Monday, October 25, 2010

Day 6 & 7 - Kayaking to Secret Falls

 
 Jeremiah in the kayak.  We wanted to kayak the river up to Secret Falls.  But we had a baby.  But we wanted to kayak.  So we decided to not let having a baby get in the way or our fun!  We had to rent a kayak and go it alone because none of the guided groups allowed babies, but it worked out for the better because we got to explore much more on our own.  It was quite the kayaking trip upstream while Mike did most of the paddling and I paddled sometimes and entertained the baby sometimes.  Jeremiah did a GREAT job and we would totally do it again!!  Once we finally got to the place where land your kayak we tumbled out and began the hike to the falls.  It was actually the perfect day to be in a river and then be sprayed by a waterfall because it rained.  All day.  We were drenched!!  Jeremiah was a really good sport about being wet........
 
 When we got to the falls we ate a picnic lunch and then I decided to go for a swim.  Until I got in the water.  It felt like glacial runoff!!!!  I asked Mike to take a picture so I could get out!
 Glaring at this guy honing in on my picture when I wanted to get out of the freezing water. 
 Me and Secret Falls.  Which, by the way, they should think of re-naming.  The secret seems to be out judging by the other people there.
 Us at the falls taken by the guy who honed in on the earlier picture.  He and his wife were actually really funny and we ended up hiking back with them.
 Time to test out the rope swing.  We had tried on the way to the falls, but the guy right before me swung in with his glasses on and they had searched for them for 10 minutes by the time we decided to just hike up to the falls and do the swing on the way back.
 AAaaaauuuuuaa.  That was supposed to be the Tarzan sound :)
 Falling in the freezing water.  I should have done it on the way in because at this point I had already been in the water and decided I didn't want to freeze again thank you!
 Our little pooklet grabbing a paddle and ready to go!
 Dang my kid is cute!!
 Looking all adorable in his Nemo rash guard.
 Not super excited about being strapped back into the life vest.
 Is that a smile or a grimace?
Oh good, it is a smile!

 On the way back we took a fork in the river and paddled to a fern grotto that I had been dying to see.  It was beautiful

 A kitty who lived at the fern grotto and begged for treats from tourists. 
 Stanley at the fern grotto.
 After a long day of being cooped up in a kayak Jeremiah was happy when we finally got home that night.  Mike and I had so much fun I wouldn't be surprised of we do lots more kayaking in the future!
 This gooey little guy was on our doorstep when I went out to unload the car.
 The next morning was our last morning on Kaua'i before flying to Oahu.  We packed up and then headed to a nearby beach to eat an early lunch of pizza.
 On the way to the airport we had to stop at my new favorite shave ice stand that sadly, I only discovered on the way home from kayaking the night before.  It was so good we had to go back.  The night before I got a coffee, mudslide and vanilla shave ice with Kona coffee ice cream in the middle and a drizzle of this creamy stuff over the top that she said was sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk.  Sounds nasty, but it was soooooo good!!!  This morning I was looking forward to trying a fruity concoction, but Mike made me order the same one.  He loved it!  It was really good!!!!  I should have gotten him his own, but they were so big we couldn't finish it between the two of us either time.
 If you are ever in Kauai, stop her for shave ice!!
 Jeremiah's reaction to a lemon at the airport bar while we waited for our flight.  The funny thing is he kept shoving it back in his mouth, inciting the very same reaction each time.  We may be evil for providing the lemon wedge, but heck, it was sooo funny!!!!
 Arriving in Oahu, this is the beauty we were greeted with as we drove to our condo.  I wish we could have pulled over so I didn't have to take the picture through the window.  We had a wonderful afternoon walking along Waikiki beach.

3 comments:

Chrystie said...

WOW! Some beautiful pics & looks like you had a blast! How did you keep J in the Kyak? You are much braver then I! We have a Kyak that looks just like the one you rode in, even the same color! I finally went on it w/Matt in like 12 inches of water & freaked out!! I did not like the unstable feeling of it! No way in heck you'd find me out deeper then that! Poor guy he really wants me to like it. Love the rainbow pic! The Shaved ice looked HUGE! I guess it was if you couldn't even finish it together! Wowsers!

Sarah said...

I just held Jeremiah between my legs and paddled and then when he got fussy I would hold him on my lap and sing or tell storys. He was really good and seemed to like it. He had fun watching the world go by.
We weren't out on the open ocean on it, so we weren't going over waves or anything, but it was still kinda unstable. We want to go out in the ocean and paddle to one of the smaller islands, but without J! The kayak is what Matt and the kids go out on?? Wow!
The shave ice was huge! And sooooo yummy!

Anonymous said...

Matt & Brooke have gone in the ocean I think, but no they use a boat typically for fishing.