I could title this post so many things:
10 Years
Hawaii = Favorite Place on Earth
The Shaw's Conquer Maui
The Trip from the Year of Jubilee
What is a Fern Grotto
Always ALWAYS Wear Pants in a Fern Grotto
Take Me Back
Jay and I just celebrated our 12 year anniversary a couple of days ago. WAHOO!
Well, this is not the year of jubilee, that was in 2013 when we celebrated our 10 year anniversary and went to Maui and Kauai. (2015 is the year of the harvest). :)
We left Elle and Caroline for the first time with Aunt Tracie. I should really call her Saint Aunt Tracie because she is pretty dang saintly and all things awesome. It was hard to leave our then 1 year old but I am pretty sure they would receive more natural nurturing and love from Tracie than they had ever received.
We departed from Nashville around 7 pm...
and landed in Maui around 9 pm Hawaiin time and 2 am Shaw time.
We were ecstatic! And starved! We went to the local SafeWay and got some peanut butter and jelly to make sandwiches and some other snacks and then picked up a pizza and headed to our hotel.
The next morning we popped out of bed around 5 am local time and got to it.
It is simply impossible to take a bad picture of a place so beautiful!
While in Maui, our days looked pretty much the same...
We woke around 5 am, went snorkeling until lunch, ate PB&J's on the beach, then we would explore some other part of the island.
The first day we went snorkeling at Palauea Beach. We had an awesome book that told us all the best places to see fish, turtles, coral, etc. I've got to be honest, at first my attitude towards snorkeling was that this was Jay's thing so I was going to go along and just enjoy it for him. Well, I loooove it! You feel like you are in another world.
This beach is still probably my favorite place we snorkeled... That being said the same day we were here a woman got fatally bitten by a shark. She was out later when trade winds pick up and the water is a little murky, but still...
Honolua Bay
Before leaving for our grand vacation, we did our research and knew that because there is so much tourism in Maui, there is also a good bit of theft. Tourist often have lots of cash on them and then frolic out on the beach to come back to their bags gone. The first day we were in Maui we saw a dad running after a man who stole his family's passports, travelers checks, cash, etc.
Well, the Shaw's were one step ahead and put our valuables in a dry box.
Side note: My family sold canoes and kayaks for over 2 decades, along with dry gear. I consulted Dad and Gray about which dry box to get and they both said to get a Pelican Case. The navy uses them and they are the best.
Well, Pelican Cases don't have a sticker on the front of their packaging that guarantees everything to stay dry. Otterbox does.
We snorkeled everyday with a bright yellow otterbox strapped to Jay's back. Inside was our car key, a little cash and my phone.
On Jay's birthday we got out of the water and...
the inside was soaked! My phone had bright blue acid bubbling out of the charger area and
Jay TRIED TO SUCK IT ALL OUT!
If he dies from unknown causes, I will blame this moment and poor judgement.
Every beach was gorgeous and totally different. It would be impossible to pick a favorite. I just fell in love with each one.
Our second night in Maui, we went to the highest point, Haleakala Crater, to watch the sunset.
The sun went down above the clouds and it was glorious.
My honey.
Side note, it was friz.eezing when the sun went down.
Day 3 we traveled the Road to Hana. Oh my word, if you go, you MUST purchase Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook. The author lives in Hawaii somewhere and all he does each year is update his travel guide by eating everywhere and doing everything us tourist folk want to do and then rating them. Without this book I believe the road to Hana would have been a bust. All the well marked waterfalls and stops were not necessarily the best ones and some of the best ones were on random unmarked spots.
This is now my all time favorite tree. The Rainbow Eucalyptus. I believe they will be everywhere in heaven.
Fresh coconut.
Many of the stops where hard to navigate... but totally worth it.
Three Bears Falls.
Random lava pit on the side of the road.
Black sand beach. If I could record a sound and sleep to it every night of my life, it would be the sound of this very beach. It sounded akin to a rain stick but so much better. The rocks range from tiny sandlike pebbles to pretty big inchers.
Favorite color palate in Maui.
Red Sand Beach.
Banyan trees are everywhere in Maui and this one was at the start of the best trail ever, the Pipiwai trail. It was 2 miles and the start was pretty typical hawaiian terrain, then we entered the bamboo forrest. As the wind blew you could hear the bamboo chink while smelling mango and papaya. It was unreal.
You could hear the falls grow louder and then the bamboo broke apart to this spectacular sight.
Waimoku Falls
There is no way to really catch the magnitude of the falls through a lens. It was 400 feet of power and peace all at once.
We decided to take the backroad out of Hana and travel through the back country. We knew we may never be here again and wanted to see everything we possibly could. The roads were partially unpaved and I can see why they don't advise it, but it was worth it.
Around nearly every bend I feel like we would say "this reminds me of the swiss alps" or "Lord of the Rings" or "quintessential Hawaii" or so on and so forth. It was incredibly peaceful and I think we only saw two other cars while on the road.
Natural Lantana.
This was where we stayed while in Maui. The Kannapali Outrigger.
We ate pretty simply while on our vacation. This was Aloha Plate.
After four days we took a short flight to Kauai. To be honest we were a bit worn out because we played so hard in Maui, but we hit the ground running as soon as we got there. We landed, dropped our bags off and went to Waimea Canyon. This is considered the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. It was breathtaking.
We then went to the Napali Coast (northern part of the island) and did the Honopu Trail. Let me tell you, this trail is not for the faint at heart.
It was maybe 2-3 miles long. It started and I thought to myself, this kind of reminds me of the smokies.
HA!
Enter the fern grotto. Sounds like a place fairies live.
I confidently believe more ferns live here than most horticulturalist have seen in their lives. They start pretty small and innocent.
Then they grew.
On trails over 100 degrees in angle.
Until they were taller than Jay and me. They were still beautiful, but the dead undergrowth was painful! Our guide book "advised" wearing pants and long sleeved shirts... it should be mandated.
They enjoyed my Ray Bans for a snack at some point.
It was worth it. Just check this view out! It was magnificent!
I was slightly terrified due to the combination of cliffs, loose red dirt, and steep narrow paths. Jay was in his element though. The fact that we could plummet to our death never once crossed his mind.
This is a super zoom and you can see a tiny helicopter giving tours.
Looking back I wish we had packed more snacks and just sat there for hours. It was truly breathtaking.
After, we got some local shave ice.
And then we washed our feet.
Day 2 in Kauai we took this little boat up the Napali Coast. It held I think around 15 people and was small enough to go in some of the caves. Our guide book suggested this particular tour and we were very pleased.
At one point a pod of spinner dolphins swam all around us leaping and spinning in air. The captain told Jay to put his GoPro under the boat and he got some really cool footage! He just lowered it down on the pole by the hull as we sped along and the dolphins just swam on around him.
We got to jump out and snorkel on the northern tip of the Napali Coast, ate some sandwiches and then headed back. We then rented some paddle boards and headed to Hanalei Bay.
This maybe my favorite thing we did all week. Some of the pictures of the dock are from the day after we paddle boarded and a tidge more overcast. While we were there it was bright and sunny. You could see three huge waterfalls in the distance, tons of boats were anchored to a mooring, the water was soft, and it was the epitome of peaceful.
We paddled up a little river off of Hanalei Bay a distance to find...
A fun little restaurant called The Blue Dolphin. We literally pulled our paddle boards up the bank and ate (the best ever) fish tacos and sushi. It was the quintessential hawaiian experience.
For recording purposes...
Animals we saw:
Spotted Eagle Ray
Octopus
Little Eel
6 footish Eel that National Geographic man was filming
TONS of Turtles! (I got to pet one)
Monk Seal
We truly enjoyed every second of our anniversary trip.
Aloha!
