The first video is shot as we entered Waimea Canyon. We go right over a lip of a hillside and enter the canyon. It plunges hundreds of feet below us. There are waterfalls all over the place. Many times I thought we were going to hit the sides of the walls with the helicopter. It was very exciting.

The second video is shot as we exit Waimea Canyon and hit the coast. This was another breathtaking view, seeing the Na Pali Coastline for the first time. I think the video speaks for itself. It ends with a quick shot of Emily and the pilot. Hope you enjoy.

Sorry for the delay in getting the videos to you. Once I uploaded them, Matt wanted to change the audio so you didn’t have to hear all the wind. It took me a second to figure it out and there weren’t very many good song options… definitely nothing Hawaiian, and I think I chose an Irish one. Whatever.

One thing our handy guidebook showed us was how to get a better view of a popular waterfall. Which involved climbing below the bridge…

Hiking through reddish bamboo flower things… (also seen on our Fern Grotto trip.)

Jumping from rock to rock to rock to rock to rock to… you get the idea.

 

And just look at the payoff! We were bummed we forgot our sandwiches, so just stayed a minute or two to make people jealous and ruin their pictures.

Matt experiencing black sand for the first time.

Matt thought it was funny that I brought a Sprite to the blow hole at the state park. Like I was going to throw away or set it down for these guys to pick up:

Speaking of which, what the heck are these guys? They were cute. But not as cute as our future pet hedgehogs.

The short hike to see the freshwater caves.

The caves were really neat,  but I didn’t get any good pictures of them. Whoopsie.

The Seven Sacred Pools. Our guidebook said a local hotel owner made this up to attract more people to the area. We were warned not to swim because of flash flood dangers. But it started raining so we snapped a couple pictures and jogged back to the car.

While these photos can do no justice to the beauty we saw from above, we thought we would give it a shot and share some of our favorites.

I just love the combination of colors in that shot!

Me and our pilot Floyd.

Above is the private waterfall where we were dropped off for lunch. While it was fun to swim around and land here, we decided that it may have not been worth the extra cost. But as for the helicopter tour itself, it’s definitely worth it and we highly recommend it!

We were so blessed to have three weeks off; it’s hard to imagine it has been so long because the time has gone by so quickly. We are glad to have this blog to come back to and read and see pictures. I’m typing on the plane with the help of a program Matt downloaded where you can set up blog posts offline and then just press “publish” once you get a connection. It’s great because I have finally made a dent at updating you, our loyal readers. So over the next few days, check back to read another installment.

After Christine (bridesmaid) picks us up from the airport (thanks!), we are headed to our new apartment. It’s an in-law unit of a really nice house in Castro Valley. It’s small but completely furnished, which attracted us because we don’t have a lot of furniture and we wouldn’t have to move much.

For those who didn’t know, Matt and I put an offer on a home in Castro Valley back in April. The three-bedroom, two bathroom house was in need of mild repairs, in a great neighborhood and a great price. It was a short sale, which means it’s being sold for less than it’s worth to avoid a foreclosure. We offered more than asking only to offer even more when we had to compete against two other groups to then win the counter-counter offer. The seller signed our offer, passed it along to the two banks involved and we waited. And waited. Then we waited some more. Both banks involved were going to lose money, and still haven’t come to an agreement. We then had to scramble to find a place to live and we signed the apartment papers July 4–just days before the wedding.

Our realtor has followed up on the house and offered suggestions to appease both sides, but it looks like the banks are in no hurry to get it sold. If it goes into foreclosure, we would have to start all over. So when we get back from Mike and Sarah’s wedding, Matt and I will start the search for a house again. We’ll keep you all posted on any major updates. We also plan to keep using this blog as a way to update our family and friends. To make sure you don’t miss out, bookmark our site.

Fern Grotto
We unfortunately agreed with our guidebook that the Fern Grotto tour wasn’t as exciting as it may have once been. The hurricane and closure of a plant that turned out to be the source of the attraction led to a lackluster tour. That’s not to say we still weren’t impressed. We were officially married Hawaiian style by musicians performing the Hawaiian Wedding Song — made popular by Elvis — and saw some beautiful landscapes.

Can you spot the gecko?

Wilua River

The wild chickens and roosters were attacking Matt while I was reading up on the history of the river.

The Jungle Hike

This picture was actually from the dreaded hike I mentioned in yesterday’s post. Something tells me my brother Mike would have wanted this car as a souvenir.

**VIDEO COMING SOON**

The sad part about the jungle hike is that we never actually got there. While our Impala proved impressive on the unpaved roads, it simply could not master the huge, flooded dinosaur footprint. (Jurassic Park was filmed at the hike’s trail head, so that’s why I’m convinced the huge pothole was a dinosaur.)

Polihale State Park
Our Impala proved victorious on the unpaved road to Polihale State Park, whose beach borders the famous Na Pali coastline. Apparently it’s also called the Living Dead Beach, since the cliffs overlooking the beach used to be spiritual launchpads where foreigners would be thrown over as sacrifices to the gods. It’s also a beach you can drive on. There were five large trucks of locals blasting music when we arrived. Shortly after we set up a mini picnic, one of the trucks began to gun for us… that is until it turned to go over a dune. I was scared for a second, and this was before I knew of the area’s “loving” history for haole.

Up next–our helicopter adventure!

Kipu Falls
This hike through thick sugar cane plants led to a waterfall (about 20-plus feet high?) and a huge tree with a rope swing. We jumped, swung and swam and wished we could show all our friends our awesome find.

Wilua Falls
This hike was probably the trickiest of them all. (Yet, I managed to do it, and most other hikes, all in a dress and my Hawaiian rubber flip flops!) Going past all the DANGER signs, we found the steep, muddy trail that had ropes to help keep balance. The falls are listed as 80 feet, but our guidebook writers measured it to be about 180 feet. Apparently Hawaiian men used to jump it to prove their manhood. No thanks!

Queen’s Bath
Known by few prior to our guidebook’s existance, this north shore gem is a natural bath of rocks, filled by the crashing of ocean waves — which can be scary when your back is to them and next thing you know you’re drenched.

Ho’opi’i Falls
This wasn’t my favorite excursion. In a few pictures, you’ll find out why. There are two falls on the trip, which also included a not-so-clear trail. The trail head was in a neighborhood, so the book warned against angry neighbors. What they should have warned against is mossy rocks and stubborn hikers with little patience…

Sure I look happy there, but on the way there, I lost a battle to the stream:

I think I prefer this water attraction: The pool at the Sheraton!

We didn’t like the increasing construction noise. We checked at the front desk, and the repaving near our room was supposed to stop July 10, but there was no end in sight. Betty at the front desk really helped us out. We got to tour three rooms and offered us an ocean view upgrade for just a bit extra. So we chose a room and made the move! Here’s the new digs:

But the best part of the move…

On Tuesday we finally decided to venture out and see the sights. As it got nearer to sunset time, we raced the sun to find the perfect picture spot. Well, the sun won as we drove past the exclusive Beach House restaurant and onto a dock of a small harbor. We only saw someone have their perfect sunset picture taken. So we continued on and ventured further and found Allerton Gardens and a sign pointing us to Spouting Horn. We were intrigued!

We found a lookout point with waves crashing into a large mass of rock. We heard boys laughing and saw one on the rock mass standing near a five- to eight-foot hole and heard a loud gurgling/roaring. Then, a big wave came in, the hole roared and the boy was doused by a wall of whitewater and spray. The whole scene was pretty hilarious as the boy kept coming back for more as his friends laughed.

After a few more spouts of the horn, we decided to leave. On our way out, three skinny beach bum boys toting Boogie Boards asked us for a ride. We smiled, said sorry but no, and continued to drive beyond the lookout. It only took a minute to hit a dead end. On our way back, the three boys were still there, this time with their little thumbs out. We got about a mile away before we knew we had to turn back and give them a ride.

We pulled up saying we owed them a ride for giving us a laugh. They were very excited as they piled in. We popped the trunk so they could stow away their boards and heard “WHOA!” I thought we may have left something in the trunk. “This thing is huge! You could fit, like, four people in here!” “No, man, like five!” “Yea, bra, five!”

They told us to go to Koloa School.

“Where is that?”

“You know, past [insert five seconds of Hawaiian jibber jabber].”

Apparently they had no clue they were speaking an entirely different language.

Since we had them in the car, we figured we would make them work for the ride and tell us the best places to eat.

“McDonalds, bra!” (Laughs…)

“Taco Bell!” (Bigger laughs…)

Then one of them mentioned Keoki’s (where we had just eaten), where he had ordered the steak and lobster. When his mom asked him how much it cost, he said, “I dunno. Market or something.” Turns out it was $50 and his mom was not too pleased. They also mentioned Kintaro’s, but it’s a Japanese restaurant and we’re not big sushi fans. We also asked them about good sunset spots, and they recommended Brenneke Beach.

Even though we went out of our way–with gas at $4.55 a gallon!–we felt giving them a ride was well worth it. God had blessed us with a free rental car upgrade and I’m sure this was our way to give back.

All in all, the incident with the locals was one of the highlights of the trip thus far. But I am sure there are many more to come.

Aloha from the beach at the Sheraton Resort! Matt and I have explored the grounds; swam in the ocean (rated one of the best in the world!) and pools, which has a water slide; and ate an awesome breakfast at the Shells Restaurant. We also threw a Frisbee around on the beach, which was probably natural for some but not for us.

Last night we enjoyed our first luau. The ocean-front show had hula, Tahitian and fire dancers. As newlyweds, we were invited on stage, where we danced and were introduced to the crowd by the host. He asked us a “trivia” question: whether the 49ers would win a game this season. I replied, “I wouldn’t know about that, I’m a Raiders fan!” I also wouldn’t know because I don’t follow the NFL.

Although the rental car woman spoiled the surprise of the hotel, I am very excited by Matt’s choice of accommodations (booked through Costco!). The room has modern styling with a balcony and ocean view. We also have a flat screen TV, which I feel guilty enjoying.

Last night we fell asleep to the sounds of the ocean. It was very romantic and calming. Then, as if it wasn’t hard enough to learn to share a bed with someone for the first time, we were awoken by “cock a doodle doo!” Yes, our neighbor roosters called out from 4 a.m. on. It must be a Kauai thing, as I remember either Alexandra or Jessica mimicking those noises on our family trip in 1999/2000.

I will try to recall some wedding memories, but haven’t had a chance to stop and think much. And there’s many more stories to share since we’ve landed in Kauai, so I’ll try and share those soon as well. We’re feeling some drops from the gray clouds above. So I had better shield our selves, stuff and my lava flow!

Love, Emily

Well we gotta run! Matt just booked a trip down a river and to the fern grotto. I also need to reapply some aloe vera gel to my sunburned shoulders…