Spouting Horn

Just up from Poipu Beach is a cool spot called Spouting Horn.  It is basically a hole in a rock that shoots water up when waves come in.  It was really fun to watch the Kauai "Old Faithful!"

Waimea Canyon

On our last day, we decided to put the top down on our rented Mustang convertible and head up Waimea Canyon.  While the road was super windy and made this girl pretty sick, the views were so worth it!

Overlooking the canyon (Kauai's Grand Canyon, as it were)

At the end of the road you reach the lookout over the Na Pali Coast (where a lot of the establishing shots of Jurassic Park were filmed).  Since we couldn't do a catamaran tour to see it, this was as close as we got!  

Beautiful!

Almost a mile up!  

Marriott Kauai

Since we were trying to use as many hotel points as possible, half way through our trip we switched over to the Marriott Kauai at Kalapaki Beach in Lihue.  

The resort was drop. dead. gorgeous.  

Amazing.

It was much larger than the Sheraton and boasted a ridiculously large pool with 4 hot tubs (each at different temperatures), lots of fountains, and enough lounge chairs to go accommodate a large army!  If you know Kevin, you know he loves his pools!

(I couldn't get the whole pool in the shot, so I pulled this from their website)

From our balcony, we could see the cruise ship leaving port.

Eating at the Kalapaki Beach Hut.  They served cheap breakfast and burgers so we skipped the $35 hotel breakfast and came here everyday (and sometimes twice!)

Kilohana Plantation "Train Ride"

So, being as I am in a delicate condition, Kevin and I looked for at least one activity we could do together besides just eat, which we did plenty of, thank you very much kalua pig!  When the concierge told us about this train ride through an old sugar plantation followed by a stroll through a fruit orchard where we could pick fruit to eat and a picnic lunch, I thought that it would be the perfect day spent riding the rails and relaxing with my honey.

WRONG!!

I definitely admit that this adventure, or rather misadventure, was entirely my fault.  Waste of time and money!

Let me explain...

Look how happy we are at the beginning of the cursed 4 hour waste...

The advertised 4 hour "Kilohana Train Ride and Lunch" comprised of a 20 minute ride around a circle that had the beginning point in sight the entire time.  When we arrived at the end and looked at our watches, we started getting a little nervous.

So what did we do with the rest of the 3 hour and 40 minutes?

We fed some pigs (admittedly fun)

and some goats (admittedly adorable),

hung out with some chickens, 

and then started a 2.5 hour hike that they failed to mention.

Because there were a lot of older people and another very pregnant girl on the hike (who were as confused about WHY we were going on a hike, when it wasn't on the brochure, as we were...and much less prepared clothing and fitness-wise), they gave us walking sticks.  I felt silly using mine, but did anyway since everyone BUT Kevin decided to use one.

Hence the picture with the silly stick.

I guess we were ahead of schedule so we spent 15 minutes staring at the tree above and below.  

See the face?

The "highlight" of the hike was when our jungle guide went all "Tarzan" on us and swung across a stream.  No one else wanted to try...not the two pregnant girls, their husbands, or the retirees.

After the hike in the jungle we stopped and had the promised lunch.  Now, at the beginning we were asked if we would like a turkey wrap or a salad.  Of course both Kevin and I chose the wrap.  Salad, really?  Anyway, since there is a high end restaurant attached to the plantation, I assumed that the lunch would come from them and it would be the most amazing turkey wrap we've ever had.  

Do you know what it was?  They gave each of us 3 of those turkey pinwheel wraps from Costco, freaking COSTCO!!  I really don't like those stupid little wraps so I gave mine to the ever-present (and crowing) chickens.

Thankfully we were allowed as many chips, drink, and fruit (fresh picked from the orchard) as we wanted, but I could not believe they handed me food straight from Costco...and not even their best food, either!  Next time get me one of those chicken bakes or a slice of pizza, cheapo!

After our lunch we walked over to the orchard and saw the fruit.

Here is a cute little pineapple.  Fun.     

The next few pictures are an inside joke that only Mormons would get.  Since that is probably most of you, please don't think that Kevin and I are the worst kind of blasphemers!  We just could not resist.

I swear it is the same fruit!

I guess I should have taken a bite first, but I made Kevin do it...I wasn't sure what it would taste like!

Jamboo fruit wasn't forbidden in this garden!

Okay, I really did complain A LOT in this post, but we spent a bunch of money on this excursion and it was such a bust!  If it hadn't cost so much, I wouldn't be so angry, but note to any travellers going to Kauai...skip the "4 hour Costco lunch and long hike" tour and just ride the train around instead!

Kilauea Lighthouse and Opaeka'a Falls

 On our long drive back from Kevin's Tunnels dive and while speaking in horrible French accents, we stopped by and lazily took pictures of the Kilauea Lighthouse and the Opaeaka'a Falls without walking to either of them.  Truth be told, you can't walk to the falls, but we could have gotten a closer look at the lighthouse.  Oh, to be lazy! 

Diving at Tunnels Beach

For two of Kevin's dives, we drove up to the north shore to a quiet little beach called Tunnels Beach.  While I hung out on the sand reading (by far my favorite thing to do on vacation!!), Kevin dove through underwater caves and tunnels.  

Unfortunately, there was a guy on the dive that really shouldn't have been there and ran out of air TWICE and caused a bunch of other problems.  Scuba diving is a serious thing and can be dangerous, but thankfully the guide pretty much hung on to the guy and helped him through the day so he wouldn't freak out or ruin anyone else's trip.  

A note about the guide:  Guillaume was French...really French.  Like, stereotype and parody French!  He was so funny and had the most hilarious accent ever.  I can still hear him talking about diving and living in French "Pol-ee-nee-see-ya" and how to tell if a shark is a boy or girl (a boy has a "pen-is").  

We do the skoo-ba and make the bubbles now! 

Kevin is now Advanced Certified!  

Yay for deep dives and nitrogen narcosis!

A Rip Roarin' Trip to the Allerton Botanical Gardens

This was our second trip to Hawaii with a bun in the oven...which means no zip-lining, horseback riding, rafting, diving, etc.  I am not complaining...it just sort of limits the type of activities you can do.  So, while Kevin was out scuba diving (he ended up doing 9 dives - who's the greatest wife EVER?), I went on a bus tour and nature hike through the Allerton Botanical Gardens.  

Now THIS is high adventure!  Accompanied by the geriatrics and cautious people on the island,  we toured some amazing property and looked at lots of plants and things.  It was kind of like scuba diving on land, but a lot less cool!

Supposedly, a scene from Pirates 4 was filmed on that bank...

A palm tree worth over $15K

Now this was actually REALLY cool, not just sarcastic cool.  These are the exact trees used in filming Jurassic Park.  They were used in the scene where Dr. Grant discovers the nest of hatched dinosaur eggs.    

So cool!  The tour was actually fun in the end and everyone was really nice.  The grounds were beautiful and I would recommend it just to see the Banyan "Jurassic Park" Trees!