Upriver and more ...

[image will come soon ... this computer doesn't have a flash card reader.]

Well, Monday was fantastic. Val and I started off the day with an early-morning kayaking adventure on the Wailea River. We paddled a sea kayak two miles upriver with a group of about 10 people, then put in to shore, hiked another mile and lunched at a secret waterfall and pool. Well, it wasn't exactly secret, as there's probably 10 kayaking companies on the island that hit the spot, but there were only a handful of people when we got up there.

The kayaking was really great. I mean, I got a bit frustrated trying to steer from the back of the kayak when I'm paddling one way and Val's paddling the other, but the river was really mellow and it's hard to get frustrated when you're in Hawaii and everything is so magnificent. Once we started the hike we passed under groves of wild mango trees, catching whiffs of rotten fruit on the ground. Every time a breeze came through the forest, a few mangoes would plop to the ground ... tune in to the Discovery Channel special next Monday, "When Fruits Attack!"

After kayaking we met up with Ricky, and he led us on a tour of the island, including where he grew up, where he went to high school and some of his favorite beaches. We had dinner at a burger stand and shaved ice for dessert (like a Sno-Cone but much tastier ... Val and I got shaved ice with Macadamia Nut ice cream underneath.) We saw the pricey hotels in Princeville, on the North Shore of Kauai, where rooms start at $800 a night. We snorkeled on the reef directly below the hotel, then hit the last beach on the North Shore accessible by road, and butchered a pineapple as we watched the sunset.

Kauai doesn't have the rugged beauty of Molokai, but it's rightly called the garden island. The views here have been amazing, and every day I conjure up a new excuse why I might move here someday.

The Island of Discovery

Kauai!

We've now been on the island of Kauai for 4 days. It's been wonderful, and Brook and I have quickly grown more appreciative of this beautiful place. It was rough coming to a populated island after spending time on Molokai, but now that we've had a chance to see the island and explore some of what there is to see, we're quite happy with Kauai.

In the last several days, Brook and I have hiked one of the trails of the Waimea Canyon (it was really muddy, but such a fun climb!), been swimming multiple times, went to a time share presentation (for which we have been rewarded with a discounted kayaking trip...go us!), and have been snorkeling twice. Our friend Ricky, who grew up here, arrived today, and we spent this afternoon swimming with him and having dinner with him and his mom. It's great that Ricky is here, as he's going to be a tour guide for us over the next couple of days, taking us on adventures around the island. I'm sure our experiences will end up on this blog soon (Ricky seems to have big plans for us).

Either Brook or I will update here again soon, internet access permitting. I wish that it was possible to include all of the details of our trip, but it would take too much time away from the island that surrounds us. :-) So, you will all have to satisfy yourselves with the pictures and brief updates that we supply.

Aloha!

Kauai is hard to spell

Hawaiian vowels and I do NOT get along. Heck, if it weren't for spell check, I couldn't spell Hawaiian right.

As you probably have guessed, Val and I are now on Kauai, after three incredible days on Molokai. The island was almost deserted - I'd estimate no more than 3,000 people live there ... it's mostly ranch land, beaches and high mountains. We camped for two nights at Popohaku Beach, on the west side of the island. Despite warnings of a hurricane, and later a Tsunami, the camping was rather uneventful. We rented a car, which was a great idea, as our campsite was 15 miles one direction and town 15 miles the other. Of course, if we'd packed fewer bags, we could have just hitched there, as hitchhiking doesn't have the same stigma here it does in the states.

Yes, I know, Hawaii IS a state, but it doesn't feel much like one. The climate and the people and the food are just all so different. Anyway, Molokai was fantastic. The one major "town" had a main street 10 shops long. Locals were always sitting out in front of the shops, watching traffic go by.

And now we're on Kauai, a more densely populated and bigger island. We meet up with Ricky on Sunday, and in the meantime we're camping, snorkeling, and sightseeing. I gotta say, it's wonderful being on Island Time.