Waimea Canyon and food. lots of it.

After our morning on the Napali Coast we stayed on the west side of the island to see Waimea Canyon. Before driving up the canyon though we had to stop at Shrimp Station for some lunch. Shrimp Station claims to have the best coconut shrimp “on the planet” but after sampling,though the coconut were indeed tasty we decided the beer battered shrimp were the true winners.

 

After lunch we headed around the corner to Jo Jo’s shave ice. our hearts and bellies were happy.

 

We spent the rest of the day driving around Waimea Canyon.

Waimea Canyon Lookout:

 

Pu’u o Kila Lookout: one of my favorite places on the whole island.

 

 

 

We finished our long long day by making the much anticipated stop at Puka Dogs in Poipu. Olympics and the hot tub after.

                              

my favorite day of all the days… the Napali Coast

I have to say that I absolutely loved every day, but if I had to pick one single thing that was my favorite I would choose our zodiak ride up the Napali Coast. I mean we saw dolphins for heaven sakes.

One of the most amazing features on Kauai is the Napali Coast. The main road that travels around the island stops at both the north and south ends of the coast because the ground became too rocky to build. meaning the only way to see the Napali Coast in its entirety is from the water. Our Kauai expert friend recommended we see the Napali Coast via Zodiak rather than the more common catamaran. A zodiak is a raft/speedboat hybrid that reaches up to 60 mph. While researching zodiac companies I learned that it’s fast and bumpy but totally worth it. The perks to riding on the zodiak is that it’s a smaller boat,which means smaller tour groups and a more personal experience. We were so lucky with the company we chose, Napali Riders. I read amazing reviews about them online and we were definitely not disappointed. The crew is so passionate about what they do. Captain Chris would stop the boat and point out things he thought we needed to see, the color of the water, animals, the history behind the island and the coast (stuff like human sacrifices, burial sites of royalty, etc). and for a history nerd like me it just made our experience that much better. He also loves riding alongside the dolphins and stopped several times to make sure we all got to experience it up close, even if it meant being a little late for his next tour. We went in the morning, which was so great because we had the water almost all to ourselves. It was also clear and less choppy so we could see the dolphins easier. Can you tell I was obsessed? I’'m not even sorry for the many, many pictures I’m about to post. (these pictures are all from my brothers camera btw)

        

         

cue dolphins…

aaaaaanyways, we had a good time. recap on the rest of the day in another post.

Luau Day

We made reservations to go to a luau on Sunday. In the morning some woke up and made it to church while the other half…didn’t quite make it. We spent most of the morning and afternoon reading, lounging around, eating and watching the Olympics. In the afternoon we drove to Poipu on the south side of the island where the Luau was being held at the Grand Hyatt. When we were booking activities for our trip a friend (who visits the island every summer) recommended this luau over any other so we took their advice. The grounds of the hotel were amazing. The weather in the evening was perfect and we spent the time before the luau started drinking punch and taking pictures.

  

wanna guess whose plate this is? mine or Mckays? if you guessed Mckay’s then you’re wrong…..that would be mine. I clearly was not messing around. Now subtract 2/3’s of all that food and you would have what Mckay’s plate looked like. no joke. and I am not ashamed.

 

 

towards the end of the show they danced the Hakka. It’s a war dance and a lot of rugby teams perform this before or after their games. At the beginning of the dance they challenged a man from a different tribe. That man happened to be Mckay.

                                 

 

Mckay took the peace offering (a bunch of leaves), said thanks, waved at the crowd and sat back down. I was really hoping they’d make him dance.

Our opinion of the Luau? It was a fun thing to do once, but we probably wouldn’t make a point of going to another one if we ever happen to go back to Kauai. The food was great, so was the dancing and it was a fun atmosphere but it wasn’t super authentic. It was a little showy, they kept encouraging us to buy stuff and the emcee was a little lame. Still, it was really fun and we’re definitely glad we went.