Spearfishing at Ke'e Beach

There is a beach where the road ends on the North Shore. This beach is call Ke'e Beach (pronounced Key A Beach). This morning we were up bright and early so we could get a good parking spot at the end of the road. Getting there at 9:30 wasn't early enough and we still had to park a few blocks a way. This is a very popular spot. I think you'll see why when you see the pictures.

Although the parking was already full, we were on a beach so long that we had our own private section.

Ben went on his final spearfishing adventure. He saw several sea turtles and swam with Monk Seals. And when he was finished, he came into shore and showed me his catch. He speared himself a Bluespine Unicorn Fish!!! YAY!

We took the fish home and Ben BBQ'd his snack with a bit of pineapple chunks. He said it was ok tasting. I think the taste of success was probably more delicious for him.

Tonight we are heading to the Kauai Farm Festival and Fair. It's hog night! Yee Haw!

Kipu Falls Heaven

Today we found heaven.

If you've ever done mental imagery and relaxation exercises you know the drill. Close your eyes and imagine the most peaceful place you can think of.

My (Ben) mind always took me to a waterfall plunging into a deep picturesque pool. Today our adventures brought us to such a place.

In my minds eye, I missed the beautiful flowers and tall grass surrounding the pools. I also missed the magnificent tree that grew out of the cliffs edge creating a natural ladder up the cliff from the pool. This trees limbs stretched out over the pool, creating a perfect rope swing.

As you can see from the pictures, heaven is a pretty fun place.

One picture that is missing is of a local who climbed up to the top branches of the tree and walked "Shawn Johnson Balance Beam Style" out on the branch and stepped into a 50 foot drop into the pool. Awesome!

Tomorrow, I'm planning on spearing a fish, even if I have to swim in the Koi Pond.

It was a lot of fun for me (Lindz) to sit on top of the falls and watch Ben jump off the ledge, swim in the beautiful pond below, climb the ladder, swing from the rope and return to the pond. The weather was gorgeous, yet again and we just hung out and enjoyed. When I got over heated, I found a quaint little pool in the river above the falls and cooled myself off.

(Check out the ever growing belly!)

As the sun began to set, we hiked back to the car and made our way to Duke's restuarant overlooking Nawiliwili Bay. We had a table overlooking the beach and water. We watched the rowers workout and watched a Coast Guard ship head out to sea.

It was another wonderful day in paradise.

Polihale Beach

Today was GORGEOUS!

I can honestly say it was the most beautiful day of our trip thus far. Blue skies, a nice breeze, warm ocean water...

We drove to the end of the road on the west shore (across the island from where we're staying). We found a great beach at Polihale State Park. The road ends at the missile testing grounds and then you drive 3 miles on a dirt road. At the 'big tree in the road' you can either go left or right. The other day we took a left and found a great spot called Queen's Pond. Today we took a right and found paradise.

The beach is as long as the eye can see and is bordered on one side by the ocean and the other by rolling mountains and cliffs that fall into the pacific.

For a while we had our own private spot and it was wonderful. Soon we were joined by a few others and that was fine.

(Oops. The waves snuck up on Ben and broke his slippers. It was a HOT walk back to the car after that.)

The water was warm with a nice sandy bottom and great waves to just sort of float in or in Ben's case, body surf.

Ben and I had a GREAT time.

Enjoy the pics.

Wailua River Kayak and Hike

Finally! (This is Ben)

It's my turn to write about our adventures in Hawaii. Other than sitting by the pool, spearfishing, watching the Olympics, and now the Democratic National Convention, we've been getting out and adventuring our way around the island.

Saturday we woke up really, really early to meet up with our tour guides. Getting up before 9:00 AM Hawaiian time has proven difficult for us, but a day on the river spurred us out of bed.

The day adventure started by packing up our drybags, and fitting our tandem kayak for the 2 1/2 mile paddle up the Wailua river. When we hit the water, our competitive streaks caim out, and Lindsey and I took the lead. After we asserted our paddling superiority, we relaxed and enjoyed the good weather and beautiful scenery. It was a beautiful day on the water.

The paddling was easy, with a nice breeze helping us paddle up the river. On our way up, our guide Jill taught us of the history and biology of the Wailua River Valley. This valley was home to King Kamehameha and the ancient Hawaiian people.

Most of the plants and animals on the Island are not native to the Islands. Most were brought by the polynisians who first populated the area.

After paddling up the river, we began our short hike up the trail to Secret Falls. Jill turned our hike into a botanical lecture.

The Falls were beautiful, but the weather turned on us as soon as we got there. With the rain coming down, we were going to get wet, so Lindsey and I led the way into the pool and under the falls. The water was chilly, but still warm by PNW standards.

When everyone had their fill of swimming, we started our hike back to the kayaks. This time we hiked up the Valley, through the relics of the old hawaiian village and taro fields. The hike was muddy, and our water shoes offered little traction, so we were slipping and sliding our way down the trail.

The paddle back to the van was a wet one. The rain spurred us on, to paddle faster. The closer we got to the van the harder it rained on us. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as we got to the van, the sun came out.

In the end it was a beautiful day and a great way to get out and learn about the native Hawaiians. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Princeville Luau

Wow! I feel like such a slacker.

Sorry it's been 4 days since our last post.

Last Thursday night we went to a Luau at the Princeville resort. It was a lot of fun. The entertainment was amazing and the food was delicious. It was a hoot to watch the tiny girls, probably ages 4-7, dance the many different hawaiian dances while people were being seated and dinner was served.

The pig ceremony was cool. Check out the picture of the giant pig that gave it's life to feed about 100 people. Even Ben tried some of the different meats and enjoyed them.

After dinner we were treated to a variety show that included dances from the many different islands in the area and went as far as Tahiti and New Zealand.

Elvis's Blue Hawaii.

Ben and the Maori warriors.Our grand finale was a hawaiian cheif who specializes in fire dancing. First he used one torch and we thought that was insane. Then he came back with 2 torches and it was quite amazing. It was even more crazy when he touched the torch to his tongue and lit his tongue on fire.

Hope you enjoy some of the pics from our wonderful night.

Kuilau Ridge Trail

We enjoyed ourselves on a 4 mile hike yesterday. The scenery was gorgeous. The trail was lined with guava trees and went up a ridge so we had wonderful views on either side of us. It was a tough hike for me at times since it's hard to catch my breath sometimes. :-) But I felt great during and after the hike. Before we headed back to the resort we cooled our feet in a stream. Ah, the relief.

Enjoy the pics.

Tonight we are heading to a luau in Princeville. Watch for more pics tomorrow.