Day 13, Aug. 19 - Monday

Today, the reality that our wonderful vacation is nearing an end started to set in. But, we pushed those nasty thoughts out while we filled our day with adventures! This morning we took our kayaking trip. We kayaked down a slow moving river lined with all kinds of trees and lush plants. Vienna and I were in one Kayak and Andy was in a kayak with a new 11-year-old friend, named Peter. It was a hot balmy day but there were enough clouds to help keep the temperature down. We rowed downstream for about two miles. For Andy and I, this was our first kayaking trip but Vienna did some kayaking at her girl scout camp a few weeks ago, so she's an old pro. It was a lot of fun and was even better when we found out that we'd be motor-boated back upstream at the end. It was very peaceful and relaxing as we were gliding along the water with the tall green mountains going by. We all loved it. And, I enjoyed the bit of exercise.

Once we got about two miles downstream, we pulled the kayaks to the shore and took a short hike through the forest. It was a real easy hike - more like a stroll - but we walked through water and mud and tree roots. There were lots of beautiful plants and our guide, Justin, gave us some history of the area and told us about some of the plants. One had a soft cone that contained an aloe-like goo that Tahitians used to use as a hair conditioner. So, we all got some and put it in our hair. Justin, by the way, had a bit part in the "Lost World" movie that was partially filmed in the area. He was a driver or something. Anyway, our hike took us to a great swimming hole. It had a rope swing and everything. I haven't been to a swimming hole since I was about nine or ten years old. We all jumped off the swing and had a great time. Vienna didn't think we spent enough time there, but soon we moved on to the waterfall. It was a bit smaller than we thought it would be, but still beautiful. We then hiked back and caught our lift back to the starting point. We were glad not to have to kayak upstream.

After lunch at Bubba Burger, we decided to get one more round of snorkeling in before we had to turn in our gear to Snorkel Bob's. We rented for a week, starting in Oahu, and returned them today on Kauai. It was a great deal. Anyway, we went back to our favorite snorkeling spot - Tunnels Beach to swim again with the turtles. Andy got an awesome picture of one and I tried to get a picture of a Humuhumu, but none came out quite good enough. We had a great time among the fish and basking in the sun for the afternoon. For dinner we went back to TC's Island grill, the place with the beer guy from yesterday. Then, we spent another hour at WalMart waiting for more pics to be developed. Then, it was back to Beezer's for ice cream. We are really sad and predictable, aren't we? Well, Beezer's is our favorite ice cream place in the islands. Even better than Cold Stone. We've been there so many times this week that they referred to us as family, tonight. Well, we'll probably go there one last time, tomorrow night. I promise to get back to my low-cholesterol diet when I hit the mainland again.

 

 

Writing by Jenny Wood ~ Web Design by Andy Wood