Kauai - Princeville Trip

Because of the mountains in the middle Kauai is pretty much a drive around the island sort of a deal. After heading south the previous couple of days we headed north to see what we could see.

Taro fields at the bottom of the valley. Taro is still very much a part of the diet in the pacific.

In 1992 a cyclone hit Kauai and knocked over a chicken coop. With no predators and heaps of food they have pretty much taken over the island now.

The end of the road found us at 'Tunnels Beach'. Heaps of people out and about combined with the high swell from the trade winds/tsunami meant the lifeguards were very vigilant.

Why do they call it 'Tunnels Beach'. A big cavern was right across the road from the beach. The kids had never been in a cave before and it was great to watch them exploring. Of course it helped when we told Jaxon that 'Batman' might be inside.

Where's Batman Dad? You promised...... Whoops.

Standing in the dark and then the flash goes off.

Stopped into a great little town on the way back for lunch and a look around.

Was there ever a better looking mermaid?

They are so easily pleased. If only 50cents could satisfy an adults needs we would all be a lot wealthier. Another great Campbell Clan outing.

Kauai - Whale Watching

After watching the whales from the balcony of our apartment it was decided that we should do a whale watching trip to get a little closer. As you can imagine there is quite a variety of options. We chose a shorter trip (2hrs) which provided dinner and free booze and sunset.

The kids were really great on the boat. The first time we have been cold in ages.

Not long into the trip and we came across a pod of about 200 spinner dolphins. It was awesome, they were rounding up their dinner and going nuts jumping and spinning out of the water.

As they do the dolphins also played in the bow waves of the boat so it time to move forward for a better view.

Without a DSLR it is a little bit of hit and miss but we got a few good shots.

It's blowing 20-25 knots and we come across about six guys in open-ocean kayaks. At least they were smart enough to go with the wind. A bloody tough sport this one. There wasn't a fishing rod holder on one of them - why would you have a boat of any kind without a fishing rod holder - I just don't get it.

The whales weren't playing the game so the skipper took us in a little closer to the mainland. This is one of the lagoons where they have filmed several movies in Kauai. Thorn Birds, Jurassic Park, Pacific to name a few.

Not a very of the ocean from this golf course. Not much protection from the wind here and you definately don't want to go to far right/left on this course.

Daddy and Jaxon went to line up for dinner. Indi couldn't see us and got a little concerned that we had gone to play with the dolphins without here.

Cocktails and Kids - does it get any better?

On the journey home there was an opportunity for some 'Titanic' photo shots. The skipper bravely took on the task of looking after Jaxon and Indi so we could take advantage.

A very brave skipper indeed.

Not a bad 'at-sea-sunset' to end the day. In the end we saw one whale that put it's tail up and dove deep as seen as we got close. So not the most successful whale watching tour but fun all the same.

Kauai - Bike Hire

A couple of hours was filled in one morning with a bike ride. It was a great way to kill some time as the bike trail is right on the coast so we watched whales spouting and breaching as we rode.

Time for a drink stop.

Waves pounded the rocks and beaches after the Tsunami.

Enter a couple of hours of bike riding. It's hard enough to ride a bike when you haven't done it for ages let alone dragging 60-70kgs behind you. They enjoyed it though and kept asking why we weren't going as fast as Mummy.

Kauai is home of the 'Red Dirt' t-shirts with one bucket of dirt used to stain 500 shirts. Wasn't much hope for these clothes.....

Nic doesn't ever seem to look puffed; must be all the exercise she does.

Yet another happy family photo.

Waimea Canyon

A 'must do' if visiting the Garden Isle. It's a bit of a drive (One and a bit hours from our place) which was great as Indi had a kip on the way home. It's been quoted as the 'Grand Canyon of the Pacific'. It proved to be worth the trip.

The family that plays together....

Very scenic. The drive was a lot cheaper than the $200 per person for a one hour helicopter ride.

Why is it that Jaxon refusing to look at the camera.....

As I said, well worth the drive up the steep and winding road.

Little Miss Independence is at it again. She is a champion climber with everything seen as a test of her ability at the moment. All we can do is be there to catch her when she falls.

Pushing it to the limit. He's a boy.

A disturbing sign to say the least. I choose to drive and not walk anywhere for the now.

I've always wanted to see a Smokey Bear sign. And now I have.

Kauai - General

After a couple of relatively busy 'holiday' weeks in Honolulu it was time for a change of pace. We headed over the Hawaiian Garden Isle of Kauai. The flight was only 35 minutes from wheels up to touching down - hardly worth packing the suitcases. We hired a car and found the hotel and it was superb. Right on the water and fulling kitted out as though someone had just got up and walked out. A really great holiday unit. We spent five days on Kauai with this post being just a general one with the specifics to follow.

First night we were a little puffed and couldn't be bothered cooking so it was down to Nawilliwilli Harbour for a meal at 'Dukes'. We had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated so we sat on the grass and let the kids play. We tried to keep them out of the sand, but they are kids and we weren't that successful.

Not a bad view to relax with while we were waiting for a table. Notice the two children that were told to stay off the sand wrestling on the beach......

Straight into the cocktails for Nic. This one was pretty tastey.

Next day we decided to go to Waimea Canyon (separate post to follow). On the way we pulled into the only microbrewery in all of Kauai for lunch. Top idea Nic.

We ordered lunch and set off to explore the grounds - read keep the kids occupied so that they didn't destroy the joint.

Scott found a hammock and definately didn't get much time to relax in it before the 'destroyers of peace and quiet' arrived.

After Waimea we pulled into the playground to beat all playgrounds. It was massive; Jaxon and Indi would have stayed for hours.

It didn't take Indi too long to find her favourite thing in any playground.

This is the view of the pool from our apartments balcony. You can't see it but the beach is just over the fence. The pool was one of only a few that was heated on the island which was great for an evening dip.

Kauai certainly doesn't have the developed public transport of Oahu (Honolulu/Waikiki) and hiring a car was a must. We filled out the paperwork for a medium sized buggy and took all of our luggage out to the carpark. We chose a car and then tried to fit our luggage in the trunk - not a chance in hell..... Lucky it's not tourist season as they upgraded two times and we ended up driving away in a Lincoln Town Car. Flash as brutha. Everything was electric. It even remembered your preferred seat position so when the key was inserted in the ignition the seat adjusted itself. This had Scott inserting and removing the key just for stamps. Scott called it his 'Pimpin Ride' and Jaxon and Indi were happy to play the role of his little gangstas.

The view inside the apartment looking out to the balcony. We could have moved here.

Scott and Indi looking for whales. It's whale season right now in Hawaii with all the whale migrating from Alaska to Hawaii to breed and have babies. We could watch the whales spouting and occasionally breaching from our balcony. Fantastic. A great way to start or end the day.

Scott teamed up with a Canadian guy who was also staying in the villas to do 'man' things. Like drink beer and cook dinner on the bbq.

Dinner is served. We all know that cooking some sausages and a couple of pieces of steak on the bbq while drinking beer is much harder that preparing a great salad and keeping two toddlers from killing each other. Great job Daddy.

There are many things that stand out on the Pacific Islands but the flowers beat most things hands down. We saw this orchid while walking to the shops one day.

The bird of paradise. Another beauty.

Last photo for this bit. The Sprouting Horn. Nothing great but they have tourist signs so we went and saw it. The waves wash in underneath and the water 'sprouts' out. Pretty exciting......