Aloha

So, Kauai...the Hawaiian islands are like no other islands, I have decided. They are unique and beautiful and kind of settle into your heart. It's in the 70s to possibly low 80s all the time although it never feels hot thanks to the trade winds. Kauai itself is the oldest of the Hawaiian islands, and supposedly the least built up of the islands that tourists can visit(I've only been to Hawaii and Kauai, but have been told the other islands are very built up). There is an island called Ni'ihau where you can go for a day trip with a snorkel boat or something, but there are no resorts, you can't stay overnight. Only Hawaiians live there, without electricity or running water, and there's some sort of law stating that if you ever move away from the island, you cannot move back. Anyway, back to Kauai...there are towns along the north, east, and south shores, and one or two towns on the western coast. Otherwise the island is a paradise of rainforest, canyons, old volcanic craters, wild coastline and beaches. We rented snorkel equipment and spent our days checking out the best beaches for snorkeling and swimming, hiking in Wiamea Canyon, checking out wet caves, hiking to the bottom of waterfalls and jumping off cliffs over waterfalls into the pools below, eating and drinking. OOh, and we also did a helicopter ride late one afternoon, which was absolutely incredible!! We stopped in the middle of the ride for a picnic at, you guessed it, a private waterfall. If there is any tiny thing I might complain about, it's that I can see why my parents honeymooned there-- there isn't much of a nightlife on Kauai, it's more romantic places to dine, beachside places to dine, beachside places to have cocktails, etc.

One afternoon, we ended up at a beach popular with kite surfers. I really want to learn, it looks like so much fun, and I can see myself doing flips in the air with one of those. I'm terrified of learning tricks on the wakeboard but I think with a kite it'd actually be fun! We had fish tacos for a lunch from a trailer parked on the beach, and I got a kick out of listening to this one guy explain to his buddies about moving back to California to live at the end of the summer. I can't remember the name of the place he was talking about, so I'll just call it Plano. "Dude, I'm gonna be living in Plano again, this place, it's like the ghetto, man. Yeah, last time I was living there, I heard like these three gunshots one night, and next morning it was all over the papers about these murders, like three guys shot each other dead! Yeah, that's where I'm livin' man, it's a ghetto. Shah." He was laughing about this story too, so I guess he's not too upset about living in a ghetto. Surfer talk lives on...

So, here are some photos for y'all.