We're Going on a River Adventure

On Friday of our trip we took a kayak tour up a river that concluded with a hike to a waterfall.  The kayaking was 3 miles both ways and the round trip was about 2 miles, making for a busy afternoon.  The current in the river was fairly mild, but the wind coming from the ocean made the journey back a more grueling experience.  Along the way river, Elise and I stopped at rope swing we found and enjoyed a few swings into the river.  The experience being wholly centered around water, we used our underwater and the gopro to capture the memory.

Team 2.

View up the river we got to enjoy while kayaking.

Our prow pushing forward.

Team 3.

Anticipating the glory of the rope swing.

Below are three videos clips I put together from the afternoon.  The first video shows the kayaking, both before and after the hiking.  The second video is clips from the rope swing- which took place during the kayaking.  The final video includes clips from the hike and the waterfall.

Along the NaPali Coast

On Tuesday we had scheduled at boat ride along the NaPali Coast.  The cruise went along the virgin coastline for about 15 miles.  We passed the entire Kalalau Trail and its final beach.  Beyond that is practically untouched Hawaiian valleys and cliffs.  The boat ride stopped for an hour at the far point for snorkeling (pictures of that to come later).  Along the ride we were able to stop and listen to our guide explain the history of the different valleys we passed.  They also took as through several caves along the way.  I took many pictures but with the boat moving and the light constantly changing not all of them came out great.  Here are some of the highlights.

I will recount one of our guides stories.  One of the beaches we passed along the way was an old Hawaiian burial ground.  Hawaiians believed that one's power was kept in the bones so they removed them to a remote location that no one could assume that power.  Commoners were buried together in a mound at the base of cliff; royalty required much more craft in hiding the bones (they had greater power).  Slaves were lowered down by a rope from the cliff top and instructed to place the bones somewhere in the cliffs.  Once their deed was done the rope was cut and nobody knew exactly where the royal bones lay hid.

The first beach along the Kalalau Trail.  It is a four mile hike in;
After this a permit is required.  I like the trickling creek into the ocean.

This waterfall is called the hulu dancer (I forget the Hawaiian term)
because it sways with the wind.

A rainbow in her lower skirts.

This is inside a cave along the coastline.
A small creek opens to a beautiful waterfall.

Hikers deep along the Kalalau trail, about 9 miles in.

I really like the way the sun rays shine into the valley.

Look familiar?
Hollywood enjoys buying the rights of this beach for movies.
It was in the fourth Pirates movie.

A look back towards Hanalei, we got lucky and missed a mini storm.

Waves crashing against the rocks; this is one of my favorite shots to try to capture.
I took many of these types throughout the week around the island.

I also spotted two separate pods of dolphins along the way.  One of the pods was particularly playful and I caught a few dolphins jumping out.  We saw one spin in the air but I missed that photo... guess you can't get them all.

Queen's Bath

Queen's bath is a rocky lagoon/beach located in Princeville.  It is named after Queen Emma, the mother of Prince Albert whose name produced Princeville.  It is a short hike off of a residential road along a creek.  The creek opens into the first pool as a beautiful waterfall.  The ocean has carved out many pools at Queen's Bath. The main 'bath', particularly in lower tides, is almost completely sundered from the ocean.

Meeting of creek and ocean.

Upon our approach to the shoreline we saw sea turtles playing in the waves.  There were at least five or six bobbing up in down along the rocks as the waves came in.  The water was almost too blue; as seen below it is an electric azure (I looked up shades of blue to try to pinpoint the beauty, it is somewhere between those two and yet something else entirely).  I got quite lost in the moment observing the turtles interact with the waves while trying to capture the bliss of the moment.  Because of the rough waves I had to be talked out of swimming in the waters right there (don't worry... I got my chance to swim with turtles later in the week).

The view approaching the first pool.

Two turtles hanging out in the waves.

One of the larger turtles up close getting a  breath of air.

After walking past the next couple of coves we finally got to the Bath.  Before swimming I stood on a small rock pointe and allowed myself to by splashed and soaked by the waves.  I sat down with my feet dangling in the low tide and the waves crashing over my head.  There was a baby turtle in the water here but I couldn't get a good picture of it with our underwater camera.

An intermediate pool and the coastline.

Elise got a nice picture of me getting absorbed by a wave.

I captured this while the waves were pounding me with an underwater camera.

The bath itself had some light snorkeling and a 6-7' cliff to jump off of.  Some kids were wanting to jump but their mother was scared so I showed them it was safe; soon everybody at the bath was lining up for the mini cliff jump.

A view of Queen's Bath, about the size of a two or three lane swimming pool.

Enjoying the jump into the Queen's Bath.

Hawaii

The past 10 days we took a family vacation with Elise's family to the Hawaiian island of Kauai.  We took over 2500 pictures (I have no idea how many we took but that seems like a good napkin estimate).  Over the next week or so we will be uploading different posts chronicling the different adventures we had there.

After a flight delay due to adverse weather conditions in Chicago (we flew out of LAX), we got to Lihue just after sunset.  I had a window seat and snapped a few pictures of said sunset from the plane; as a bonus we all saw the mythical 'green flash'.  Between getting people's luggage (I always carry-on), getting the rental car and driving it was pretty late by the time we got to our destination in Hanalei.  Since it was dark during the drive I did not get to see much of 'The Garden Isle' that night.  I woke up the next morning, and the entire week, around 6-630 am local time.  Elise got up with me the first morning and we took some pictures of our view.

If you click to enlarge the pictures you can see part of the flash.

I thought these birds were beautiful; these hung around everywhere in  Hanalei.
I gave a few nicknames, this one is chubs.

View from the balcony at 630.

One of Kauai's many waterfalls.

Enjoying breakfast with a view.

My new favorite past time- morning coffee with a view.

Many, many more to come!!  Feel free to comment below about your favorite ones or memories from the different locales on Kauai.