Labor Day Weekend

It was a fun-filled weekend with plenty of relaxation thrown in for good measure. Sunday, we spent the day at Ke'e beach on the north shore with our friends Nate and Nicole. We took the snorkel gear and the kayaks so we weren't just sitting there in the sun all day. The snorkeling was decent - nicely colored fish with good variety, but the tide was down so we couldn't get over the reef because the water was shallow. It was a good place to start, because the water there is very flat.

After we dried off some, Nate and I went out in the kayaks along the Na Pali coast. We cruised along without getting crushed by the ocean even though there were swells up to 4 feet. A short while into the trip we saw a school of dolphins, some of which were spinning out of the water. We even saw a couple babies shooting out of the water and spinning. This was followed by another school. At the closest, they came within 20 feet of our boats. The views of Na Pali were, of course, breathtaking throughout. We continued paddling fairly easily all the way to Hanakapi'ai beach where we landed the kayaks pretty easily. We rested for awhile with other people nearby who had hiked there via the Kalalau trail. As we reached the beach, waves as big as 8 feet were crashing on the shore. Thankfully, these were intermittent and we were able to launch the kayak in 2-3 ft waves. We entered the kayaks once we had swum past the breaks and then paddled our asses off against the current and the wind. It was depressing to watch the coastline barely inch by, so I pretty much just kept my mind on the paddling and preventing the kayak from capsizing. Visions of the April canoe trip with the guys to Double Island were in the front of my mind. At least if you capsize in the Pacific you don't die of hypothermia within minutes.

We made it back to the flatwater of Ke'e without any big problems (except sore arms). Not likely to do the trip that way again. Next time, we're going west the whole 11 miles and getting picked up on the west side of the island - no more paddling against the current and winds.

I was on call Labor Day, but didn't get called in - not a bad deal. However, this meant that I couldn't join in the 7 person hike on the Awa-'awapuhi trail. Em went and had a good time despite being severely sunburnt from Sunday in various patches on her body (in all fairness, I got sunburnt too, the first time since we've been here). I described some of the hike in my previous post, 7 miles and 1800 ft. of elevation - not bad for a pregnant chic! Pictures forthcoming (though Em took most of them so I can't vouch for the quality - probably lots of sky and cut-off heads - her specialty). She was worn out, but not enough to keep us home that night.

This is Nate, he's the one that kayaked with me and part of the hiking crew.

We went to Joe and Chelsae's for a Labor Day BBQ. Mike (who is a chef) had smoked ribs for 8 hours the night before and grilled some wings with an asian style sauce of his own creation. The wings were great, the ribs, smoky and oh so delicious. I even got to take some home. As most people were spent from the hike earlier in the day, we headed home at a decent hour. A good thing since Em starts work today (Tuesday).

Unfortunately, I'm on call quite a bit this week so don't I don't expect a whole lot of action in the next few days. More adventures as they arise...