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Oahu and Kauai

May 21 - 29, 2006

WOW! What a trip! I do not even know where to start because it was just an amazing time!

We started off in Oahu and arrived on Sunday May 21. We actually got to the resort faster than I expected so we had a good portion of the afternoon to walk on the beach and shop.

Monday- we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center (long day, and wet) where we got poured on, and ate at a luau and saw a great show.

Tuesday - we went on a Stars and Stripes tour to the Arizona memorial, USS Missouri, and Punchbowl Cemetery.

Wednesday- we hopped on another plane to Kauai. Wow, what a difference an island makes. Oahu is very hussle and bussle, and Kauai is absolutely not that. Kauai is very laid back and fun. We checked into the hotel and were amazed at the beauty of it. We laughed because our oceanview room was very nicely overlooking a parking lot with just a touch of ocean :)

Thursday- we went on a Kayaking and Hiking tour and that was a lot of fun. Somehow we ended up with a private tour for the same price as one with more people in it. Shane apparently didn't like my pace so he didn't let me paddle. Got some great photos in the waterfall that we found. What an experience.

Friday- we tried Snuba for the first time and it was awesome! Shane has now decided we need to get certifed for diving. After Snuba, we went to check out Spouting Horn. These are blowholes that when the waves come in, the water shoots out the blowholes. Pretty cool. Later on we went to a River cruise that ended up being the lowlight to the whole trip. The fern grotto was closed so basically you got some old tales and really bad entertainers. I had no idea that Fern Grotto was still closed so it was very disappointing. After that we went to Smith's Luau and that was excellent. The food was amazing! Although the show wasn't nearly as good as the Horizons show at the Polynesian Center.

Saturday- took us on a downhill bike ride. The ride up the mountain was a little rough and I was pretty green by the time we got to the top. But this tour was a lot of fun. You went as fast as you wanted to around the hairpin turns and really got to see the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" really well. It kinda looks like the Grand Canyon, but a little more green in the colors.

Sunday- we tried probably the most extreme tour of the trip. Ziplining. Basically they send you down a baby line to start with, then build you up to the longest ones. You go down 7 lines and a suspension bridge, then hike down to your private swimming hole where you grab some lunch. After lunch you go down one more line and hike back to the vehicle to be transported back to the parking lot. This was was amazing, and I kinda overcame my height issues (and no I am not talking about my height, I am talking my fear of heights).

Monday- we had to leave and go back home. :(

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and recommend it to anyone and everyone! It was absolutely beautiful!

If anyone wants to read details about what we did, you are welcome to read our trip reports on the following links:

Oahu

Kauai

OAHU

May 21- 24

KAUAI

May 24-29, 2006

Our arrival in Honolulu airport, we even got leied!

Our hotel in Waikiki, Outrigger Reef

Shane looking at our oceanview from our Balcony

Michelle with a view of the pool

This was a gorgeous mural that was on the wall in the Outrigger hotel

Where were we at here? Duh! The cultural center

Shane and a sick friend, see he's holding his belly.

Michelle and a female friend

Poi- any starch that is pounded into a paste. This one just so happens to be made of taro root. Really doesn't have much of a flavor. The natives add flavor when they add the seasoned meats to it

Wait! Are they mooning us, and what happened to that one dude's hair?

Day 2 in Oahu started at the Arizona Memorial

This is the actual memorial, the low point in the center is to signify the lowest point in American history.

Can you see the flowers? Women would take their leis, cut them, then throw the flowers into the water as a memorial to the men that died. Some being their fathers, brothers, or grandfathers.

They say that the Arizona is still leaking oil, but they won't go in and remove it because it would desecrate the burial places of so many men. However, they feel that the oil that is leaking is the tears of the many men that died that day that are buried here.

Shane remembering all that he has heard of the memorial, and listening to the audio tour

Shane at the Battleship Missouri, which signified the end of the war

Look at those gun turrets

It amazes me that someone would want to tangle with the US after seeing these coming at you!

Michelle coming off the monster Missouri

Look out everyone! Shane is at the helm. I hope he knows what he is doing

The lady of Punchbowl Cemetery protecting her inhabitants

Shane looking at one of the many maps of the war at Punchbowl Cemetery

Shane overlooking downtown Honolulu

These are pictures of the Marriott Waiohai Beach Club in Kauai. This just so happens to be the same place we bought a timeshare in while we were there.

Michelle and Shane at the Beachhouse restaurant

Just another artsy photo

One of the mountains of Kauai

Day 1 in Kauai took us on a kayaking and hiking tour to Secret Falls. This is Shane underneath the falls. I also went underneath the falls, just don't have a picture of it.

Michelle and Shane next to the falls, look to the right in the photo

This is another one of the mountains, which the natives believe to be a sleeping Giant named Nono

Day 2 took us Snuba diving- this is where the air floats above you

The picture to the left is Michelle swimming around

Hey look it is Shane, but why is he sitting on the floor of the ocean, Oh yeah, they gave him too much weight in his weight belt.

The picture to the right shows Shane and Michelle holding a sea cucumber with Aloha written on it

Michelle taking a photo of herself in the rear view mirror of the convertible we rented

Pretty view from the awful river cruise we did

Michelle (top) and Shane (left) posing in the Smith's Gardens waiting for the luau

Michelle found a feathered friend while we were in the gardens

Michelle hiding in some flowers in the gardens

The pig to the left was one of 3 that had escaped on the grounds, and apparently no one could catch them. He came up to us as though he wanted some food. As soon as he realized we didn't have any he was on his way again. He looked pretty happy that he wasn't dinner.

Some more feathered friends we found, they were all over the place

Michelle and Shane at Spouting Horn

No I did not confuse the photos of the Grand Canyon. These are actually photos of the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific", Waimea Canyon. What a site if you can stand the drive up the mountain

Michelle and Shane posing at the top of the Canyon. Does she look a little green here?

Shane posing at the top of the Canyon, but funny, he doesn't look green

Shane and Michelle with one of the bikes

Shane at Spouting Horn

Shane found this really unique white tree while we were wandering around Spouting Horn, and look at the lava rocks below him

Spouting Horn, look at the pretty rainbow in the spray

Another one of the Horn

Wait a sec, I thought she was afraid of heights! Yup she is, but Michelle went for it anyway

This was the second line we went off from. They practice you on a baby line, then hook you in and tell you to jump off a cliff with this one. I think it is to get you anesthetized to the other lines you go to.

Shane taking a self portrait from the zipline

Michelle and Shane on a suspension bridge. I think this was the hardest part for me to get through because you had no choice but to look down to see where you were walking