The Island of Kauai

 We arrived in Kauai on the 8th and met our friends Kim and Rich who would be staying with us.  It was our third time to Kauai and their first time to the islands.  Kauai is stunning anywhere you look, it is undoubtedly the most beautiful island that I have ever been.  The green irregular shaped mountains the lush vegetation, the ocean, it is just lovely and dreamy.  We were even blessed with an ultra amazing view from our balcony unit at the Hilton Point at Poipu.  The view just does not get old.

That night after checking in we wondered down to Poipu Beach and we were shocked to see over 20 gigantic Green Turtles resting on the beach.  Apparently they pull themselves up every night and the locals tell us that there have been over 90 at one time.
There were about 150 people watching these turtles and the people were keeping their distance.  You can see some people in the background which gives perspective on how large these turtles are.  There are volunteer ladies that guard the turtles every night because some idiot parents and people even have let their children ride on the turtles back, so a volunteer guard network was set up to protect the turtles.  Humans are awful!











We had put our names in at Brennecke's Beach Broiler for dinner and after viewing the turtles and walking around for a bit I got the text that our table was ready.  We had a really good meal here and we had been here before  when we came to Kauai for my 50th birthday.  The Coconut Shrimp are to die for.




The next morning we wanted to get out and hike after a leisurely morning drinking coffee on our balcony.  There aren't any mosquitoes so I spent most of my free time on the balcony soaking up the views and listening to the surf crash on the lava rocks. 



We headed towards Shipwreck Beach and beyond the point in the first photo.  There were some great views to be had and some strenuous hiking up the cliffs.  We were also blessed with some whale action of breaching and spouting to look for off in the horizon.






That is our resort in the distance.

After that sweaty hike we came back to the unit to clean up and eat and head out again for a drive.  Darren was still sleeping at this time so thank goodness we put Rich on the rental car agreement.  We stopped in a little historical town called Koloa.  It had great little shopping and knickknack stores to look through.


This is a Dieffenbachia Tree which in Saskatchewan is only a house plant and it gets maybe 4 feet tall with much smaller leaves.



These Monkey Pod Trees were planted 100 years ago and they are huge and sprawling and cover the whole main street of Koloa.













We had to try Shave Ice which is an island staple and Kim and Rich chose to buy at the Fresh Shave stand.  They had gourmet and exotic flavors and they were delicious.

We found an old foundation and chimney from a Sugar Plantation this was cool.





















No matter where you look in Kauai there are always exotic plants and trees to see.
This is a gorgeous Hawaiian Ginger.  This waxy flower was about 10 inches high.

Hibiscus is everywhere in an abundance of colors.

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