Saturday, December 15, 2012

121122 Thanksgiving in Paradise aka Kauai



We visited Kauai along with Ted, Erika, Devin and Tom for Thanksgiving. 

JJ with Lei

Our trip started out well after Andreas won the United Airlines midpoint to Hawaii game and we got a free travel guide!  We received wooden Leis at the resort to start off the Hawaiian vacation. 


Andreas with Lei


We realized this is JJ's third time in Hawaii (one time each Oahu, Maui, and Kauai), Andreas' second time in Hawaii (one time each Oahu, and Kauai)  Not too bad..

The condo was amazing with a pimped out kitchen,  stunning views and a cabinet for Devin (and JJ) to hide in.


Juliette doesn't quite fit (Devin and Juliette).

Devin hiding in the cabinet.

Cabinet for hiding (Devin)

The Sunsets from the condo were awesome..


Sunset from condo. 

Group shot of sunset from condo (Andreas, Juliette, Erika, Ted, Tom and Devin in front).  

There was also a neat pool  with an Island and mini Golf.

Hanging out at the family pool (Ted, Erika, Juliette, Devin). 



Andreas and Juliette drove up Waimea Canyon (see track below) for a stunning hike and a view of  the Na Pali Coast.

Driving Route along Waimea Canyon. 

The hike was downhill to the viewpoint and then uphill on the way back.  The GPS and elevation profiles are below.

GPS track of our hike. 

Elevation Profile for our hike. 

The photo below of Juliette and Andreasis at the viewpoint looking out at the Na Pali coast. 

Juliette and Andreas with Na Pali Coast from the hike viewpoint. 

Na Pali Coast from the hike viewpoint.

Na Pali Coast from the hike viewpoint.



Na Pali Coast from the hike viewpoint.

Flowers on the hike. 

Waimea Canyon is impressive and looked like a smaller version of the Grand Canyon..

Waimea Canyon.

We had a lot of fun snorkeling/goggling. Our two favorite spots were Po'ipu  (below) and Ke'e Beaches.

Po'ipu Beach



Can you identify this goggling photographer?

Here are some of the fish that we saw (and our attempt to identify them) with Moorish Idol our favorite.   Please help with identification of some of the fish!

Surgeonfish (brown?)

Hawaiian Sergeant

Christmas Wrasse

Four spot Butterfly Fish


Fish Party!

Bluespine Unicornfish

Saddle Wrasse

Hawaii White Spotted Toby or Puffer Fish

Convict Tang/Convict Surgeonfish

Parrotfish (Speckled?)

Orangebar Surgeonfish 

Chub (lowfin?)

Moorish Idol (our favorite)!!

Raccoon Butterfly Fish (JJ's second favorite)

Saddleback butterfly Fish

In addition to fish we also spotted a Hawaiian Monk Seal.
Sunbathing Monk Seal (Andreas' favorite)

Tom gave us a detailed tour of the North Side of the Island.

We stayed in the South side of the island (A).  The purple line shows our trip to the far North of the Island (B and C).  

We stopped by the Kilauea Lighthouse.  Tom used his pass to get us all in for free!

Lighthouse on the left. 

View from the lighthouse. 

Most Northern Part of Kauai is behind us (Tom, Juliette, Andreas).

We visited the picturesque Anini Beach.






Group Shot at Anini Beach (Andreas, Juliette, Tom, Ted, Erika and Devin in the Front).





Devin enjoying Anini Beach


Enjoying Anini Beach.



View from Ke'e beach.

Andreas and Juliette enjoyed the coral reef and fish spotting at Ke'e beach.  A spot that Tom knew about at the very end of the road near the beginning of the Na Pali coast. 

We BBQed for Thanksgiving with Pork, Veggies, Poi, Kimchee, Shrimp for the meal and POG for drinking. For dessert we had a delicious Mango.



Andreas and Juliette went on a Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour of Kauai.  Our pilot was laid back Joffrey.  Some views from the tour are below.


Hanalei Bay

Na Pali Coast

Na Pali Coast


Na Pali Coast

Na Pali Coast




Andreas and Juliette after the helicopter tour with our copter in the background.

The current weather in Kauai.  Wish we were still there!

Click for Poipu, Hawaii Forecast

























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