The second part of our honeymoon vacation was spent in Kauai! It is such a beautiful, lush island and we enjoyed it so much…

We stayed in two different spots. First, we were in Kapaa, a town on the East side of the island with great access to the rest of the island, so we explored the East, South and West shores of the island from there over the first few days.

One of our favorite gems was on the South-East shore. We parked on the road and walked in to a small, hidden waterfall called Kipu Falls. It pours into a deep pool at the bottom and begs to be jumped. We did. Over the top of it and to the side of it from a rope swing. We loved it! Rory went first…

And I loved flinging myself out over the pool with the rope swing.
My little running feet as I descend make me laugh…

So refreshing and divine…

Another day, we explored the Waimea Canyon area on the West Shore. What a lovely drive up into the mountain, with amazing views. We explored and hiked around as much as we could in flip flops. Next time we come to Kauai, we will be prepared with hiking boots so we can venture further from the roads.
Here we are overlooking the canyon…

Later that same afternoon, we drove all the way to the most Western shore of the island before you reach the Napali Coast. We ventured out onto a long, very bumpy dirt road in our Ford, Mustang (a free upgrade!), which was very slow going since we wanted to be sure we didn’t blow a tire or an axle. But Polihale Beach was so worth it. We also learned that when we return to Kauai, we will rent a 4 wheel drive car so we can explore more off-road adventures. This beach was unbelievable. This was the closest we got to the Napali Coast. I did yoga and we basked in the sun and sand for too short a time before we had to get back in the car to drive back out the slow-going road (it took over an hour because we had to drive so slow). Gorgeous!

This picture doesn’t adequately illustrate the craziness of this road, but we liked the sign. It was very accurate…

One day we took a Kayak trip up the Wailua River, which was fabulous! Our guide was an amazing storyteller (note the word story: we’re not sure what was true and what was just his imagination, but it was fun just the same). During this adventure we hiked to Secret Falls and took a swim underneath, which was chilly and invigorating. Overall, this was a super day!

After kayaking, we headed up to the North Shore of Kauai, where we stayed for our last 2 nights. We were right near Hanalei Bay, which is a lovely area (though rich with mosquitoes). Up there we beach hopped and finally encountered a marine mammal. Rory was very excited to see this sweet little monk seal napping on the beach. It was pretty cute…

On our last night we took some champagne we were gifted by the hotel down to the beach at Hanalei Bay and toasted our wonderful trip!

And the next morning we flew home. Here’s how we felt about that…

For the entire album of photos from Kauai, click right here.

We loved our honeymoon so much and are already anxiously awaiting our return to the islands…

Thank you to everyone who helped make our trip possible!!! We are so grateful.
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