Board Flopping

We invented a new sport: Board Flopping (know to others as Paddle Boarding)

One thing I have really wanted to try for a while is paddle boarding.  When I mean I have wanted to try it for a while, I mean for like over a year.  When we were in Kauai for our 5 year anniversary I wanted to try it then.  Unfortunately, I made the mistake of reading an article about Bethany Hamilton getting her arm bit off by a shark near the Hanalei bay...the area I wanted to try paddle boarding.  I was a little too freaked out after that about a shark smelling the fear on me that we didn’t try it that trip.  Hey, in my defense, I have overheard people say they have seen sharks in the Hanalei bay!

Well I figured this time, if I am going to get eaten by a shark doing something fun and enjoyable then thats not a bad way to go.  However I still had my plan of attack’ ready if one was to get too friendly with me; a big pop on the nose with my paddle!

I’m sure glad I didn’t let my silly fear get the best of me this time because paddle boarding was a lot of fun.  That is, after you have practiced and got used to it for some time.  The first hour or so Ryan and I were both trying to teach ourselves how the heck to stay balanced on a board!  People make it look so easy - but let me be the first to tell you it’s not quite as easy as it looks.  My first problem was that my darn paddle didn’t work!  A kind boat tour guide so nicely tipped me off that I needed to turn my paddle around.  Hey, at least he didn’t say ‘it’s upside down’! The paddles are ‘bent’ and what seems like the natural way to pull it through the water is, indeed, backwards.

Finally after having troubles balancing on our respective boards, we decided to switch each other boards.  That was our best idea of the whole trip I think!  All of a sudden we were both like pros, surfing the big waves, doing fancy foot tricks and the crowds gathered to watch us.  Well, maybe not quite...but after that amazing switch we were both able to stay upright and standing the rest of the time.  And I’m happy to report that there were no shark sightings - just one piranha sighting.  Or so said the Hawaiian tour guide to passed us on the river.  He warned me not to fall - haha what a funny guy!  He also mentioned that our boards were quite short, like he was impressed or something.  Later we found out that we were on 10 foot boards and a beginners board is usually much longer, 11-12 feet in length.  That made our first hour of thinking ‘what the heck is wrong with us - why can other people balance but not us?!’ so much better.  We started off on non-beginner boards.

Kalalau Trail, Napali Coast

Since we’ve hiked this grueling trail before we knew what we were getting ourselves into, which helped.  It’s rated by the Sierra Club as a nine in difficulty on a scale of ten.  I’m pretty sure I rate it a solid 10, but that’s my opinion!  The elevation gain and the very rough trail make it challenging and rewarding at the same time.  Every beautiful lookout you get to is even more appreciated, especially the further you trek in.  We lucked out and had a nice cloud cover for most of the hike which made such a difference with the intense sun that beats down in Kauai.

Our hope was really to get to backpack at least one night in on the trail.  Unfortunately, we weren’t aware how many other people had the same idea and planned ahead (like you should).  The permits are very limited and sell out months and month in advance.  So unfortunately there will be no backpacking in for us on this trip.

We did about a five mile round trip trek on the trail which felt more like 10 miles due to it’s grueling nature. We spent some time at Hanakapiai Beach.  Totally worth every ounce of energy it took though.

Sunsets on the Beach

One of my new favorite activities you ask?  While sunsets on the beach, of course! I would have to say we have been very fortunate to see several breathtaking sunsets along the North Shore.  My favorite destination has been Tunnels beach and Blackpot Beach (on the Hanalei Bay).

For dinner the other night we decided to ‘eat out’, literally - eat out on the beach.  We packed the ice chest with all of the necessary fixin’s and headed down with our backpack chairs to Tunnels Beach.  We were wowed by a beautiful, romantic sunset dinner.  We then decided to stay to see the stars come out...and the weirdos come out too (this was an extra ‘perk’).  Yes, we saw the guys that was fully suited up in a scuba outfit with what looked to be a metal detector, wading his way down the shore line.  Then we had ‘mr. headlamp man’ who was camping illegally on the beach and randomly walking around picking things up and gathering random things off the beach.  The most normal activity we saw by another creature out there was Papa Crab who was taking his nightly beach stroll.  Yes, good thing Papa Crab was getting some exercise because he was rather large and round crustacean!

The stars just started to pop out into view when a large set of clouds rolled over, covering them in a blanket of gray.  It was weird how the clouds moving so fast overhead made it look as if the stars and the moon were actually moving!  Well I guess the short peep show of stars we saw just means that we will have to try again another night.

Is That Really Julia?

Julia Child, Julia Stiles...Julia Roberts? Um, well we saw one of them.  Who, might you guess?  Well I will give you a small hint - she is one of the best female actresses of our time.  I guess that was more like a dead giveaway!

We were walking back to our car from hanging out at the local Hanalei shopping hotspot (hotspot for celebrities too, I guess).  Ryan nudged me as we were almost to the car and said in a low voice to me, ‘look who that is’ in such a calm, everyday voice.  I started looking around and I blabbered (probably rather loudly to him), ‘I don’t see anything! What are you talking about?!’.  He then said to me, as calm as could be again, ‘That’s Julia Roberts right behind us’.  I did a quick headspin to see Julia walk right past me!  She was parked just one car away from us and was walking with one of her kids to the car.  I was ‘startstruck’ I guess you could say and I asked Ryan, ‘Should I go say hi?’ and he said, ‘go for it’.  I went ahead and ignored the ‘island rule of thumb’ to leave celebrities alone because I figured, when the heck am I ever going to see Julia Roberts again?!  Honestly, there are very few stars I would want to meet but she is definitely one of the few.

So walked up to her right after she put her little one in the car and said, ‘Julia???’ and she turned around.  WOW! It really is her, I thought! I then said, ‘I really love your work and I just wanted to say a quick ‘hi’...is there anyway I can get a quick picture?’.  She was so nice, she said thank you and then paused and pulled at her wet pulled back ponytail and said, ‘I would say yes to the picture by I’m not quite put together right now...but what’s your name?’ as she extended her hand to shake my hand.  I introduced myself to her and said thanks again and we went on our way.  I walked back to the car and told Ryan as if he didn’t know, ‘I just met Julia Roberts and she shook my hand!’.

Come to find out, Julia actually has a home on the North Shore of the island which makes sense because her Prius that was bumper-stickered up was clearly not a rental.  Good to know that Julia and I have the same taste in vacation destinations.  Now we just need to figure out how to get a second house here like Julia...hrmm...I’m thinking that probably won’t happen.  But hey, it’s fun to dream, right?!