This post is pretty picture heavy. It can't be helped. Russ packed this day with sooooo much adventure goodness, that it was practically an entire week's vacation.
We got up early...really early...but late. The previous I asked Russ when to set the alarm, and he said, "We need to be on the road at 530am." So---like a dope---I set the alarm for 530am! So when we got up, we were already 30 minutes late! And we had to get completely around the island by 715am! So I drove! And we got there...
To our boat ride. It was great! A 7-hour-long tour that took us along the Napali Coast, a snorkeling stop, and hopeful animal encounters. It all paid off...
First some pictures from around the boat. Russ was the photographer-in-chief, so there's not many pictures of him, sadly...
Mom Edna at the Very Front of the Boat...
...soaking in the waves, the sun, the wind. Master of All She Surveys!
....and enjoying the free Mai Tais! You Go, Mom Edna!
It's winter, so the water along the northern shore is rough to begin with, and today was no exception. Because of the big storm that announced our arrival on Sunday, the water was also all murky from the Red Dirt run off. So we didn't get to snorkel. Oh well.
But we saw Honu (the green sea turtles) and--interestingly--flying fish! They were skipping around the boat as we steamed along.
And we say dolphins! At first a few small ones, then we discovered we'd wandered into a pod of about 100 of them! And they were Spinners, so every so often, one would leap out of the water doing barrel rolls. Later on a handful of much larger Bottlenose Dolphins joined in and froliced about. They swam right alongside the boat, giving us numerous photo opportunites which (fortunately) Russ was able to take advantage of!
But for me (Damian) the hope and highlight of the journey was to see whales. And we did. Not up-close-to-the-boat like the dophins, but still close enough to be awestruck by their silent majesty.
Double! Two in Synchronization!
Eventually we returned to port, tired, sun-filled, well-fed. But the day had only started according to Russell, so we then drove around the corner to Glass Beach.
We stopped at Spouting Horn park and first marveled at all the chickens. They run amok all over Kauai, but here they were particularly thick.
The Spouting Horn
We then drove through Koloa town, then through the tree tunnel. We stopped in Lihue for chinese food...then headed home. We were tuckered out!
It was a long day, but a great one! Thanks for letting us share.
Aloha!
