HAWAII: Molokai, Maui and Kauai!

We got home from Hawaii this week! It was such a wonderful vacation. We went to Molokai, Maui, and then Kauai. We got to go with our brother and sister in law, Wes and Jennica, and then were able to meet up with our friends the Waddoups and Westinscos in Kauai and shared a condo with them which was so much fun! We even got to meet up with our friends the Neuffer's for lunch and a hike who live in Oahu but just happened to be visiting Kauai the same time as we did! 

Some highlights from the trip include: Rainbows, hiking, our AMAZING helicopter ride, getting a tour of the leper colony in Molokai, Fresh ripe Guava to pick and eat along our hiking trails, gorgeous beaches, our first ride in a tiny plane, sunrises and sunsets, waterfalls, swimming under waterfalls, more rainbows, more waterfalls, more hiking, and lots of QUALITY time with my hubs most importantly and our good friends and family! 

Here's our day to day schedule:

Thursday: flight left at 6am. Flew to LA and then to Maui. Coming into Maui it was GORGEOUS! We saw a rainbow, blue skies and the island. After landing, we headed to kani kai air to see if we could catch an earlier flight to go to Molokai. We were able to! We left at 12:05 and took a tiny 9 seater plane. It was AWESOME! First time being on a tiny plane and it was incredible to see the island up close and fly over the clear ocean. We saw waterfalls and cliffs from the plane-so cool. Upon landing we realized that we rented a car for the wrong place. So we re-rented one from Alamo. We first drive into town, got lunch, and speed at the grocery store to get lunch for tomorrow. Then we drive to our condo. It was a small place with a full bed and a pull out couch in one room plus one bathroom we shared with Wes and Jenica. It did have a kitchenette though. We got into our swim suits and headed for the beach. The first beach we went to (Dixie maroo) was really pretty and was cove like with huge waves crashing beyond at the rocks. The boys got in to snorkel but didn't see anything but sand. I explored between the lava rocks and saw schools of mini fish. Then we beach hopped to several different beaches the best being (probably the best swimming beach we've ever been to) this beach that was SO empty of people and there was a swimming part up front and then a mound of sand, the humongous waves crashing beyond that. We played there for quite a while. So much fun. We then went back to the condo, ate pb&j  and popcorn for dinner, turned on the TV, and then I zonked out for the night.

Friday: woke up at 6am which was 10am our time to pack up and clean the condo to get to Damion tours. We hiked down hill over 3 miles, 26 switchbacks, and 1700 feet elevation. We saw so much wild fruit on trees and lots of butterflies. Then we took a bus tour that took us around kalaupapa and areas where the leaper colony is still there. They would send people with leaperasy to Molokai in kalaupapa and also people who were being punished. There are still 14 people alive who were treated for leaperasy there! 9 live there still. It was really cool learning about the Catholic saints who went there to help people and risked their own lives. Saint Marianne went to help the lepers and made a deal with God that she'd serve them if He made sure she and the sisters that were serving with her were protected against the disease and they were! We saw churches, graves, homes, gorgeous scenery, hogs, deer and a cat ;). We had lunch there, then headed back up the trail which was 170 flights with of stairs! Whew!! That hike was no joke-but we felt very accomplished when we finished! Then we headed to Murphy's beach that has a coral reef. We didn't have much time at all before we had to head to the airport, but Darrin and Wes rushed into their swim suits, jumped in and had about 17 minutes of snorkeling before we had to go. They said it was really cool, clear and they saw tons of colorful fish including big ones. Then we headed to the airport to take a tiny plane back to Maui. We went to Costco to eat dinner and pick up some food. Then we went to our condo and crashed.

Saturday: our calves are so sore from yesterday! Today we woke up at 2:50am to go to see the sunrise at Haleakala. We made it up there before a lot of crowds and got the last spot at the upper viewing area. It was SO cold. We waited in a glass enclosure that blocked the wind for about 45 minutes until the sun was coming up and then we braved the cold to see the magical sunrise above the clouds. It was magnificent. Then we went to the visitors center, saw silverswords, and determined in the map where we wanted to go. Darrin really wanted to do an 11 mile hike. The rest if us couldn't stomach it with waking up so early and being so sore from yesterday's hike. So we did a few shorter hikes including one that was about 1.5 miles each way. We hiked out to the top of this tall Mountain with an incredible lookout, and then the clouds started to come in, they just kept coming and soon we were surrounded by cloud. You could feel all the moisture droplet by droplet. It felt wonderful and was something I don't think we'll ever forget. By the time we left the Clouds has cleared and you could see again. We were there enjoying it for quite a while. Then lastly, we went to Hosmer Grove. Darrin wanted to hike the 2.3 Mike's there and we drove. Where did all this energy come from?! We fell asleep in the car waiting for him and when he got there we had lunch, then hiked the loop where we saw cool birds and trees. Then we headed down for the condo and slept the whole way. Thanks to Wes who drove. We relaxed at the condo and then went beach hopping near our place. Darrin tried skid boarding and boogie boarding for over an hour. We then had dinner at L&L bbq, got shave ice and rented a Redbox. Watched it, then headed to bed.

Sunday: 9am church. I loved the speakers. It totally made me want to love others as Christ does and to have others feel my love for them. After church we came back to the condo to change into swim gear and headed to our first stop of the west Maui loop which was Coral Gardens. Boats take people here to snorkel for excursions. But a few reviews online said if you're an experienced swimmer you can just swim to it. So that's what we did. And we're SO glad we did! It was calm, clear water, and we couldn't believe the amount of coral (it just went on and on and was huge masses of it), the variety of fish and we even saw 2 turtles one being a baby with a missing back fin. We were out for quite a while enjoying the snorkeling. Our next stop was a really nice beach with nice waves. We got a great spot in the shade and Darrin headed straight in to boogie board. There were tons of beginner surfers there along with little kids surfing and boogie boarding. It was so fun to watch everyone! Although the waves does down quite a bit as soon as Darrin got in so he wasn't able to catch too many. After that we went to Lanai and saw the 150 year old banyan tree and we went through the old courthouse and museum. Next stop was the lighthouse lookout. The lighthouse was tiny and unimpressive, but the view was stunning! We then stopped to go to Nakelele blowhole. Just a short hike to get to bed right next to the blowhole. It was super impressive views and an amazing blowhole that shot super high and frequently. There were many crabs all around. We hiked further up to try to see the inside of the hole and Darrin and I got soaked!! After that we went to olivine pools. Jenica and I watched the guys while they checked it out. It was a ways down and there were several pools created by water splashing up from the lava rocks. Darrin and Wes went snorkeling in one of the pools that was deep. They said they saw tons of different fish some being pretty big! Then we drove back in the WINDY kahekili highway (just like the road to Hana) back to the condo for dinner and packing up for tomorrow. What a wonderful day!

Monday:
Road to Hana! We started at the backside to the road to Hana around to the southwest side of the island. The back roads really weren't bad-most all paved and not very congested. Along the back roads we saw an archway by the ocean, gorgeous lookouts, a short hike to Alelele waterfalls which were beautiful (Darrin even got in them), some black rocked beaches and More! Along the road to Hana doing back-words, we saw the seven sacred pools, did the 4 mile round trip hike to the waterfall at the seven sacred pools which was AMAZING! We got in the waterfall and loved the bamboo forest!, We also did the red sand beach, and went to a tiny opening for a cave which turned into a huge cave right off the side of the road. Very cool. Then we ended at hookipa beach where we got there just in time to see all the turtles coming in onto the beach at sunset. We saw about 12 turtles and More heriot coming in. We couldn't stay for long here as we had to return Wes' phone at Verizon before boarding our plane. We went to our car, were getting in when Jenica noticed her purse was missing! We all panicked for about a minute before we realized it was the wrong car! LOL! We sped to Verizon (Wes couldn't board our plane with his note 7 phone) and we're panicking the whole time since it was taking them forever. We made it to the car rental place an hour before our plane was supposed to depart. We cut it close! We flew Hawaiian airlines which had a layover in Oahu and then went into Kauai. Wes and Jenica dropped us off at our condo with our friends. They were all sleeping when we got here. Then we crashed.

Tuesday: woke up, had a yummy breakfast made by Cory, then headed to the grand canyon of Hawaii called Wiamea. It was stunning. Breathtaking views. Then we went to another lookout and did a short hike. After that we went to Poli Hale state park's barking sands beach. A long, bumpy dirt road took us to this long stretch of beach. We played here for hours. Swimming, boogie boarding and relaxing. The waves were really big and we had a great time! Then we headed back to the condo, had potstickers and Alfredo for dinner and watched the first Jurassic park since it was filmed here!

Wednesday: woke up at 6:30am to head to Kayak Kauai. Our tour guide was Trevor and we had such an amazing time! We kayaked Wailua River, then hiked a muddy hike to get to secret/sacred waterfall. We got in, swam and went under the waterfall and behind it. So refreshing and so much fun! Then we had lunch which was delicious and included in our tour. Then hiked and kayaked back. Then we stopped to see Opaekaa waterfalls and then headed 45 minutes to Queens bath. It was an even muddier, more slippery hike to get there but so worth it. It was cloudy and a bit rainy but we jumped in, swan and even snorkeled in Queens bath and had a great time. On the way out we saw a bunch of turtles near "kings bath" which was cool. Then we headed to tunnels beach which was near by.

Thursday: We woke up and drive to the Kalalau Trail. Parking was crazy but we finally ask got spots and started our 8 mile hike. First we took the 2 Mike trail to Hanakepiai beach. It had great lookouts of the Napoli cost and we came across an avacado tree  which we picked from and lots of guava. The beach was gorgeous with a cave, a fresh water stream and the ocean with huge waves. It was a beach you can't get in because of the rip tides and currents But it was a great beach. Then Wes and Jenica had to leave to get ready for their luau and Cory and pattyanne decided they weren't going to go to the waterfalls. So they waited for us while we hiked the extra 2 miles to Hanakepiai Falls. The trail was super muddy and there were fallen rotten guava all over the place but it was a fun and tricky hike. Lots of ups and downs and lots of tricky spots. In fact, we got lost for 40 minutes! We went off on what looked like part of the trail but then it got tricky as to know which way to go. So many different paths but none of them really defined but all with footprints so we just guessed. Then we came to a place where all paths ended and we really had no idea where we were or how to get back to where we knew for sure the trail was. We were just the middle of the kauai jungle lost. So we said a prayer and soon found our way back to the trail. When we saw where we made the wrong turn we laughed and had no idea how we went that way. Then we hurried the rest of the way to the falls. We made it there and jumped in-so cold but so fun! We went to the falls, some guys took our picture for us and we did the 4 mile hike down as fast as we could with no breaks and running as much as we could. We made it down right as it was dark but we're able to see the gorgeous sunset on our way down. What an adventurous day!

Friday: Started off with our Jack Harper helicopter ride. It was INCREDIBLE!! Seriously one of the neatest things I've done in my life! We did it with the doors off and WOW!!!! We saw so many rainbows including a double rainbow full circle!! We saw countless amazing waterfalls, so much greenery and dessert and rain and so many different temperatures throughout the island. SO happy we did it!! It was almost $600/couple but honestly worth it! Then we met the Waddoups and westinscos at puipu beach park at Kiahuna beach where we saw 2 monk seals up on the beach and did snorkeling which we saw a lot of big, colorful fish, a big lobster shell and a white eel which had diamond patterns him. So cool. We then stopped for lunch and went to the spouting horn which was like a blow hole and there was a little flee market there we shopped at. Then we drove to the farmers market and got dragonfruit, Hawaiian oranges, starfruit, and apple bananas to try. After that we headed to Kealia beach and ate all our fruit :). The boys all boogie boarded in some awesome waves for quite a while as the girls watched. Then we decided to try a place to eat that our kayak tour guide highly recommended called Hoki Lau Lanai . We were all in our beach attire and it was FANCY. I felt a little ridiculous with how we looked but the food and company we were with was fantastic. Then we went home and watched a Movie.

Saturday: We did the Wiloua Falls today and swam to them. They were so breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL! Double falls with rainbows galore. We saw double rainbows, vibrant rainbows and I even got to stand in a full circle rainbow pools under the waterfall. So deceiving though-it looks like it's not that far of a swim to the falls so we swam to them trying to go in between the two falls and just kept swimming in place forever and then realized the force from the falls was just pushing us back so we were swimming against the current in place.  Had to go around to the side. AMAZING falls!! Then we went to see a Movie-The Magnificent 7. Then to a free botanical gardens called plantation resort and Moir gardens. The plants and ponds were beautiful and we got to see huge fish and a really large toad. Then we headed back to the condo for dinner and watched jack reacher.

Sunday: woke up and made breakfast before going to 9am church in Kalaheo which is where our condo is. Then after church we came back to the condo to change and pack a picnic lunch. Wiamea canyon was today's destination. We came here Tuesday but Wes and Jenica hadn't been yet and when we came with the Waddoups we didn't do any hiking and only did 2 lookouts. So, we did a bunch of lookouts, the museum, a couple little hikes to lookouts and we did a 3 mile hike from Kalalau lookout that was kind if sketchy And scary at times since it was so steep, a little muddy, and huge drop offs from both sides of you at times with nothing to stop you from falling. BUT, it was one of the most BEAUTIFUL lookouts we've been to. WOW! It was a 360 degree incredible cruise with greenery, the ocean, huge cliffs etc. Gorgeous hike. Then after a couple More lookouts we decided to go to a beach to see the sunset. When we got back into an area we had cell service, I had a voicemail saying there was a miscommunication and we were actually supposed to be out of the condo on Sunday rather than Monday and that they trying to get in to clean it! Panic! We worked it out that we'd have be out by 6am and have the laundry and dishes going. So then we stopped at one beach which was ok but then headed to glass sand beach to check it out and watch the sunset from there. It was SUCH a cool beach. The sand was little pieces of smoothed glass from the dump next to it. Then we went to the left and walked along the lava rock to explore all the junk that's been discarded there. Some really cool stuff! And if you keep asking the lava rock there there's a lava archway into the ocean, a cave and a keyhole in the rock. And the sunset was INCREDIBLE! Then we headed back to the condo to get ready to be out by 6am tomorrow.

Monday: woke up at 5am to be out by 6am. Cleaned and headed out to a parking lot where we all SLEPT we were so tired! Then at 9am we rented surf boards and tried surfing. The waves where we were at we're not good for surfing so that was a bummer. After being out for 45 minutes, I gave up and returned my board. Darrin and Wes stayed out for another hour and caught a few waves. Jenica and I found a nice shady spot with chairs to watch them. It was fun and relaxing. After that we found a place for lunch (Mark's Place) to meet up with our friends Liz and Jon and their two boys who happened to be coming to kauai that day from Oahu where they live. Lunch was decent and then we headed to Kipu falls which was in the guidebook and it ended up being closed 😠. So we headed to Makauwahi caves which appeared to be closed but we found a way. Then we hiked to the cave and the entrance to the cave was closed but it was still cool to see and we went to the beach there but couldn't get in because the water was contaminated. But we got to see a few tortoises and that was cool. Then we headed for our last shave ice and to see the movie jack reacher 2 which we liked. Then we headed to the airport for home.

And Lastly, Some nature shots. WE LOVE HAWAII!! So grateful for all those who helped watch our boys to give us the opportunity to go! Really, it was such a great refresher and a wonderful time to get closer to my hubs, friends, family and God.