No fear of heights allowed!

Hi friends! I hope everyone is doing well, and I love when I hear from each of you.  Since the last post, I've added another new fish to the books, which is very exciting out here in the furthest west town in America.  It’s called the blue striped snapper, and I’ve had the most luck with catching it at night as you can see from the pic.

I had my first of many visitors last week. Nikki stopped in on the way to her awesome adventure to teach English in Thailand.  We checked out the Waimea Canyon, Polihale Beach, a Luau, and took on the challenging 8 mile hike to Hanakapia Falls (I didn’t get lost in the jungle this time…)  But we also did a few new activities that I hadn’t checked out yet, the first being Ziplining through the mountains.  Our guides were pretty funny, and showed us some neat tricks, like how to go upside down!

We also Kayaked the Wailua, which is a serene river that runs through the mountains towards the Eastern shore of the island. After about an hour of kayaking, we pulled off to the side and hiked (through some deep mud) to the “Secret Falls.”  Our guide must have been third cousins with Bob Marley (yes, for the reasons that you're probably thinking...) but he was really fascinating and friendly, and told us a lot of interesting facts about the history of the island.

The most extreme activity of the week came this morning at 7am, when we jumped out of an airplane named Sharky…  It was Nikki’s first time Skydiving, and my third, although this was by far the best view (no offense South Jersey and North Georgia).

Whale season is in full swing, and we've been seeing them just about everyday for the past few weeks. Here's a cool pic from this morning of a tail slap off the South Shore.

Lots of good meals this week!  If I had to pick the top 3, I’m going with the syrup infused taro chips, the malasada (Portuguese sugar coated donut), and the ahi tuna tostada that we had this week.

On a side note, this is one of the weirdest chickens I've seen in Kauai so far…

Mahalo for reading, a hui hou!

New Years in the Swamp

So I had an awesome week at home with family and friends, and was fortunate enough to go to the Eagles-Bears game, and get in a day on the slopes with the boys.  I got back to Kauai just in time to miss the bitter cold front… hope everyone is staying warm! I decided to celebrate New Year’s Eve at EST, so 7pm HI time.  I woke up bright and early New Year’s Day for a hike with my co-worker John.  The Pihea-Alakai Trail started at the top of the Waimea Canyon, about a 45 minute drive from my house.  The first leg was along the ridge of the mountain, offering some spectacular views of the canyon and ocean.

Shortly thereafter, the trail got steep (downhill) and muddy, as we traveled into a more swampy area.   At times, there was boardwalk on the trail, which provided a nice break from the otherwise challenging terrain.  I got lucky enough to see a few native forest birds here and there, although never long enough to snap a picture, as they are quick and seem to avoid human interaction.  But here is an example of one of the more unique species.

Along the way, we also saw some old Telephone poles, which are remnants of a World War 2 communication system.  After about 4 miles (2 hours), we reached the end of the trail, and were treated to a great view of Hanalei Bay, which is all the way on the North Shore of the island.  All that was left was the 4 mile trek back…

I went fishing a few times this week, and on Friday I actually saw a whale (tail only) and a sea turtle from my spot on the rocks.  I also caught my first Ulua fish.  They can grow to be HUGE as seen in the picture below, but mine was just a little baby so I had to throw her back.  Either way, it’s always exciting to check a new fish off the list.

There was a big showing from Eagles fans at Kalapaki Joe’s on Saturday, so it was fun to watch the game with my fellow Philadelphians, although the outcome was obviously not what we all hoped for.  This week, I plan to book a trip to the Big Island for the end of the month, so more adventures to come. Mahalo for reading, until next time!