The delay in putting this post together is because my camera died. More about that event later in the post but I've been trying various things to get it working again, and have finally resorted to putting the memory card into another camera to download the pictures.
As I was trying to get the least expensive flights, I booked us on Allegiant Air into Honolulu (and yes a week later Alaska Air dropped their fares). I've always avoided the Waikiki area but decided it was time to check it out. I found a good rate on a hotel at the southern end of the beach area.
This is the view from our room, great balcony except it was closed because of the construction going on at the hotel. But we could look out the window and see Diamond Head and the ocean.
Right across the street was the Honolulu zoo, which we explored. We also drove down to Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve and did some snorkeling . Before we left to fly to Kauai we got to stroll through a craft fair in the park next to our hotel.
Down the road from the condo we stayed at in Princeville, is the St. Regis Hotel, this is their beach. The hotel sits on a hill and there is a public access walkway and stairs to the beach, which is a pretty good hike. So after we checked out the beach we decided to go through the hotel (which allowed us to take elevators) to get back to our car.
Kauai is called the Garden Isle, and there are several botanical gardens. Even though it is warm, it is still winter and I was disappointed that most of the flowers weren't blooming, here are a few exceptions.
Rainbow Eucalyptus
We toured the Limahuli Gardens which have a lot of historical information on early Hawaiian settlers who created these terraces to grow their crops.
There are roosters and chickens everywhere. Dave took this picture of one that was strolling around us when we were at Poipu Beach.
The biggest adventure of our trip was a zip line tour at
Princeville Ranch Adventures. We signed up for the Zip and Dip trip, but got the Zip and Drip instead, it started pouring rain as we waited to do our first zip line. The rain occasionally lightened up to a steady drip and with occasional breaks, but for the whole tour of 9 zip lines it rained. It was a bit distracting, but I didn't start to get cold until near the end. I had my camera in my backpack and didn't think of it getting wet as the water soaked through, but when we tried to take a picture it wouldn't work, so there is no documentation of this part of the adventure.
