Honeymoon in Paradise

We spent close to two wonderful weeks in Hawaii for our honeymoon and had an unforgettable time away on our first vacation together. We were on Kaua'i for 7 nights, Maui for 3 nights and O'ahu for 2 nights. We loved Kaua'i the best with Maui coming in at a close second, and O'ahu was also fun and something we are glad to have seen, especially Pearl Harbor.

After a l-o-n-g flight from Philadelphia, we were so glad to arrive in that utopia known as Princeville, Kaua'i and to know that we would be staying there for the first week of our trip. What a beautiful place! The landscape and seascape were close to perfect and were so completely relaxing. If it weren't for having to upload our digital photos to Andrew's laptop every night - since the memory cards weren't nearly as large five years ago as they are today -- we would have felt completely removed from "the real world."

Here's a picture of us when we first arrived at our condo in Kaua'i after traveling for about 13 hours. Tired doesn't even do justice to how we were feeling but the excitement of being in Hawaii on our honeymoon seemed to keep us going. The flower leis are remnants from the tradition of being "lei-ed" at the Honolulu airport whenever a tourist arrives. Talk about a warm welcome!

Two words come to mind when I look at these photos - young and thin! I had just turned 23 a month earlier and Andrew would be 24 in about two months.

Here's a photo of the beautiful pool area at the Bali Hai Villas, where we stayed. I think I could have sat by the pool for the entire two weeks if I had been given the option.

We golfed one day at the Kaua'i Lagoons Kiele course at the Marriott Hotel on the island. It was my first (and last!) offical round of 18 holes. Even with "fudging" my score a bit, I am probably the worst player the Marriott has ever seen! But, in keeping my glass half full, I will atest to thoroughly enjoying the scenery, LOVING riding the golf cart to the halfway house for lunch and being completely picture happy with our new digital camera! Here are a few photos of the course and of us in action on the course. Wow, I really do look like a serious golfer, don't I? Hee hee...

We did some really neat things while on the island - a catamaran cruise around the Na Pali coast, a hike to the Waimea Canyon, a helicopter ride around the entire island, and an off-road tour to show us the landmarks where some of the many movies that have been filmed on Hawaii were shot.

A picture from the Weimea Canyon:

Some photos from our Ohana Helicopter tour. Andrew and I were selected to sit up front with Nick the Pilot so there is one of me strapping myself into the cockpit. What a wild experience, especially for lil' ole undaring me! The last photo is a shot of the Na Pali coast from the air. We loved the catamaran tour we took around the coastline, but none of the photos we took on that trip could beat this aerial shot.

Finally, just one picture from the movie tour that we took. We saw where various films such as Outbreak, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Fantasy Island, and South Pacific were filmed. Here we are in front of the famous Jurassic Park gate.

After a spectacular week in Kaua'i we took a short flight to Maui and spent three wonderful days there. We did a beautiful scenic roadtrip called The Road to Hana, which was probably the highlight of our time on this island. We loved it!! Thankfully neither of us are prone to motion sickness since it is about a 90 mile drive on a long, winding, single-lane road with various attractions along the way. The scenery was out of this world. Of course since we knew we'd be doing this long drive, we had to upgrade our rental car to a Sebring convertible!

Here are some of our favorite photos from the Road to Hana:

One of the stops along the way was a black sand beach. Literally. It was formed by lava rock sand and was such a neat sight against the clear blue water.

At the end of the road was the piece de resistance, the Seven Sacred Pools of O'heo Gulch. This is literally a seven part waterfall with water deep enough to swim in (but cold enough to keep you in for only a few minutes!). People were jumping off of the cliffs from one pool into the next and if the water were not so cold, I fear that Andrew may have been one of them!