The Island of Kaua’i
The North Shore
For the last week and a half of January, I went to the island of Kaua’i in Hawaii with Nik, his sister and parents for a good old fashioned family vacation. The goal of the trip was quality time and relaxation, and both were achieved. We walked/hiked a lot, laughed a lot, drove a lot, played a lot and swam a little. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t very good which meant the the surf was dangerously rough, but we managed just fine. Instead of swimming in the ocean, we looked at the ocean….and saw whales! Lots of them! Their whole bodies! Jumping out of the water! From the beach! We weren’t even on a boat! Nik managed to get one photo of a tail, but I was too busy watching them to pull out my camera. In fact, my general state of relaxation prevented me from taking very many photos at all during this trip. (Normally, I take 1/2 as many photos as Nik, but this time I think I took 1/10th) And those that I did take were of Nik, and that’s boring to everyone but me. So here are a dozen or so shots of what I saw.
The tree canopy with blue skies beyond
Hiking through the mud
Walking on the beach
Nik walking on the beach in the fancy shorts
The driftwood shelter Nik and I built.....and the pathetic view from it!
A postcard to my mom...."Hi Mom, Wish you were here!"
The Daums at sunset
My sister's postcard..."happy birthday Keisha"
Washed away...
Little Birdie
Walking through the haze
Hiking through the highest swamp in America
Trip Highlights:
– Scrabble…and Nik quitting midway through because he kept getting all vowels
– The beach house with no hallway…which meant midnight snacks woke up the entire house.
– Waking up at the crack of dawn…voluntarily
– The most beautiful Costco…ocean on one side, mountains on the other
– Another stay at the Kalaheo Inn
– The best seafood dinner ever at Postcards
– Kaua’i Coffee
– A couple 8-mile hikes
– Playing tag in the front yard
– “Banana Smoothie” … “eihtoomS ananaB”
– Whales!
Nik’s posts….with lots more photos:
Hike on the Phinea and Alaka’i Swamp Trails
Various Moments on Kauai’s South Shore