Our Hawaii Day

Today was a fun-filled Hawaii day! We were delayed getting into Kauai last night so we didn't check into our resort until nearly midnight. We drove through Kauai in pitch-black, not knowing that we were surrounded by the most beautiful scenery! We checked into our cottage and quickly crashed into bed. We were awakened by roosters early this morning. I've never woken up to a rooster crowing before - it was a fun, new experience. We were really jet-lagged, so when Jake texted us at 6:30am to ask if we wanted to go to Waimea Canyon, we jumped at the opportunity! 

Jake and Meg came over to our cottage just as we were finishing getting ready for the day. We hadn't yet seen the ocean on our trip, so we took a walk down to the edge of our resort to the beach. The beaches in Waimea have black sand. It was pretty surreal to walk on it - it looked like dirt, but it was soft as white sand. We got our toes wet and then headed up the Canyon. 

The Canyon was beautiful and clear. Mark Twain was right when he called it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific! It was truly stunning. The main lookout had waterfalls, red rock, and green cliffs. It looked like it went on forever. We got some pictures and then purchased Fried Apple Bananas and Pineapple for breakfast. It was delicious! 

We continued up the canyon stopping at the overlooks to take pictures. At every stop, it continued getting more and more beautiful. When we got to our last stop, the fog started rolling in and it became pretty chilly. We truly couldn't see more than 15 feet in front of us. It was very eery and somehow still gorgeous. 

At that point, we decided to head back down the canyon. We went to a place called Island Taco for lunch, where we had delicious Pork and Fish Tacos. Yum!

Jake and Meg headed back to hang out with family and Eric and I went and got shaved ice. It was so amazing! There was macadamia nut ice cream at the bottom and flavored ice on top. We walked along the black-sand beaches of Waimea while we finished eating our shaved ice and then headed to our Zipline Adventure. When we first started planning this trip, I remembered that when I went to Hawaii with my family, we did a Zipline in Kauai and it was so much fun. I told Eric that we HAD to do it. We decided to go with the Kaloa Zipline Company. They had killer reviews and the longest zipline on the island! They did not disappoint! 

There were a total of 8 ziplines of various lengths with the most beautiful views! It was so much fun to fly over trees, see the ocean ahead and then spin around to see Jurassic Park Mountains (in fact the road we drove up to get to the zip line course was used in the filming of Jurassic World!) in the back. The last zipline was a half-mile and it was so much fun! We would definitely zipline again! 

After our zipline adventure, we headed back to our Cottage and changed clothes, and headed to the beach. We absolutely LOVE staying in Waimea in our little cottage, but there aren't a lot of great beaches close by. We drove about 10 minutes to a beach and got in the waves for just a minute. The waves were really big and strong, so we didn't go out more than waist-deep. Even when we did go waist deep, a large wave came and swept me off my feet! We hung out in the water for a minute before relaxing on the beach. I read "My Name is Asher Lev" and Eric simply relaxed. 

We hung out for about an hour before heading back into town to get dinner at L&L's BBQ (it was seriously the ONLY place open beside Subway in Waimea) and get some groceries so we can cook breakfast in our cottage. We also cleaned up our cottage and put all our gear away so we can better enjoy the cottage. It was seriously perfect. The cottage was an old plantation cottage that has been transformed into a resort. The cottages still seem like they are out of 1950 (with a few modern amenities like Air Conditioning). The cottage reminds me of something that my grandparents might have lived in early on in their lives. My favorite feature is the doorknobs. I'm pretty sure my Grandparents had some like this in their house. It's the perfect Hawaii location. We cannot wait to see what tomorrow had in store! 

Sunset near our cottage