Day 1-3:
It’s amazing how much you can cram into a day while in Kauai. We’ve only been here two and a half days and already we’ve boogie-boarded three times, drove ATVs in the wilderness on a ranch, took a surf lesson, and did a 3 1/2 mile hike around Waimea Canyon. Truly spectacular!
I’ll obviously do a travel video but thought I’d post some pics in the meantime. Tomorrow we will hike the first two miles of the Kalalau trail along the Na’poli coast, then snorkel and boogie boats some more. Friday we finally (hopefully) get to do our helicopter ride which got rescheduled from Monday due to bad weather.
Day 4-7:
My Kauai travel video is done! We truly had an amazing 5 days there. I’ve never been a huge Hawaii fan… yes, yes…I know I’m crazy and should probably have my head checked….But Kauai just may have converted me into a fan. For those who have never been, it’s beautiful there. Half the island is lush, bright green, jungly terrain while the other half is classic, dry tropical weather with an area dubbed the Grand Canyon of the Pacific (Waimea Canyon).
This non-hiking family actually did quite a few hikes….On our first day, before we could even check into our AirBnB, and still in the clothes we flew in, we slushed through a ridiculously muddy trail to visit the Ho’opi’i Falls and a fun rope swing.
On another day, we hiked through jungle to come out on one of the narrow ridges of Waimea Canyon to admire the crazy cliffs. Ok… admire might not be the right word. They were slightly terrifying for this Mama who is scared of heights so I was far FAR from the edge, while Josh, who is NOT afraid of heights couldn’t understand why I did not want him taking selfies while standing close to the edge…according to him, I was totally overreacting…..”MOM! I’m not even moving my feet while I’m taking the picture! I’m not going anywhere!!!!!” Um… yeah… still not comforting 
). Though even I will admit that the picture came out great as seen in the video.
Lastly, we did a 4-mile hike on the Kalalau trail up on the North Shore of Kauai. The trail was beautiful and lush with gorgeous views of the Napoli coast and an end point at a pretty beach with caves to explore. With the exception of our first hike, we lucked out with dry trails. Just about every review I read talked about how muddy and slippery everything was. The downside was that the waterfalls weren’t as big as usual. I am proud of my family for sucking it up and doing what were challenging steep hikes and while they will never admit this publicly, privately they agreed that the hikes were hard but worth it.
Other highlights of the week? Riding ATVs through a working ranch that had been used in many a movie, including Jurassic Park and Indians Jones and Josh getting to drive because he had just turned 18 the day before. Boogie boarding and surf lessons, which Josh would love to continue here, though he’ll have to accept he won’t be surfing in warm Hawaii water.
And finally, an hour-long, doors-off helicopter ride. Yes… you read that correctly…. doors OFF! A few companies give you the option of flying with the doors taken off so there is no window to obstruct your view. It was windy and loud and spectacular and ABSOLUTELY the way to go if you ever find yourself on Kauai wanting to do a helicopter tour. Not only was the experience itself really fun, but it was also really cool getting to see from above all the places that we had explored down below.
As I’ve said many times, I feel so fortunate to have extended family who love to travel and who take us on trips. But I also love the trips with just the 5 of us enjoying quality time together away from the chaos of our daily lives and our home. This trip was no exception.
Enjoy the video.