Honeymoon Part 2

The past week has flown by -actually, the past few months have flown by - so it's really no surprise.  I knew that all of this would be over in a blink, so I am just trying to enjoy every minute.  We have had such a wonderful time in Kauai and we are really sad that today is our last day here.  Everything is so beautiful and the people here are so nice.  We are off to Honolulu tomorrow!  If I were to guess, I think that Honolulu will be my least favorite of the three stops we are making, but it should be interesting.

Since my last post on Thursday we have done so many amazing things.  We went on an ATV tour all around Kipu Ranch, which is a big piece of the island that has been preserved.  There are mountains, waterfalls, rivers, cattle, pigs, peacocks and of course...chickens!  There have been a lot of movies filmed on this land including parts of Jurassic Park, Outbreak and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark - and we actually swung on the rope in Indiana Jones.

We stopped at two waterfalls, one of which we could swim in.  It was so beautiful and there were these giant bamboos all around the waterfall.  I'd never seen anything like it! 

The water was freezing - even Greg thought so - but I forced myself to get in.  Greg was shocked!

I had been taking pictures while we were riding around, but there was so much dust and dirt flying up from the ATVs that I eventually decided to put it away - it was covered in a layer of dirt and some of it still hasn't come off.  We had to wear bandanas over our nose and mouth.

I took a bunch of pictures with my little camera, but I don't have the cord to upload them.  We stopped to hang out with the wild pigs for a couple minutes and there was a peacock hanging out with them. I was hoping that he would show off his tail, but no such luck.

After the tour, we went back to the condo and got ready for dinner.  We had made reservations at this really nice restaurant that sits right on the beach.  It is appropriately called The Beach House Restaurant.  We went a little early to see the sun set.  The view from the restaurant was incredible!  Dinner was delicious!

Saturday was the most mellow day we have had on the trip so far.  We went shopping most of the morning and early afternoon and then we went to the sports bar in our condo complex at 4:00 to see the fight that Greg wanted to watch.

It ended a little after 6:00 so we decided to look for a good spot to watch the sun set (it sets around 7:00 here).  We drove along the coast and got about half-way to the West Shore before it went down.  We just pulled over to the side of the road and hopped out to take some pictures.

The 4th of July was probably my favorite day here - we got up and went exploring on our own.  For our first stop, we decided to try and find Kipu Falls, which is a waterfall that you can jump off of and there is a huge rope swing - 10 times the size of the one we saw on the ATV tour.  We parked our car and headed down this trail that was overgrown with sugar cane plants.

There were a couple cut-outs on the walk down so that you could walk over to the river. I decided to model my 4th of July bathing suit. :)

When we got down to the waterfall, there were only a couple people there.  By the time we left - there were people everywhere!  Greg started by jumping off the waterfall, which I chose to pass on.

He went straight to the rope swing next.  This rope swing is about 10 times the size of the one on the ATV tour, and you are about 10 times higher off the water!  I perched myself on top of the waterfall to take pictures. Greg is that little thing with the blue trunks on swinging out into the water.

Greg took a picture of me sitting on top of the waterfall and then it was my turn.

The only way out of the water was a rickety ladder.  I thought the rope swing would be the scariest part for me - nope...it was this ladder!  My heart was racing the whole time I was climbing up it.  It was just rocks below and I was so terrified of slipping and falling to my death!  Yes, I know that is a little dramatic, but it was horrible!  The rope swing was no problem!  The only bad part about Kipu Falls were the mosquitos! They ate me alive!

After we had gotten our fill of Kipu Falls, we left to go find a couple other waterfalls that I wanted to see.  They weren't anywhere near as fun as Kipu Falls, but still pretty.  The first on was Wailua Falls and if you look very closely you can see the rainbow that is formed at the bottom of the waterfall due to the spray.

It was even prettier in person.  Next, we went to the Opaeka'a Falls, which were okay - but you couldn't get very close to them.

We grabbed a bite to eat at another cool restaurant called Brennecks, which is right by our condo and right in front of the Po'ipu Beach Park.  We went over to the park after we ate so that I could take some pictures and we walked down the coastline.  The waves were really high and I got some really great pictures.  We walked down on one of the beaches right as a sea turtle swam up.

After we hung out there for a little bit, we went back to the condo to get ready for fireworks.  We went to a festival right by the airport and watched the them.  We got there early and ate some food (and got my 2nd shaved ice of the day) and the clouds were unbelievable.  I couldn't stop taking pictures of them.

My fireworks pictures didn't turn out all that great because I didn't have a tripod, so I was trying to keep my camera steady on my knee.

This morning we went to a nice restaurant on the golf course that my sister-in-law had recommended.  We had a nice breakfast and it was another great view from our table.

Since breakfast, we have just been hanging out at the condo.  We might go out to the beach for a little bit but we have to get packed up and organized for the rest of our trip because we leave for Honolulu tomorrow morning.  I'm sad to leave Kauai - it has been such a wonderful week here and it also means that our honeymoon is rapidly coming to an end.  Saying that...I should probably get off this computer and go enjoy the time that we have left!