In June of 2016, my family and I were off to Hawaii! This was another very memorable trip for us, and I got to cross a few things off of my bucket list while we were there! I have been reminiscing on past vacations since summer time is upon us and that is usually when we do our traveling! Today, I wanted to talk about this trip with you all. I am sharing this story by memory (and with the help of photos). All of the photos I share with you were taken by myself or a family member.
I remember that the flight was a pretty long one. We actually had a layover in Arizona, and then we flew straight to the beautiful island of Kauai (The Garden Island). I believe that the flight from Arizona to Kauai was 9 hours. I was so excited to go on a tropical vacation. Hawaii is one of those places that everyone dreams of going to, and I was and still am so grateful that I had the chance to go.
Kauai is very dreamy and beautiful, and even though we went around June, the island was not really crowded with tourists. This island is definitely less touristy than some of the others!
We stayed in the cutest Airbnb right by the water. The décor was tropical, and my favorite part was the balcony that looked off at the pool, and behind it, the ocean. Waiting for us on the table was a lei and a note from the owners. I loved the beautiful plumeria flowers that we would always see in Hawaii. We didn’t do much that first day because we were pretty tired, but we were looking forward to our 2 weeks of relaxation and exploration.
One of the things I remember hearing about Hawaii was that it is extremely humid, and while I did feel the humidity, it wasn’t terrible (though my frizzy hair may have said otherwise). The weather was so beautiful on this trip. Every day was sunny and 80 degrees, and it really only rained while we were sleeping. I love sunny days and I am not a fan of rain, so I was happy!
On our first day, we all put on our bathing suits and drove down the road to the beach. The water was a stunning turquoise blue, and the weather was perfect. Poipu Beach was where we spent a lot of our time on this trip. When we drove around the island, we stopped a couple times to take some photos. We often saw beautiful waterfalls that would seemingly come out of nowhere.
We spent most of our days relaxing by the water. When we weren’t at the beach, we would be hiking, swimming in the pool, exploring the island, and trying new restaurants. I remember that one of my favorite places was called “Bubba Burgers”. I still think that these may have been the best burgers I have ever tried! I tried some great seafood, and I often ordered my favorite dish: pasta (doesn’t matter where I travel, I always look for pasta on the menu)! I also had some white pineapple which was so delicious!
We went on a few intense hikes on this trip! One of the biggest ones was at Waimea Canyon State Park. I reffered back to my Instagram post where I called it, “the craziest hike of my life”. To some people I’m sure this was not the case, but I guess at the time I felt that it was intense! We walked by some cliffs which terrified me, and I remember falling on my butt a couple of times as well! By the end of the hike, we were dirty and sweaty, but I didn’t care too much because the view was absolutely stunning.
We also hiked some of the Kalalau Trail. This trail is very famous and it is, get this… 22 miles long (roundtrip)! We did not get that far, but what we did see was still beautiful. We stopped at an area that looked like a small beach. I can’t imagine hiking that long, but I’m sure the view at the end would have been amazing!
One of the highlights from this trip was a boat ride we took along the Na Pali coast. Kauai is not as big as some of the other islands in Hawaii, so we rode from one end to the other. We had so much fun, and tour guide was able to show us some gorgeous views. We were on a speed boat, so the wind was blowing and I remember laughing most of the time. We even saw a few beautiful rainbows through the waterfalls.
One of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing the wildlife. We were able to see Hawaiian Monk Seals pretty much every day. They would come up to the shore to sleep on the sand. Of course, we couldn’t get too close to them because we didn’t want to bother them, but they were adorable! On one day in particular, we put on some goggles and brought a waterproof camera out to the beach with us. Everyone spotted a baby seal with its mother, and a sea turtle, and I got to swim very close to them! It was truly incredible.
Another highlight from this trip was when my family and I went on an ATV tour at Kipu Ranch. We went in 2 separate ATV’s and we followed a tour guide with other tourists. We would drive for a bit, and then stop to take photos and talk about the island. Although I’ve never seen “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, or “Jurassic World”, our tour guide told us that they filmed these movies on the island.
Toward the end of our trip, we were able to see a luau. This is something that I think everyone pictures when they think of Hawaii, so this was really cool to see in person!
The last major highlight from this trip was a really big surprise to us. I always wanted to fly in a helicopter and that’s exactly what we did! This was such an amazing experience. We flew with a company called Blue Hawaiian Helicopters. Our tour guide was very friendly and he knew a lot about the island. The views were absolutely gorgeous, and for someone who is fearful of heights, I was surprisingly not scared. We were able to have the tour recorded, so we can always watch it back and remember this amazing moment.
I am always so very grateful that I am able to travel the world with my family. Being with my family makes me incredibly happy, and when we travel, we get to experience something new and exciting together, making it even better. I am hoping that we can travel again soon, however our health and the health of those around is much more important, especially right now.
For now, I’ll be dreaming of traveling again. Until next time! Mahalo!
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Wow the rainbow looks amazing! And aahh I really am desperate for the beach now🥺🥺🥺
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It was really beautiful! And same here! Hopefully some day soon we can enjoy the beach. Stay safe❤️❤️
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