Waimea Canyon and exploring

Beaches aren't all that Hawaii has to offer! Only something like 10 percent of Kauai is accessible via road... the interior of the island is largely uninhabited and there's a huge canyon, often referred to as the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. It starts about 4,000 feet up and goes down dizzyingly far.

There are many, many hiking trails and we consulted a couple maps and guidebooks (and the visitor's center) to figure out which one to take. I was pretty active pre-pregnancy, so I figured I could handle something moderate. And really, it wasn't bad. But I do think Hawaiians have a different definition of "moderate"! It was pretty steep, but had some amazing views! Only three miles, the rocky terrain took us a couple hours. I was wiped by the end! And in my workout clothes, my bump was pretty apparent. I think I got a few looks from other hikers... looking at the bump than up at me with an expression like "seriously?! you thought this was a good idea?" Yes! I do. And it was fun.

View from the lookout before we started... we had no idea, haha.

The start of the Napali Coast

Hans is ready to go!

No, I'm not sunburned. This is what happens to my face when I workout.

This was the waterfall we hiked to... it was kinda puny. We heard from other hikers that many waterfalls were dry. Sad!

We enjoyed a nice little picnic lunch here, though.

More beach exploring - this is Salt Pond beach. it has some neat rock formations, but it also has a lot of homeless dudes...

Hannapepe swinging bridge... i did NOT go out there.

Hans was really into the panoramic feature on his phone... we have several of these :) this is Shipwreck Beach... that cliff over there on the left is supposedly where crazy dudes jump off, but we didn't see any.

One day we explored the North end of the island... this is Tunnels Beach. Hans couldn't get over how crazy it is that you have these giant, lush mountains right next to the beach.

Spouting Horn... a neat little natural blow hole right by our condo.

Old Kaloa town had the quirkiest little statues...

Thanks to the Powells, we tried out this delicious pizza place. One of the best meals we had on the island!