Honeymoon Part 3

I finally got my husband to send me some of the ATV tour photos from our honeymoon.

After searching yelp for recommendations, we decided on the Kipu Ranch Adventures.  We scanned through the reviews (ok my husband probably read them all) and decided the three hour ranch tour was the best option for us.  They do offer a four hour waterfall tour, but it was less riding time, the waterfall wasn't flowing as fast at the time and you eat lunch on this tour.  We wanted adventure over relaxing.

Our tour did not disappoint.  We had two amazing tour guides that took us all over the ranch telling us stories.  Did you know that Jurassic Park 1 and 2, The Descendants, Outbreak, Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark and many more?  Hawaii has a really high tax rate, so in exchange for movie companies to film on the ranch, they bargain for other items such as paved roads, fences, atvs, etc.  This makes it super cheap to film movies and tv shows on Kauai.  They filmed Lost all over the island and it was awesome to see some of the locations in real life.

But back to the atv tour.  We opted for single rider atvs whereas some others did the Teryx 4 UTV.

Teryx 4 UTV image via Kipu Ranch

First in line and ready to go!

I really enjoyed this atv tour even though you stop a lot more than some of the other atv tours I have taken (in Puerto Vallarta, Graeagle and Alaska).  You will get amazing pictures like this one...please disregard my lovely helmet head.

The best part of this tour was towards the end of the tour.  Do you remember the scene in Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark where Harrison Ford is running down a hill, grabs onto a rope swing into the water and the plane comes to get him?  Well fear not, if you don't remember it, you can relive it right now.

We went to this area which we hiked down a tiny bit to, and you can do the rope swing yourself.  Don't worry, they have since changed the rope.  There were about 20 people on our tour and only 6 people were brave awesome enough to do it.  And Rory and I were two of those people.

This was after my first rope swing as my husband didn't take any pictures or video the previous time.  Funny thing was he went first and our guide asked if I captured the video and/or photos because most people mess it up.  Not me, but my husband did the first time.  Luckily, he did get a video and pictures the second and third time I did the rope swing.  Since there was only six of us, we went a bunch.  Just try not to swallow the water.

Hubby on his first rope swing.  He killed it!

Check out the video I recorded of him taking the rope swing on.

This tour is worth it if you are in Kauai in the Lihue area.  Make sure you check around online for the best deals on pricing.  Here is one last shot of us after the rope swing (luckily it is hot and humid and you dry relatively fast as before it looked like I wet my pants and was lactating, TMI?).

Honeymoon Part Two

We left off at the end of Friday, which brings me to Saturday and our amazing harder than shit hike in the Napali Coast, Kalalau Trail in the Haena State Park.  This was such a rewarding hike.  They rate this hike as moderate, but couple it with mud, it becomes a lot harder than the Mount Rose Summit hike here in the Reno/Tahoe area.  Round trip it was about 10 miles.  That's from where you park, roaming around while hiking and the actual hike.

Here is an amazing cave near where we parked.

There were several of these caves and were beyond gorgeous.  There are tons of signs warning of falling rocks and to not swim in them.  No thanks.

We started the first part of the hike which wasn't that bad.  You climb over rocks, muddy rocks, muddy areas, hike up and down a lot, and the views are beautiful.

This was at a high point along the trail

Isn't the water so clear?  Please forgive me, I have a ton extra photos on my camera that I have yet to put onto my computer and may do a sub post later.

After a little over two miles, you come down to a "secret" (but not so secret) beach.  Earlier in the day, you can play in the surf at your own caution, but the beaches are so sandy.

These pictures don't even do this area justice.  I have literally another 20 photos of this area as it was so peaceful, the surf was high, the sand so soft, and you just felt at peace here.

We then headed up the next part of the hike which again is a over two miles to the top.  This is where things got more treacherous.  There was more mud, more rocks to actually climb over, more thinned out walking terrain area, creeks to cross back and forth through, more areas to fall down (spoiler: I fell pretty hard once) and more broken guavas on the ground.

Speaking of guava, along the waterfall hike part, there was guavas all over the path EVERYWHERE.  It smelt like fresh fruit along the whole way which was great at first, but then becomes a bit nauseating. 

While crossing one part of the creek (you do this several times up and down), I slipped on a rock and fell in the water.  That wasn't too bad, but smacking my wrist and knee on the muddy rock sucked.  Commence pain and still a half mile to go.  But I toughed it out, rock climbed a million more rocks (or so it seemed) and made it to the waterfall.  Uhh, breathtaking is an understatement.

Approximately 300 foot waterfall

The waterfall was beautiful and well worth the hike.  We read reviews and wore our bathing suits under our hiking clothes, so we were able to swim in the pond to the waterfall.  It was cold, but refreshing.  I have never swam under the waterfall and that was an amazing experience.  So glad we did this.  But so not stoked that we had another 4 1/2 miles or so to hike back...up and down.

We spent about an hour here before heading back.  I got a second wind and the hike back wasn't as bad.  We did get a little lost (you have to follow pink ribbons to make sure you are on course), but not for long.  We hiked, rock climbed and trekked our way back to the hidden beach and then a bunch uphill to get back.  The hubby got really tired and hungry, but we motivated each other and made it back.  It started to rain on us with half a mile left which meant those rocks that you have to climb downhill on towards the end were slippery and muddy.  I almost fell off the side of the cliff and made my husband a widow.  Ok, it wasn't that close, but if I was clumsy enough, I would have gone over.

We made it back to the bottom, washed our feet off and headed back to the car.

I wore Keen sandal shoes which were great for the rocks, water and the hike, but they make your feet dirty (if it is muddy) and get a bit uncomfortable towards the end.  I would recommend getting yourself these shoes for Hawaii.  They may not be the most stylish, but they were great.

The drive home was long and boring after the hike.  It took forever to get home, shower and then we were ready for food and the sunset.

The sunsets are amazing in Kauai as I mentioned before, but here are a few more for your viewing pleasure.

Gorgeous Kauai sunsets in Poipu

Sunday we were exhausted, sore, but ready for a relaxing day.  We hung out by the pool, caught up on some reading and then watched the Niners game at a local bar which included happy hour and many Mai Tai's.  Proceeded by more football and food.

Monday we decided to go golfing again.  But first we headed to Poipu Beach for some sun.  People watching was epic.  Think older lady trying to relax on a bogey board with waves crashing in and she kept flipping.  Yes it was mean to laugh, but even the lifeguard called her out.  We worked on our tans and then headed out to go golfing.

This time we went to the pubic course, Wailua Golf Course.  It was really cheap, in between Lihue and Kapaa, gorgeous course and on the ocean.  My golf game got a hundred times better on this trip and I had so much fun golfing with my hubby.  After golf, we rushed home to shower (humidity = lots of sweat) and head to Roy's Restaurant (please make a reservation and make it for sunset time...for here and Merriman's).

We told them when we called in our reservation that it was our honeymoon and they spoiled us.  We had menus made out for us, welcoming us.  We had the Famous Hawaiian Martini to start (even after bringing a bottle of wine to the restaurant, $18 corkage fee).  Then we had the crab cakes as an appetizer.  So good.  Next up, we asked the waiter for some suggestions on his favorite dishes.  I got the Roy's Island Fish Duo.  I was nervous since I had never had monchong, but it was so good.  I practically licked my plate clean.  It had macadamian nut crusted opah and a lemongrass crusted monchong with spicy red curry.  Aww I am dreaming about how good it was.  My hubby ordered the Blackened Ahi with a spicy soy mustard butter sauce.  Really good, but I loved mine more.  We also enjoyed our bottle of wine we brought with us.  It was a pinot noir I believe.

For dessert, Roy's brought us the melting hot dark chocolate souffle with a raspberry sauce.  My mouth is watering thinking about it.  And a dense dark chocolate cake that was equally incredible.

Spoiled, yes!

This was a really special meal and a nice way to cap off our day.

Tuesday was our last day before leaving and we made it count.  We had a great breakfast followed by an atv tour. I need to get these photos from my husband as I didn't bring my camera or phone since it was muddy and he took one for the team and brought his.  So he has all the amazingness we experienced.  I guess I must save it for part 3 of the honeymoon.

So stay tuned.

Honeymoon Part 1

Let me start by saying that I had the best honeymoon.  We were gone for 11 days, and it was amazing.  AMAZING!  We flew from Reno to San Francisco, San Francisco to Lihue, Hawaii.  Warning, this post is picture heavy, and the next post will be too.

Here is my lovely husband at the San Francisco airport.

After we got to Kauai with our (ok my way over packed luggage plus golf bag) luggage, it was rental car and condo check-in.  Easy is an understatement compared to my other work travels.  We didn't do much that day since I was still on pain killers and we wanted to acclimate and watch some football.

Monday we drove to Hanalei (cool little surfer town in the Northern part of the island), but once we got there, we had to turn around since it was raining and the one lane bridge was threatened by flooding waters and we would stuck there if we didn't leave.  These are from the Kapaa area and a bit north of there.

 Lookout from the lighthouse

Surfer at a beach near Kapaa

Tuesday were to hike (more of a walk) to a more secluded beach and hang out.  After poor trip advisor notes (basically everyone said to just drive there and hang out rather than walk it, but not in those blatant terms), we ended up there without the walk/hike on the Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail.  We did hike around a bit in that area and these are some of those photos.  Breath taking.

 A hidden beach on the Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail

 

 

This little monk seal was so cute.  He was just chilling on the beach, and he didn't mind people coming up to him.  He even sneezed and would make noises for us.

We drove around to another beach, state park area to just hang out and have a beer (which you are not supposed to drink at state parks, but everyone else was doing it).  And we saw the Spouting Horn, but since the tide was up, it wasn't blowing (no pun intended) as big.

State Park

Wednesday we decided to play golf.  Now I am not very good, but after this trip, I can say I am a whole lot better.  Finally keeping my head down and it all comes together.  But before we could golf, we stopped at Rainbeau Jo's (food/coffee truck).  They had the best lattes and they were in an industrial part of Lihue.

We golfed at Puakea Golf Course which is in Lihue and it has the backdrop of the area that Jurassic Park 1 and 2 were filmed.  This area is gorgeous, but to the right is a Costco which takes a bit away from it.  The course played well and the greens were very fast.

We had an amazing dinner Wednesday night at Merriman's.  This was part of a gift from our wedding.  We were told by my husband's uncle that we had to go to their favorite dinner place on Kauai.  It did not disappoint.  We had two cocktails each (mine was a special that had pineapple soaked in vodka with other juices....AMAZING), a fresh sashimi trio appetizer (the fish was like butter....best raw fish I have EVER had), I had the pan roasted diver scallops which came with creamed sweet corn, asparagus and bacon.  Best combo ever.  Rory had the special of the day Mahi Mahi.  It had incredible flavors.  We had wine with our dinner, and banana lumpia (vanilla bean gelato, house made chocolate sauce and Kauai coffee caramel dulce.  Everything about this meal was amazing.  Here is a food shot.

Thursday was a partially rainy day, so stayed in the Poipu/Koloa area.

Did I mention Kauai has some amazing sunsets?  No, well here are a few of them.

I have more sunsets for my other post.  Next up, was our trip to Waimea Canyon (Thursday).

Waimea Canyon is said to be the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.  It did not disappoint.  We drove to the first look out point, and then the rest of them.  We started a hike on one of them, but it was really muddy, so we turned back and headed up the canyon.

Unbelievable, right?

This was one of the best sites in Kauai.  Tied for a hike that we took that will be in the next post.

Did I mention that Kauai has a ton of chickens?  I am talking like everywhere you turn there are chickens.  There was a hurricane that hit in 1992 and the people in Kauai let all the chickens out of their cages because you get fined for killing chickens.  Plus they wanted to save them.  Well many years later, they just roam around.  And if you kill one, it is a minimum of $300 fine.  Ouch.  This one was one of my favorites.  He was at a lookout point on the Waimea Canyon.

Isn't he cute?

In the words of my husband..."Kap would have wanted me to Kaepernick here".

A few more photos from the Waimea Canyon.

These little guys were so cute and so annoying at the same time.  At the top of Waimea Canyon you can go to a museum and hang out and have a picnic.  We brought some food from the Koloa Fish Market plus a sandwich from the Koloa Deli to share, and these little guys decided to join us.  What you can't see is about another 10 chickens surrounding us.  They are very brave and/or stupid and get so close to you.

As we were finishing our lunch, the fog started to set in and you couldn't see that far out over the canyon, so get there early if you go to get it all in.  So glad we got there when we did.  After Waimea Canyon, we headed back towards our condo, but not without a stop at the famous Jo Jo's.   Jo Jo's is a shaved ice place.  I have always liked shaved ice, but I have never had this kind.  Amaze-balls.  They put ice cream at the bottom if you want (I got macadamia nut) and then the softest snow like shaved ice and just the right amount of flavoring.  There wasn't too much syrup where you are left with a bunch at the bottom.  Nope, just right.

I got the #2 and my husband got the #6 because they were out of the #11 he orginally ordered.  So good.  This is basically what mine looked like.

Next up will be our awesome but hard hike on the Kalalau Trail, Hanalei, football, more golf, Roy's restaurant and our atv tour.  Best trip.  I love reliving our honeymoon.

Plus this week, we get our wedding photos back from our photographer.  I can't wait.  I have been dying to see them.  And one of my mom's friends had her wedding at our venue on October 5th, and I must say ours was so much better.  Mean, maybe, but true, definitely.