this evening, followed by a trip to the Sprouting Horn ocean geyser and dinner in Kalahou.    

Honeymoon Blog: Day 1

Sunday June 26^th:

                Woke up at 7:30 AM and went down to meet the family for breakfast at the Five-21 restaurant at the Oread Hotel.  After some pancakes, omelets and warm conversation, we packed our things into our parent’s car and headed to the airport for our flight to Kaua’i! 

                After a relatively seemless check-in (minus the near confiscation of Connor’s cologne bottle which was “nearly” over 3 ½ ounces), we got ready to board the plane for the first leg of our trip with a layover in Denver; however, right before getting on, a couple with a small child approached us and offered to swap seat locations for the flight.  While we were booked to ride with the cattle in the economy class, these kind strangers had two tickets in first class.  At their insistence, all we could do was say, “Thank you.”  This random act of kindness was completely unexpected and was just the beginning of our good fortunes. 

                Following two relatively painless stops in both Denver and Los Angeles, we boarded the plane to our final destination, the garden isle of Kaua’i.   Nearly 11 hours of total flight time brought us to the island around 8 PM local time (1 AM Kansas time).  Fortunately, our bags made it with us too, and we headed for the car rental area.  What we found was a nightmare...  Two attendants were running the check-in counter at a snail’s pace.  Being the fifth in line, we waited nearly an hour just to see an attendant; however, they were most gracious with us, and decided to upgrade us for free to a splendid Ford Mustang convertible.  Winning!

                While driving on the island at night was slightly unnerving, we finally got to the hotel at around 9:30 Kaua’i time.  The Sheraton at Poi’pu was just as generous and upgraded us to an Ocean side view free of charge.  We finished the night with our first ever Hawaiian pizza (both of us had never even tried it before). It was created with locally raised pulled pork and pineapple. Delish!