HaWOWii

When we landed in Honolulu, lunch was on my mind.  I didn't care that I was in paradise, I just wanted lunch.  So, we headed to Stingerray's in the airport.  Next we caught our connecting flight to Kauai.  Kauai is famous for all the movie that have been filmed on it.  Jurassic Park, Six Days and Seven Nights, South Pacific, Pirates of the Caribbean, and many more.  The island was very lush and beautiful.  Considering that the main highway was a 2 lane road that went all around the island, wait, you can't consider it, because you would have to see it to believe it.  We stayed in the village of Princeville.  Our side of the island is the rainy, jungle side.  That's right, just 45 minutes away has a completely different climate.  Amazing.  But, the weather was gorgeous on our side too!  We got to our condo and hung out.  The next morning we headed for Tunnels Beach.  Sound familiar?  At the time we didn't know it, but this was the beach where Bethany Hamilton "the soul surfer" was attacked by the shark.  We went snorkeling not far from where she was.  The next day, at 6:30 in the morning, we headed for Port Allen.  This is where we took a catamaran sail trip.  We were suppose to go to the Na Pali coast line, but a huge swell came in and we had to go to a different part of the island.  It was so fun.  We saw so many marine animals.  But to name a few, Humpback whales, Monk seals, dolphins, and of course my beloved sea turtles.  That afternoon we went to a place called the Beach House.  It had a small bay that was famous for sea turtles!  I headed straight for the water with my snorkel gear on determined to swim with a sea turtle.  After swimming around for a little bit, I finally saw one.  The two of us swam side by side for quite a while.  I even got to see another one.  I saw a shiny thing in his flipper which I realized was a fishing hook.  I started crying.  The poor turtle didn't do anything wrong!  We finally went back to our condo, worn out from a full day.  I went to bed early still thinking about the turtle with the hook in his flipper.  The next day we set out for Poipu, a surfers paradise. We decided that this was where we were going to take our surfing lessons.  We all did great except one of us.  I'll give you 3 hints.  He's the oldest of the group, he is the owner of Matrix achievement Group, and he is the one that you would think couldn't surf.  You guessed it.....Todd.  Now the next couple of days we spent swimming and snorkeling.  And then it was my birthday (Feb. 2nd).  Mom and Dad had something big planned, but they wouldn't tell me.  I woke up to flowers, singing, and gifts.  Paradise!  We drove to this shopping place and stopped.  I saw a sign that said Blue Hawaiian and with a helicopter on it.  We were going on a helicopter tour.  It was so beautiful.  Words can't describe the beauty we saw.  But, luckily the entire ride was filmed and recorded, so I have a lifetime DVD.  To my surprise, we ended the day with a birthday cake.  After a great birthday (the best ever), we fell in bed again!  The next day we went surfing all day and had a great time.  In the morning we left for the airport headed to Honolulu.  See you in Oahu!

Rainey