Incredible Hawaii!

Hi everyone,
I've had a wonderful time here in Hawaii the last few days. It's every bit as wonderful as they say. I'm most impressed by all the colors, textures, exotic plants, animals, and friendly people. I especially loved Kauai and hope to return for more adventures some time. Why have I waited so long to come to Hawaii?! Here's a quick run-down of my trip so far:

Wednesday, Feb. 28: Arrived in Kauai and met up with Renee and Val. Drove to a beach on the North Shore and set up camp.

Thursday, Mar. 1: Took a beautiful walk along the beach at sunrise. Drove all the way to the end of the North Shore road and took a hike on the famous Kalalau Trail along the Na Pali Coast to Hanakapiai Falls and back. Incredible hike! You earned the views because the trail was really up and down and muddy but what views!! Highlights were seeing the incredible green color ocean, rock-rock-hopping up the Hanakapiai Canyon, turning a corner and seeing the huge falls tucked away all to ourselves, then swimming in a pool in the creek on the way back. Renee and Val were brave enough to jump into the cold water at the natural pool too! Back at the trailhead, we enjoyed a quick swim at the beach and then drove all the way back around the island (clockwise) up to Koke'e State Park (next to Waimea Canyon) where we camped for the night at a YWCA camp.

Friday, Mar. 2: Gluttons for punishment, we hiked an 11-mile loop along three trails with more incredible views from above the Na Pali Coast. We enjoyed meeting a group from France as we hiked along. We had lunch at a dry waterfall. At the second viewpoint I thought I was stepping on firm ground on the edge, but what a surprise when my foot fell through and I just about fell off the cliff and became part of the scenery! Everyone laughed about it -- it wasn't too dangerous. We actually ran into a family of wild pigs on the hike back out! We drove by Waimea Canyon on the way back to the beach and gawked at this beautiful work of nature labelled the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" by Mark Twain. No time to hike around it so we'll have to go back again soon! We had a fun time at a Thai restaurant then headed to the beach and camped. At least we tried to sleep while the natives' beach party continued late into the night!

Saturday, Mar. 3: We enjoyed a morning at the South Shore beach. Snorkelling, swimming, watching the rare Hawaiian monk seals playing with each other (biting) right next to us in the bay and on shore. I was amazed by all the different types of fishes we saw under water -- long & thin, striped, rainbow colored, yellow neon, etc. After lunch in Lihue, we made our way to a lush river valley (reminded me a lot of Fossil Canyon) with a 25-foot waterfall or so. You wade across the creek just above the roaring falls by holding onto a rope, then you grab onto another rope and swing high above a pool Tarzan-style and then fall into the water, then climb a ladder out of the pool. I was brave enough to do the swing rope 4 times! There were lots of people watching from the lip of the falls. What a blast! We then drove up into the mountains of Kauai and took one last nice 3-mile hike along a ridge with incredible views of the island. We checked out a couple of beaches to camp at but decided to stay at a hostel that night instead -- after a timely visit to Walmart to make up for all the things I've lost on the way or left at home!

Sunday, Mar. 4: Renee and Val drove me over to the airport and we parted ways. I flew over to Honolulu and drove to Laie. I found a church ward to visit and had a great time making new friends there -- it felt like a very small world when I ran into a couple Japanese guys who knew people I knew in Japan. After church I walked the beautiful grounds of the Laie Mormon temple, then took a drive along the famous North Shore of Oahu (where all the Hollywood surfing movies are made). The aqua blue color of the water has to be seen to be believed. I drove back to Honolulu and made my way to my mission president's home (I served with President Kiyabu in Tokyo Japan about 17 years ago!) We had a fun visit talking about all the missionaries we were with and where they are now. We haven't had a reunion in years because it's hard for my mission president to come to them -- I told him if he did a reunion in Hawaii that a lot of us would come!

Monday, Mar. 5: Pres. Kiyabu was kind enough to take the day off work and show me around the island! We went to Hanauma Bay and went snorkelling there. It was amazing! Huge schools of fish, big fish, beautiful blue water, extensive coral reefs to try swimming thru (it was challenging at low tide). I did cut my toes on the reef -- hopefully that will heal up quickly. I highly recommend Hanauma Bay to everyone! We drove on to the tip of the windward coast then drove back to Honolulu. We hiked up Diamond Head and got great views of the city from the top. It's a really neat hike with tunnels thru portions that were created by the military to protect the island during the war. At the top we ran into a Japanese girl who overheard me speaking Japanese to a couple of tourists and asked me if I had been a Mormon missionary. It turned out that she's also a return missionary and was visiting the island herself for a week. She was just taking the bus so Pres. Kiyabu and I took her with us as we finished our tour of Honolulu (Waikiki Beach, Punchbowl overlook, Pali Lookout). After dinner at the Kiyabu's, we drove her back to Laie where she was staying with friends. She has friends in Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania so maybe she'll hook me up with them! I love international networking!

Tuesday, Mar. 6: Today I'm headed to Australia -- with the international dateline I'll arrive there on Wednesday. I really don't have many details planned for the next part of the trip so I'll be winging it! Actually I might just take a down day somewhere because Hawaii wore me out! I'll spend a couple of days up in the Blue Mountains then meet up with Melvin on Sunday before driving out to Snowy River country and Melbourne!

Sorry this post is so long! Hope you enjoyed it! Hawaii was a blast!! I'm having a hard time posting pictures but hopefully I'll be able to post pictures later. Feel free to leave comments on the web page alloverdownunder.blogspot.com or email me directly at rayhiker@hotmail.com.
Best wishes!
Ray