Day 24 : Oahu , The Lagoons

We decided to try our luck at the man-made Lagoons in Paradise Cove again.  Since it was a week day, and most of the tourist Christmas rush has already left the island, we thought we might be able to find parking.  We were right!

We spent the majority of the day here, all three of us, chatting and enjoying the beautiful serene environment.  The lagoons were pretty empty, so we almost felt as if we had the place to ourselves!

We also got to enjoy some awesome whale watching for about an hour.  There were quite a few whales off of the lagoon that were breaching, pec flapping, tail slapping, and water thrashing as Chris likes to call it.

We got home a little after 3 and put on our running clothes and headed out.  We did our 3.8 mile loop at about a 10 min/ mile pace again.  I’m not used to being the slow one in the group, but I guess this is something I’ll have to get used to for the next 20 weeks!

It was a fun and relaxing day, which was definitely most needed after all of our adventures in Kauai.

Day 23 : : North Shore Kauai sights, returning to Oahu

After a restless night, I got up at 715, and woke Chris up so we could eat our delicious hot breakfast at 730.  Afterwards, my stomach issues finally subsided, although my throat is still pretty sore.  One of the natural remedies is honey, but all the B&B had was unpasteurized honey, so I couldn’t have any there.  More salt water gargling for me!

We took our time packing up our stuff from the B&B, and then headed out to hit up a few of the other North Shore towns and sights.  We went to the Princeton area, which is an absolutely gorgeous, upper scale town a little bit south from where we stayed, but still on the North Shore area.  We looked at staying at a resort over here, but the rate for one night was more than we were paying the entire time we were on Kauai, so we decided to forego this!

We did go to the resort to check it out though, and it is incredibly beautiful.  All beaches in Hawaii are public (by law), so we marched our way down to the beach in front of the resort and were completely amazed, again, at the absolute gorgeous scenery that surrounded us.

We decided to take a dip in the resort pool (I had to use their bathroom a few times…I used to be able to hold it for about an hour…I think I’m down to 20-30 minutes with how much I drink now!), and were amazed at the detailed tile and stone work that went into the making of it.  So pretty!!

After we dried off in the sun, we headed up to another legendary North Shore beach-ish area called Queens Bath.  Queens Bath was definitely not an easy find.  It’s back in a neighborhood, and there are no signs whatsoever to let you know that you’re on the right track.  There’s steps down to a path, and then a trail that leads to a small waterfall, and then the trail opens up to a rock that counts the number of lives that the Queens Bath has taken.  It’s actually really eerily marked.

I don’t think we ever made it over far enough to see Queen’s Bath, which is supposed to be a little bit calmer in the winter with a few rogue waves that can easily sweep you off the rock fronts and carry you out to sea.  We made it over a few pool like areas before coming across rocks that we’d have to either walk along the bottom portion where the huge waves were splashing up, or hike across a narrow ledge of rocks and pray that we didn’t fall.  Queen’s bath is supposed to be a great snorkel spot in the summer, but the danger in the winter is just too great to even attempt!

After we made our way back up Queen’s Bath, we headed to see another lighthouse, which was unfortunately undergoing renovations.  The cove there though was absolutely gorgeous, so we snagged a few more picturesque shots before taking off.

We stopped at an oversight to look at where they grow the Taro plants.  One of the Hawaiian staples in food is poi, which is ground up taro plant roots.  They sell this stuff everywhere!

We stopped at a local marketplace and got Chris some ahi tuna poke, which he thoroughly enjoyed.  The tuna on the island is (from what I hear…baby H and I can’t have any!) so delicious.

Another pit stop on Kauai before we started to wind down for the day was another set of falls on the South side of the island.  There really are waterfalls everywhere here!

Exhausted, tired, and feeling really fulfilled with all of the sightseeing on Kauai, we headed back towards the airport.  We stopped at one more local place to get some Saigon noodles, which were actually really good, and then headed to the airport.

Kauai was one of the most beautiful islands and had some of the most beautiful waterfalls and beaches we’ve seen as of yet.  If money were no object, we all agreed, we’d love to have a house out here!

Day 22 : Na Pali Coast hike

We ate our hot breakfast this morning at 730 (it was served until 9 a.m.), which was Hawaiian French toast with local fruits and granola (sooo good)…the perfect way to get our long day started.

The entire Na Pali Coast hike is 11 miles…you hike to a beach, stay the night, and then hike back.  Chris had said initially that if I weren’t pregnant, we’d do this entire hike, although by the end of today, his tune had changed.

The first two miles of today’s hike gave us close up views of the amazing Na Pali coast line, and opened up at a gorgeous cove of a beach.  The waves were HUGE…the locals told us they were 18 feet today.  They were, by far, the biggest waves we’ve ever seen.  Obviously, there was no swimming for us (or any fellow hikers) at this beach.

The first two miles to the beach of the hike were labeled moderate, and it was definitely a little bit more challenging of a hike than the previous hikes.  We got to the beach, and Chris said “wow, that was a long mile…it felt like much more than a mile.”  Our plan for the day was to go to the beach, take a break, then hike up to the falls, and take another break.  Chris thought all of this was 4 miles round trip.  Realistically, it was 4 miles one way, 8 miles round trip.

The second part of the trail, up to the falls, was labeled as strenuous.  Numerous other trails that we’ve hiked on have been labeled this way, and we didn’t think much about it.  Holy cow.  They weren’t exaggerating when they said strenuous.  There were parts of this trail that were only wide enough for one of my size 7 hiking boots to fit long ways.

Pretty shortly into this portion of the hike, we put our camera back into the backpack and focused on not falling off the cliff.  This trail went up and around the windy cliff side, and then opened up to cross streams, which at one point we had to literally jump across…I held Chris’s back pack while he jumped across and landed on the other rock safely, then threw him his back pack and mine, and then jumped across myself.  It wasn’t just across either, it was from the top of one of the rocks down to a big rock that if the stream had risen, wouldn’t be an option to land on.

The last bit of this hike had us traversing up rocks…literally rock climbing.  There was no trail, just rocks to make our way straight up.  We finally made it to the top of the trail at noon (we had left our car at 9 this morning) and were most definitely rewarded with a beautiful sight.  A cascading 300 foot waterfall gushing into a beautiful pool.  Because this trail was pretty strenuous, the pool and waterfall were pretty secluded.  There were a few people that we passed and saw along the trail, and even at the pool / waterfall, but not many.  We actually got a little bit chilly sitting up there and eating our lunch, so we decided to forego getting into the water.  My throat was actually starting to bother me pretty badly at this point, so being cold and wet and exhausted just didn’t seem like a smart idea.

We were much slower on our way back down to the beach, and took a much needed 30 min or so break at the beach, which was our 6 mile point.  The 4 miles up to the falls and back down were so gorgeous, but definitely strenuous and exhausting.  I curled up on the beach and let my eyes rest for a few minutes to rejuvenate myself.

I’m not exactly the most graceful person normally, but you add in this whole growing a baby thing, and I’m completely off balance. On our last two miles back to the car, Chris captured a pretty funny picture of what I look like for most of our hikes. 

I keep my arms out to balance myself and keep my feet relatively far apart to help with this also.  I rarely slip or lose my balance this way, so although I look like a complete tard (I know, not much different than normal really, just on a different level), it’s what works for me, so I’m sticking with it!

Chris winds up being the camera man on the second half of most of our hikes.  I’m too tired and too slow to keep up with pictures.  It’s amazing how much slower I go, how I’m constantly short of breath, even though I feel fine, and how much quicker I tire.

We made it out of the trail and to the beach at the bottom, where our car was parked, at 430.  We took a few minutes to sit down on the rocks at the beginning of the beach, take off our hiking boots from our tired feet, and just sit and relax.  We headed back to our B&B at about 5, and while Chris was cleaning off our hiking boots, I showered (yes, I have the greatest husband ever), and got into bed.  I was completely exhausted.  I took about an hour long nap, and woke up a little before 7 starving.  We ate, and then headed back to bed.

I most definitely overdid it today with already feeling bad with my sore throat.  I was up most of the night between either my stomach aching, having to pee, or my sore throat bothering me.  I gargled with salt water, made warm tea, and read up some online on how to solve constipation while pregnant.  I know, not the most kosher topic, but a very real one with pregnant women.  I couldn’t help but laugh at the number one cure … get more exercise.  Really?  An 8 mile strenuous hike wasn’t exercise enough?!  You can tell at the end of my hiking pictures that I’m extremely bloated and full, and the cramping’s starting sometime in the middle of the night.

The day though was absolutely beautiful and we both got to experience some of the most amazing sites in the whole world.  Constipation and sore throat aside, it was all in all, a great and beautiful day!

Day 21 : . Poipu Beach area, the North Shore Farmers Market, Tunnels Beach

Our hot breakfast was served at 8 this morning.  The two other couples at this B&B were closer in age to us than the previous B&B’s, and we had some enjoyable conversations about where everyone was from, what they did, and what brought them here. 

Our plan was initially to head back to the canyon to do more hiking, but the owner of the B&B told us how to get to a local beach and told us that hiking along the coast there was really pretty, so we decided to do that instead.  We were both still somewhat exhausted from our busy day yesterday.

First we headed to the Poipu Beach area and admired their beautiful beaches.  Then we headed to the ‘local’ beach, which was down dirt roads that were filled with potholes and bumps.  The rough ride was well worth the reward at the end though.  We had almost secluded beautiful beaches.  We spent quite a few hours here walking along the coast, and ran into a small handful of people.  The view was amazing…blue blue ocean crashing into amazingingly beautiful rocks and secluded beach after secluded beach.

Chris found a coconut and decided that he was going to be a ‘manly man’ and crack it open.

I couldn’t stop laughing (and taking pictures to capture) this whole ordeal.

In the end, he DID get the coconut open.

Only to discover, it was completely rotten and absolutely disgusting smelling.  I could’ve cared less if the coconut was fresh or not, the whole saga was well worth it!

From there, we headed up to the North Shore side of the island to check into our next B&B.  This B&B was absolutely amazing…they let the guests use their beautiful and open kitchen, as well as gorgeous living room.  Our bedroom had a king sized bed, and the bathroom was a gorgeous double vanity with amazing tile work, gorgeous cabinets, and a really nice shower.  Downstairs, they had a Jacuzzi, which I still appreciated even though I can’t enjoy it with Baby H, and a slew of beach towels, beach chairs, boogie boards, snorkels, fins, reef shoes, etc. for their guests to use.  The place was absolutely gorgeous and far exceeded our expectations.

After we checked in, we headed to the North Shore Farmers Market that occurs once a week on Tuesday from 2-4.  We bought a coconut and enjoyed some fresh coconut milk (we figured Chris had earned his thing of coconut milk from his coconut adventures earlier).  After we finished the coconut milk, we had the guy break open the coconut and take out the meat.  He gave it to us in a large bag and forewarned us that coconut is very oily and will most definitely lube you up and clear you out, which meant I stayed away from most of the meat!

Next, we headed to Tunnels Beach, which has some of the best snorkeling around.  We brought our snorkeling stuff down to the beach, but after a quick dip, we decided we’d just sit and enjoy the scenery (which, as usual, was absolutely breath taking) because the water was a wee bit chilly.  We watched the sun go behind the mountains, and then headed back to our B&B.

Day 20 : Kauai - Falls, plane tour, Waimea Canyon

We got up at 4 this morning, loaded up our stuff, and headed off to the airport (thanks Steph for being a trooper!!!).  We arrived on Kauai at 7 a.m., picked up our rental car, and headed out to see the Wailua Falls.  It’s a spectacular falls that you can drive up to…no hiking necessary!

We had a plane tour of the Na Pali Coast line scheduled at 930 a.m., so after we were done visiting the falls, we ate breakfast at a local place called Dani’s (fabulous) and then headed to our plane tour.

Chris initially wanted a helicopter tour instead of a Cessna plane tour, but I wasn’t sure if my new found motion sickness would be able to handle a helicopter tour, so I booked the Cessna instead.  We took off and went down the south side of the island, through Wimea Canyon, which was absolutely beautiful,  and then towards the West side of the island and up to our much anticipated Na Pali Coast line on the North side. 

Breath-taking is not descriptive enough of a term to use to describe our views.  They were absolutely amazing.  Green, lush, jagged peaks and mountains, waterfalls, and beautiful beaches were all over the place.  Most of the beaches were relatively empty, and the water was beautiful and clear.

Towards the end of the trip, the pilot did a quick turn to get a better look at the water falls that we had driven up to earlier.  My stomach did the turn with him, and I was really glad that we were pretty close to the airport.  I made it the last 10 minutes without getting sick, but I definitely thought I was going to.  After we got off the plane, I thought I might get sick, but after a few minutes and some water, I was fine.  I’m not used to this whole motion sickness thing!

Same Falls as earlier this a.m., but from the air!

After the beautiful plane tour, we headed to Costco (yes, we’ve now officially visited Costco on all 3 islands) and picked up some dinner foods and water and then headed to our B&B to check in.  This B&B was really inexpensive, and the only place we could find on the South side that was open for the night, so we took a risk and went for it.  Although the accommodations were pretty bare boned, it was clean, had a private shower and bathroom, and a queen sized bed. 

We headed out to Wimea Canyon to see the oversights and do the Canyon Hike to the Waipoo Falls.  After stopping at all of our overlooks and taking pictures, we got a pretty late start on the hike.  We left the car at 430, the hike time said 3 hours (4 miles), and we knew the sun would be down shortly after 6 p.m..  So, in typical Chris and Kara fashion, we hustled in the trail, stopped to admire the gorgeous Canyon views, and hi-tailed it on up to the Falls.  The trail was a moderate one…steep in a few places, rocky, and slippery, so booking it through was a little bit challenging.

We made it to the waterfall, sat for a few and enjoyed the scenery, took a few more pictures, and then high-tailed it back to the car. 

We made it to the car at 6:15 p.m.  By the time  we got off of the canyon, it was pitch black.  We headed back to our B&B, ate dinner, and passed out.

Day 19 : Oahu – Aloha Swap Meet

We got up this morning and headed to Starbucks to book our one vacation excursion for Kauai that we needed the internet to research prices and ratings on.  After we got things squared up, we headed back to Steph’s to pack for our trip (we leave tomorrow).

We had to catch up on a little bit of laundry, and wanted today to be more of a down day before heading out to Kauai.

We did take part of the afternoon off from packing and organizing to head down to the Aloha Swap Meet again.  The swap meet is only open on Sunday’s and Wednesday’s, and since Steph closes on her house 2 days after we leave, her time here is short lived too.  We headed down again and Chris picked up a few more $5 tee shirts and Steph stocked up on towels.

After we got back from the market, to make up for our few days with lack of exercise, we all headed out on a jog.  I’ve slowed down quite a bit…I’m pretty sure Steph and Chris slowed down their pace for me, although I doubt either one of them would admit it.  We ran 3.8 miles at about a 10 min/mile pace or so.

I’m actually starting to feel a little bit under the weather with a sore throat, so we called it quits pretty early in hopes that I’d be recovered for our trip to Kauai tomorrow!

Day 18 : Oahu – Happy New Years!! Go Gators! Waikiki

We set the alarm this morning and left the house by 715 a.m..  Why so early?  Because we didn’t want to miss the Gator’s play, of course!  Kickoff was at 8 a.m. Hawaii Time.  Steph is a member of the Gator Alumni Club out here, so we headed to the alumni bar of choice down in Waikiki,  Giovanni Pastrami, to watch it there.  We did cheers during the game, including 2-bits.  In the 3^rd quarter, we sang “We are the boys” and swayed like you’d do in the stadium.  Instead of Chris having brewski’s with his football, we had coffee.  It was such a fun atmosphere…there were TV’s everywhere, and we had the little sound boxes that we could adjust to listen to the game at our own individual preferences.  To top it all off, the breakfast there was also delicious!

After a great start to the morning, we walked up and down Waikiki Beach to see all of the sights. 

We came across a monk seal just chilling on the beach.  They like to sunbathe to take a break, so this is apparently a pretty common sight for the locals. 

We spent the rest of the day hanging out on Waikiki Beach, people watching, and chatting. It is one of the all-time best places to people watch…there is such an interesting crowd down there!  The beach offers spectacular views of Diamond Head as well. 

Steph thinks its odd that I look bigger in clothes than I do in a bikini.  I just feel big in general...and I know there's a LOT more growing to come!!

As the sun headed down, we headed back home.  Go Gator’s!