Last of Hawaii pics

Just a few days left to complete the Hawaii vacation. Actually, now that I've written about it, I'm "re"enjoying it sooo much! What a fun break it was -- one of those that I feel like I appreciate even MORE now that it's over.

Day 6:

We explored the other side of the island that day, which turned out to be a lot of fun. First, we visited another gorgeous waterfall overlook...

Then we went to watch a big blow hole. It made some great gurgling noises that were fun to listen to, as well. And, the guide book warned us NOT to go close (duh), and told about several people who had been sucked in and died, plus one really fortunate man who was sucked in, then blown right out again, phew!

Then we went to a great botanical garden. Brian found out his ethobotany teacher from BYU is one of the head botanists there -- Paul Cox. It was great to look around, and we went late enough we had the whole garden to ourselves...

Ever wonder what real cocoa plants look like? Here it is, folks -- the REAL source of chocolate...

I think Adam and Eve would have been wise to use these (below), instead of just puny little fig leaves, no??

Black pepper plant... I just thought it was neat to see how pepper corns grow. Who knew?

Lovely pink plumeria. Of course, we didn't have to go to the botanical gardens to see it growing, but they sure had some beautiful specimens..

Also bananas (below) were growing EVERYWHERE, even just wild, right in front of our condo. And yet, in their grocery stores, bananas were selling for $1.19 a pound. You heard right! And to think they're only 46 cents a pound at our local Wal*mart in Idaho. Crazy!

Some pretty flowers...

And more nameless flowers...

After the botanical gardens, we peeked in at some of the fancy hotels on the South side. Call us quirky, but it seems both Brian and I love to look at the really swanky places, just to see what they're like. So, we had fun strolling the immaculate grounds and taking a few pics here and there. This one (below) is the Marriott, I think...

Our favorite was the Grand Hyatt! It was MASSIVE, and the grounds were exquisite, including a salt water lazy-river type pool, and a tiki restaurant over the water. Wow...

From the back, looking up at the lobby area...

The beach swing we "borrowed" for a few minutes..

And, I'm sure this is a bit much, but I couldn't resist taking a quick pic of the "waiting area" inside the ladies room. Pretty posh!!

Day 7:

We kayaked the Hanalei River for a few hours, which was really relaxing and fun (except for the headwind on the way upriver). It's the mildest of the rivers on Kauai (and was the closest and most accessible for us). We got a two-person kayak, and, yes Mom, even *I* helped row the boat!!

Me and the boat... (again no shots of Brian, as he was the camera man, risking our camera by taking all these shots FROM the water)...

We saw tons of turtles, sunning themselves on rocks and branches. But as we'd get close enough to take a picture, they'd slip off into the water and we hardly ever got a good shot. But I thought this was a nice one...

After some good eats and naps that afternoon, we went back down to the Queen's Bath to swim and snorkel a bit at sunset. It wasn't as full as it had been on Sunday night, but I felt "safer" -- with less water flowing in and out. It was a perfect swim...

And a gorgeous sunset, once again...

Day 8:

Our last day (sniff, sniff). We woke up early and went snorkeling one last time. We found the BEST beach, and it was so close to our condo...

If only we had found it sooner. It was gorgeous and secluded, with TONS of fish and coral...

The pathway down (which is hard to see), was really steep and rickety, which probably helps keep it a secluded beach. And the view from the top (with my head included) was lovely...

One last shot of our lovely Hanalei Bay...

Then we packed up and headed out. We stopped and saw the Kilawaea Lighthouse and wildlife preserve...

One of those "rocks" down there is actually a monk seal (which I kept accidentally calling a monk squirrel ??). Can you find it?

They wouldn't actually let us go up inside the lighthouse, but we got to walk around and look at the water crashing on the cliffs below...

The views were spectacular, and it was such a clear day, too!

On our drive back toward the airport, I had Brian stop so we could take a picture of the Police Station. Ha! Looks intimidating, doesn't it?!

And Brian had us stop so he could take a picture of the Kapa'a LDS chapel, very quaint and lovely...

We spent the rest of the afternoon buying cheap souvenirs and delicious chocolate, then snooped around some more fancy resorts near the airport. Here's another Marriott, I think...

A clever sign, I thought. ha ha...

And, one more picture of the two of us, I thought it turned out nice...

We flew home through the night, a long night but not too bad. We were VERY excited to see our kiddos. And they were excited to see us, too. And the toy train at the airport, too...

Ah, what fun memories this trip will be as time goes by, huh?