Kauai: Best Trip Ever

We are back from the most amazing vacation! I just can't get over how smoothly everything went. Usually people have some kind of horror story or some kind of mishap to share but our trip was perfect. The forecast said rain on a few of the days but nope! Just sun and one overcast morning.  I posted an insane amount of pictures (mainly for our family to see all we did:) ) so feel free to scroll quickly. Matt and I had a great time together, it was a great refresher for our relationship!

The view from our balcony

The pool & hot tubs right by the beach

Our trusty truck! Thanks again to Drew & Joy who seriously hooked us up. This little beaut' allowed us to see the whole island. And no one really thought we were tourists because this guy is definitely not a rental. It was perfect!

One of the many spots we went snorkeling 

These guys were everywhere

On a hike to Ho'opi'i Falls. Matt swears this is the scene from Jurassic Park when they first see the dinosaurs. He hummed the theme every time I'd turn on the video camera to record something :) haha.

At the falls

I wish this was the view I had driving down the street everyday

Wailua Falls. Taller than Niagara---but not quite as impressive

On Monday we got up early to head up to the North Shore to hike the Kalalau Trail on the NaPali Coast. I still can't believe a place that beautiful exists. I could barely hike 5 minutes without wanting to stop and take pictures. We hiked as far as you can without a permit. It was pretty rigorous but definitely one of my favorite experiences from the trip.




We stopped at a beautiful beach during the hike and had to get in and swim. When we were done we saw a sign saying over 30 people have died swimming there. Oh well it was worth it.
Rinsing off the sand and salt
Done with the hike it was time for what else but Shave Ice

This next adventure was probably Matt's favorite of the trip. We heard of a place called Kipu Falls, a 30 ft. waterfall into a pool surrounded by a rock wall of cliffs (to jump off of course) and a rope swing. It was an obvious choice and it was SO much fun. We spent hours there, jumping off the cliffs, swinging of the rope swing and swimming in the pool. It was the kind of place you see in movies & I can't believe this was a natural creation. God creates some pretty amazing things. 

Me jumping off the cliff--the quality isn't great because we (obviously) had to use our underwater camera. (I need to figure out how to post video of Matt going off the rope swing- awesome)

This was our other absolute favorite. Queen's bath. A natural pool in the lava bench right along side the ocean. It's filled with fish and underwater plant life . Ocean waves refresh the pool every few minutes but you have to be careful if the waves are big. We snorkeled and swam and just sat in awe. It's a LOT bigger than these pictures show.




After dinner our last night in Kauai. We had a blast, I could do a completely separate post on the awesome food and different places we ate but I'll save it for a journal:)  Matt and I are refreshed, relaxed, and tan. And now, Matt starts his internship in Salt Lake on Monday so it was a perfect vacation to get us ready for this next phase in life.