Day 11: Kauai

The last island we sailed to was Kauai,  all the way on the west end of Hawaii. 

Since we had the longest distance yet to cover, we hadn't quite made it into port when we woke up the next morning, but you could see Kauai off in the distance from the balcony. 

Asa and I made the trip up a deck and to the front of the ship to see a little better, but it was SUPER windy out there that day. 

As suite guests, we were given access to Cagney's for breakfast and lunch. Sadly, we were always just grabbing food to go or doing the buffet because it was quick. But on Kauai morning, since we got into port later in the morning, we had time to finally go. I got Asa, Calib, Hayden, Mom, Garrett, and Holly on board. Peyton doesn't eat breakfast, and Gwen was too set on the buffet, which Cort took her to. 

But Cagney's had their own little mini buffet, and it was also kind of awesome. There were pastries and meats and cheeses. 

Plus they had pre-made parfaits, and tons of fruit, which made Garrett happy. 

It was the only place on the ship where there was good coffee too. That along with my challah bread french toast with berry compote, and I was happy. 

Asa was a fan of his huevos rancheros, and Hayden was pleased with his waffle. Too bad we didn't have more time for Cagney's breakfast! 

By the time we were done the cruise ship had docked, and to my surprise their was quite the pretty view right outside of Cagney's. Kauai, like every port except Kona, was an industrial port. 

We headed back to our room, and unfortunately, our side of the ship was the yucky shipping container side. But, as a fun side note, those shipping container yards were full of roosters and chickens, which you could hear from the boat. 

Cort and his family headed off with mom for the day, while we rented our car and headed toward the town of Koloa, about 20 minutes from the ship. 

Our first stop was at Po'ipu Beach. We were mainly there on a fact finding mission to see if it would be a good spot for Hayden and I to kill some time while we waited for Asa, Calib, and Peyton. (I'll get to that in a second). There was lots of rocks to walk on, reminding me a bit of Turtle Bay back on Oahu. It was calmer, and not nearly as deep of depressions in the rocks, but the same basic look and feel to it. 

There were small fish and crabs in all the little tidepools all along the rocks too, which the kids always enjoy. 

And everyone was excited to see a little blowhole, as tiny as it might have been. Tiny just means 'totally safe', anyway. Over to the side of the rocks there was plenty of nice, swim-able beach. In fact, in one area the water is so walled off and calm, they call it the 'kiddie pool'. So it was a good place for Hayden and me. 

There were also TONs of chickens, so many the boys called this place 'chicken beach'. Kauai was like chicken island (in fact, my one and only Kauai magnet is of a chicken), with chickens everywhere. I did learn there are also wild pigs everywhere. (The wild pigs outnumber people 10 to 1 on the island!) We only saw one baby one, and it had become road kill. 

But anyway, the chickens. Look at the sign Hayden and I found! 

So where was everyone else off to? Well, Asa, Calib and Peyton were going ziplining. It was Calib's number one thing he wanted to do in Hawaii, and Peyton was pretty excited about it too. We didn't book it through the ship, since that was UBER expensive, so instead we booked it ourselves through Skyline EcoAdventures. They had half off for kids under 17! 

I wasn't sure about my motion sickness and ziplines, nor was I took sure about the van ride up to the ziplines. (The website warned it was rough, and Asa agreed. They were even told to wear their helmets in the car because you bounce around so much!) Plus, someone needed to stay with Hayden, who wasn't interested in all. So it was just Asa, Calib and Peyton. But they had an awesome time. They did the 8 line course over 2 and a half hours. I heard they got progressively higher and that the pictures just don't do it justice (which is a Hawaiian theme). 

But Asa did do a good job taking pictures for me, and videos. The videos are actually really cool, so maybe someday I'll get around to putting those on our youtube. 

Hayden and I had some time to kill, and as we've previously talked about, Hayden doesn't do well skipping lunch. Since the store, and starting point for Skyline EcoAdventures is located in the Kukui'ula Shopping Center, we wandered a bit and found Bubba Burgers. Hayden got a Burger and then we split a milkshake and some 'Frings' (an onion ring/fry combo). It was all very yummy. 

Then we decided to head back to Po'ipu beach, but this time to the sandy area. 

We headed down to the 'kiddie pool' area of the beach, because I'm always a little nervous in the water with the kids if it's just me. But Hayden and I put on our goggles and there was plenty to see right there. We spotted fish, urchins, and even some sea cucumbers. I had read this beach would be a decent spot for seeing turtles and even Hawaiian monk seals, and some guy on the beach was pointing out to this little sandbar island and I noticed there were monk seals climbing over the island and back into the water. 

Hayden and I decided to walk down the beach to get a closer look at the seals on the island, and then we noticed one right there on the beach! He hadn't been there long, because they were just starting to put the signs and rope around him to keep people from bothering it. But we were super excited to see the Hawaiian Monk Seal up so close. (Warning: if you aren't into seals, page down, because I took a whole slew of monk seal pictures!) 

Hayden was really excited about the seal, so we just sat there, for a LONG time, probably close to an hour, watching it. 

He'd roll around, snort, and bark if a child came near him (not mine of course, some random kid went chasing a ball that rolled up next to the seal, and the seal was not happy). 

After we had sat there watching the seal, we checked my phone and the guys were on their way back to the store, so we had to go. Hayden did want to stop out by these weird wood carvings on the way to take a picture, though. 

We headed back to the shopping center to pick them up. Asa, and Calib both bought a little something at the gift store to remember their trip. (For the record, they loved it- of course). 

They also got some water for the road. Asa was the only one who liked it, though. 

I told them about the seal, and that he was still there, so if they wanted to head back the five minutes to the beach, they could see it too. Of course they were on board with that. 

Then the monk seal volunteer told us if the seal came any closer to just scoot back because she had to 'go check on the others'.  Apparently THERE WERE MORE! 

We had missed it the whole time, but there were two more seals a little further down the beach! 

Our next stop was going to be out at the Waimea Canyon. It's known as the 'Grand Canyon of the Pacific', but it was still about an hour away. On Kauai, because of the canyon, you can't circle the entire island- which meant we had to pick one way to go, and we picked to the canyon side, as opposed to the North Shore. (Mostly because we went the way of the zipline). None of the kids  were super excited about visiting the canyon, and as we started the climb up in the car, and the road got curvy, things got even worse. Hayden and Calib were getting car sick (and shocker, I was too), and Peyton was freaked out about the big drop offs on the side of the road. (He can ride roller coasters, zipline or whatever, but tall buildings and steep drop offs really freak him out). 

In short, with threats of vomits and near tears, we decided to abort the mission. We did decide to stop and take a picture before we even made it to Waimea Canyon State Park though. The views even there, were pretty spectacular. 

But if you notice, Peyton refused to get out of the car. 

Which was probably good, he would have freaked out at Asa climbing down places. 

For the record Cort, Holly, Gwen, Garrett and mom spent the whole day at the canyon, and mom didn't get car sick. But, something tells me Peyton's attitude would not have improved. 

We headed back down the hill, but made one more stop off to take in the views. 

Hayden particularly enjoyed the little stream of water heading down the mountain. He found little baby tadpoles. 

You'll notice, Peyton stayed in the car at this stop too. 

Back down in the town of Waimea we stopped at JoJo's for some Shave Ice. I had seen this place on Pinterest at one point or another when I was planning the trip, but I never wrote it down or anything- then when I was it was like 'Oh my gosh, we have to stop there!' 

We decided on the Lilo & Stich and the Berry Berry. 

The Lilo and Stich was pretty basic (though the boys loved it), but the berry berry came on top of macadamia nut ice cream and with the condensed milk topping, and it was by far the winner of the two. We got shave ice two more times, and I missed the ice cream both times. 

We headed back to the ship, but we kept the rental car. We had rented it from the Marriott Hotel which was less than a mile away (kind of walking distance depending on who you ask, since there isn't exactly sidewalks everywhere). Asa talked the valet at the hotel into keeping the car overnight for a whopping $5. Since we were staying overnight, we could have the car until 10AM without paying extra, so I figured it was a good idea to keep it just in case we decided we wanted to go back out in Kauai one more time. 

You guys know the drill by now if you've been reading my blogs- we came back to a towel animal (the monkey was my favorite) and some afternoon snacks. 

It was, however, nearing dinner time. That didn't stop Calib from having a pre-dinner ice cream cone, though. I'm pretty sure Calib has been going through ice cream withdrawal since he's been home. 

For dinner all 10 of us were headed to Teppanyaki, the Hibachi grill on the ship. I was super excited about this place in Mexico when we went, but then I got sea sick that night and had to leave before dinner even really ever got started. I decided this time it would be best, if I booked it on a night when we stayed in port and the boat wasn't moving. 

First we were served the edamame, the salad, and the miso soup. All of which were good, of course. 

But then our chef came out, tricks and all. We'd have a few squirmy kids at dinner here and there on the ship, but this kept them entertained and engaged, which was awesome. 

Plus the rice, the veggies, the shrimp and the steak were all just awesome. It was my favorite meal on the ship, hands down. 

The green tea cake and green tea ice cream wasn't my favorite. But that's ok. 

Another night without a cruise ship moving meant another night I could go to shows and wander the ship. We went to see the comedian in the Mardi Gras Lounge, and played some late night ping pong.

Peyton also took the boat not moving as a good time to sleep out on the balcony again. (He was, however, not thrilled with the roosters waking him up bright and early). 

Up Next: The adventure of the Napali Coast.