Honeymoon

Well we are back from our fabulous honeymoon. It was so awesome to get away. We were on the island of Kauai for 7 days. It was so relaxing and much needed. Our room was awesome, nearly the size of our apartment and equip with a full kitchen which came in handy. We saved a lot of time and money by cooking some of our own meals and it was easy to get food from the Safeway across the street. When we walked into the condo there was a basket of goodies courtesy of Abel & Abby too!

The resort was awesome. They had a winding river pool that covered almost 2 acres. The beach was just beyond that. We managed to work out almost every day in the fitness center too which was awesome. We spent a lot of time in one of the three hot tubs. Excessive hot tubbing is kind of a must for any of our vacations. When we went on our Mexican cruise we spent most of our time in the hot tub too. After this trip we have decided that we need two things ... a king sized bed, and a hot tub (once we buy a house)

Despite the tractor beam the hot tub had locked on us we did get around the island quite a bit. We didn't really plan any of it, just hopped in the car and picked a direction. We quickly discovered that we liked the Eastern and Northern sides of the island more than the South or Western sides. Good thing too considering we were staying on the eastern side.

Lihue was really small so not much need to go there. We did get to Wiamea Canyon on the south western side but we quickly opted NOT to hike there when we ran into two goat hunters with rifles. Um ... getting shot wasn't exactly in the itinerary. Then on the way down from the canyon we got stuck in a crazy downpour which made the road pretty treacherous. Add to that the fact that we had to drive nearly 40 miles to find anything to eat besides Subway, we stuck to the eastern and north side after that.

We did find a cool beach on the south end next to the Marriott. It was in a nice little cove and the waves weren't too crazy by Hawaii standards. When we discovered it the first time we just had a little lunch at Dukes outdoor restaurant there but then came back another day so John could scratch his surfing itch. He made friends with a Monk Seal even if he didn't quite catch any waves. I, on the other hand, read my book in the sun. I am a little wary of the ocean, but this respect for sharks and the current lead me to generating a wicked tan shoreside ;)

We drove up the north side one day. Ran into Hanalei bay which was beautiful. On the way we spotted a place to rent kayaks so we went back there another day to try them out. We paddled up and down one of the rivers on the north side of the island which was awesome and peaceful. It was a lot of fun even though John ran me straight into a bush a few times. Knowing how much I love "nature" (meaning bugs) I have the feeling his lack of steering was more for his entertainment than anything. lol! :P

Later in the week we went for a hike up the Na Pali (sp) coast. Two of the local girls who worked at our resort took us bar hopping one night. They told us about a hike at "the end of the road". It was literally at the end of the road. You can't drive all the way around the island but if you drive to the end of the north shore there is an awesome beach and a hike that leads you up around the part of the island you can't drive to. It was quite a hike let me tell you. When they say uneven terrain they are not messing around. It was a good workout though and the view cannot even be described. It was amazing. At the end (or at least the end of as far as we were going) there was a secluded beach where we had a cliff bar and chilled out.

When we hiked back we decided to check out the beach by where we parked. It too was in a little cove and the reef came right up to the shoreline. It was the PERFECT snorkel spot so we decided to come back the next day. The place where we rented the Kayaks also rented snorkel gear so we hit them up again and drove back up to the end of the road. I have never snorkeled before and, again, I am wary of the ocean but John REALLY wanted to. I get in the water and proceed to inhale a huge gulp of water which was quickly diverted to my stomach. UGH I almost quit right there but I'm glad I didn't. After getting used to all the fish that would swim right up to us I felt pretty good out there. There were tons of angel fish and neon colored life swimming around the reef. Unfortunately that huge gulp of salt water started to make me feel ill so I sat on the beach after about an hour and John kept going. He said that he saw even more stuff out there including some massive angel fish.

We had the good sense to give ourselves a few days before heading back to work. I am just getting going after sleeping off the redeye flight. This is probably not the most eloquent account of our trip mostly because I just don't want to do anything but sit on the beach and read haha.