Pictures from Hawaii

As promised, here are some pictures from the past two days.

Zip-rapel over a waterfall

Letting go of the rope to go faster

All geared up to take off backwards with my eyes closed
Zipping upside down (I'm on the left)

Rope swing off a 50ft cliff (not me, but I did this!)

Kipu Falls swimming hole

Spouting Horn

Spouting Horn is actually an old lava tube

Feral chickens are everywhere. I turned around and this was 4 ft from me!

Please do not feed. I haven't seen anything but chickens.

A beach in Poi'pu

Poi'pu state beach

View from my towel

Wild sea turtles!

Eating on the reef

Just keep swimming

Lava rocks

Angelfish while snorkeling

Snorkeling

Relaxing after snorkeling

Baby chicks walking by

Pyramid Rock Beach in Oahu. We were going to paddle board but they were all rented out so we beached it and had a lunch feast of different asian foods instead

Pyramid Rock Beach on the Marine Corps base, Oahu

Aloha from Oahu!

I left the island of Kaua'i this evening and am now on Oahu with Lauren!  

My day started a little later - woke up at 6:15am for an 8am adventure.  I did the Kipu Falls zipline adventure with Outfitters Kaua'i.  It was so much fun!!  They have 3 ziplines, which we did twice, and a rapel/zipline that goes over a waterfall.  I took off backwards and even zipped upside down!! After we finished with the lines, we drove over to Kipu Falls, where there was a 50ft rope swing off a 20ft cliff!! I've always wanted to rope swing into water, but it was tougher than I expected to hold on - still a lot of fun.  The waterfall was beautiful and it was fun to swim by it.  I also made a new friend - hello Kim!  After the tour ended, I had planned to go to Waimea Canyon and take pictures.  Unfortunately, the clouds were covering the tops of the mountains so I figured the canyon might not be very picturesque.  Instead, I drove along the coast of Poi'pu and went to the beach.  While laying on the beach, there were two sea turtles hanging out in the surf in front of me!  They popped their heads up every now and then.  It was really neat and drew a big crowd.  Later, I woke up to find a mother chicken and 5 babies literally a foot from my towel.  There are wild chickens and roosters just roaming free along the island, along with feral cats, dogs, goats, and wild boar.  I snorkeled a bit in the cove, saw a few fish and possibly stepped on one.  The water was so warm and clear!  It was a really relaxing day.  Then I headed to the airport and now I'm just hanging out in Oahu with Lauren and her family.  My computer is being funny about getting the internet, so I will post pictures sometime tomorrow, after we paddle board! 

Aloha!

Aloha! I made it to Hawaii last night (Wed) and will be here for two whole glorious weeks :) Unfortunately it was getting dark when my plane was landing, but I was able to see the coastline magically appear a few hundred feet before we hit the runway. Beautiful but scary!

Today, I kayaked the Na Pali Coast on the island of Kaua'i. It was rated in National Geographic Adventure magazine as the best weekend kayak trip in the country and #13 of 50 things to do before you die! It's a 17 mile journey and about 6 hours of intermittent paddling. Some call it the Everest of Sea Kayaking. Luckily, it was a gorgeous day, with extremely calm seas in the morning, which picked up a tiny bit in the afternoon but there was a decent tailwind after lunch which helped push us to the final landing site!

The trip was absolutely amazing. Our guides Doug and Steve were funny and full of history. I'm definitely tired and my arms may not work tomorrow morning, but it was totally worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The coastline is amazing and being in a kayak allowed us to get so close to the rocks that I could smell the seaweed growing on them and also see the crabs scuttling around. I also got splashed by a few crashing waves. We also paddled into sea caves and underneath waterfalls. The ocean on this side of the island is a beautiful blue color and super clear. There were a few sea turtles in the water near the beginning of the trip and dolphins near lunchtime. In the winter, the tour group often sees whales. Every now and then, helicopter tours would fly over (once every two hours or so) and boat tours would pass by offshore. Most of the time, though, it was just 11 people in 6 kayaks, paddling up the coast. So peaceful, even when we paddled for what felt like forever without a break. It's kind of like running - eventually you hit a point where it just feels good to keep going.

This tour gives you a rare perspective of the coast and it's quite the adventure. I would highly recommend it! See pictures below. Due to the wet nature of this trip, I purchased a cheap digital camera with a waterproof case. It did a decent job, except when the sun was shining on the clouds - nothing I tried got rid of that glare!!

Tomorrow I'm off to zipline and see Waimea Canyon, then I fly to Oahu to see Lauren!!

Glad there was a sign to stop me....jk - Checking in at 6am with Kayak Kaua'i

Put in at Haena Beach, 7am. We launched into the surf in tandem sit on top kayaks

The view - there was an odd number of clients so I paddled with a guide. Despite putting sunscreen on my feet, the tops got burned a bit :(


First of many waterfalls. We actually paddled inside of this cave, which is an old lava tube from when the island had active volcanoes. It was dark and loud in there, but pretty awesome!!

Second cave had two doors - we went in on the right then paddled around to come out past the waterfall. Pretty amazing.

Na Pali Coast

Rock Arch

Waterfall up close

Na Pali coast

My first swim in Hawaiian waters - refreshing!! The water is unbelievably blue and clear, you can see the bottom forever!! We also saw a few sea turtles and dolphins swim by.

Third cave we entered was open at the top

Entrance to third cave

Na Pali Coast & kayak

We landed for lunch at Na Pali State Park on Miloli'i beach, which included fresh cut pineapples - yum!!

Short hike to a refreshing waterfall

Paddle vs. crystal clear blue water

Na Pali coast

We landed at Polihale State Park, which is only accessible by a very very bumpy, 18 mile dirt road. It's tons of fun in the back seat of a 12 passenger van.

Kayak and Pacific Ocean

Polihale State Beach with wildflowers

We made it!

So after 3894 miles of driving, $286 in gas, 15 states (5 new) and 1200 pictures....we made it to San Diego, CA! It was a long drive, but a beautiful one. There were times I thought my car might not make it up another hill but she managed just fine. Looking forward to getting to know my new home - but first it's off to Hawaii for two weeks!! Here are pictures from the last two days, as promised.

Day 7 - Zion National Park, UT to Las Vegas, NV!

Looking up at the top of Angel's Landing from the floor of Zion Canyon - the hike goes up 1500ft in just 2.5 miles! Thanks Claire and Kerri for recommending this trail, and thanks Ryan for going all the way to the top!

Flowering cacti

A lizard

Looking back down on the trail we just climbed

Flowering catcus and canyon

There were chains in place to help hikers, though sometimes it was harder to hold on to the chains. I rarely used them going up, but there were occasionally helpful on the way down. Hello from the top of Angel's Landing!

Looking back at the fin we just climbed over
We saw a kingsnake (non-poisonous)

Zion Canyon and Wildflowers

Refilling our water bottles the old fashioned way

Entrance to Zion National Park

Quick pass through Arizona


Well I have to check out now, so I will post just a few more pics later. I'll also be posting all of the trip pictures on Picasa at a later date!