Kauai 2015 Day 9

Was rainy and cloudy in the wee hours of the morning but that burnt off by the time we finished our coffee leaving us a pretty rainbow over Bali Hai.

We decided to walk down and check out Pu'u Poa beach in front of the St Regis. It was very calm and quite pretty. 

We're going to take our snorkel gear down this morning and check out the reef. After our trek back up the hill (you won't gain weight staying here, everywhere you go on these grounds requires some kind of steep walk lol) we rested by the pool for a second. HBR has this neat Adopt an Orchid program where you purchase an orchid then the gardeners help you plant it exactly where you want. There's some very pretty ones.

We had a tee time scheduled at 1:09 at the Makai course. As guests at HBR we were able to golf for 119 each after 1:00 because we had two golfers in our party. We went early to have some lunch and were actually able to get out early too because they weren't busy. Here's some of the better photos of the gorgeous course.

It was an enjoyable round (except for my putting on the back 9) and I'd recommend the course. If you are a non golfer they have a sunset golf cart tour you can take to enjoy the views. We got back and after a dip in the pool, we did up some Kauai shrimp with pasta salad and enjoyed another spectacular north shore sunset from our lanai.

So ends another day. Not sure of our plans today. Snorkel at Pu'u Poa and maybe check out some other beaches.

Kauai 2015 Day 8

Well a couple of very chatty roosters have deemed it unnecessary for me to sleep anymore. Someone should introduce them to the owners of Chicken in a Barrel lol. Oh well, I just got to see a beautiful full moon over the water. My camera wouldn't focus though, too dark. Yesterday was our transition day from Poipu to Princeville. We were up early getting packed and organized and were out the door shortly after nine. We had a bit of shopping to do. We stopped in Koloa to get our son a ukulele at Larrys and some shirts from Crazy Shirts. We had a quick stop at Costco again then off North we headed. We couldn't check in to HBR until 2 so we took our time stopping at Kilauea Lighthouse. Beautiful spot.

We also stopped at two different overlooks after the lighthouse.

We found our way to Hanalei Bay Resort, got checked in, found our room, opened the blinds and there was this amazing view. 

Its beautiful and we couldn't be happier with our room choice.  We got unpacked and explored a bit then went for a quick swim to cool down. We grilled some steaks, then settled on our lanai to watch the sunset. We're lucky with the location of our room. It's prime viewing for sunset. There was even someone playing the ukulele at the fire pit below us :) Here's our first sunset from HBR.

I'm going to try to figure out the interval shooting on my camera and do a time lapse video of the sunset.  Today's plans include a morning by the pool followed by golf at the Makai Course. We get discounted rates as guests at HBR. 

 

Kauai 2015 Day 7

Today was our last full day on the south shore and oh what a day it was...we have fish, we have turtles, we have monk seals, and we also have spectacular scenery. I have no sunrise pictures today because I actually slept past sunrise....yayyyy :). Today was the first day that the surf seemed low enough that I was confident to snorkel in Ho'ai Bay beside our condo. The sun wasn't really shining so I couldn't get good pictures but the snorkelling was great. I was just floating along when I felt something out the corner of my eye...I turned around and a turtle was there about two feet away swimming past me...I swallowed a bit of salt water because I was so startled. After I got out of the water, Kelly said he saw it beside me from shore and thought it was going to swim right into me. Made my day. After my little snorkelling excursion we got cleaned up and headed out to walk the Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail. What beautiful scenery. Here's some photos from the start of the trail.

We were walking along the cliffs enjoying the view when for the first time I spotted wild life before Kelly....this fellow was resting and sunning himself below us.

This was my fourth trip to the Hawaiin Islands and my first sighting of a monk seal. It was truly a special moment. We continued along the path enjoying the views. 

We didn't do the whole trail, it was just too hot. We turned back at the 15th tee box on the golf course. 

By this time we were so hungry that we needed to stop on the way home to eat.  Puka dogs and lemonade!

Never has a hotdog tasted so good lol. After we got back we tried to snorkel in Ho'pia bay again but it was too rough so we went to the other side to Lawai Beach and had a great snorkel. Here's some of the better photos.

I'm saving the best one though....all of a sudden, right below us this guy came along, I almost didn't manage the picture and I was so happy to see when we got back and checked the pictures that I'd managed to capture him. 

There is just something about turtles. :)

After our snorkel it was almost time for dinner.  Tonight we ate in and dined on grilled monchong seasoned with Salty Wahine Guava Garlic Salt.

After dinner we enjoyed our last sunset from in front of the Beach House.

Tomorrow is transition day from Kuhio Shores to Hanalei Bay Resort.