We knew that we wanted to pick one island to stay on for a longer period to take some relaxation time without feeling like we were running out of time to see everything that island had to offer. We picked Kauai as that destination. We had heard that it was the most lush of the islands with prices that were a little cheaper than the other islands. We stayed at the Kauai Beach Resort. It was exactly what we wanted. It had 4 pools with waterfalls, 2 jaccuzis, beach access, a restaurant (with happy hour), gym, spa and a bar with nightly live bands. We loved it. We were there for a total of 10 nights.


Usually we went sightseeing one day and took the next day to relax. One of the things we did was take a kayak with a guide on the Wailua River to visit “Secret Falls”. We loved kayaking, it was something we would definitely do again. I have to admit it took us a bit to get our stride going. I know both of us were thinking if we can’t work together on this kayak, the next 19 months are going to be tough. We had to learn how to work together. After accusing Ofer a few times of deliberately trying to steer us into the bushes we started to get the hang of things. I don’t know what this says about my skills but it seemed like we went faster and straighter when I wasn’t rowing. My bad.





We docked our boats and took a hike a mile or so to the falls. It was clear to us that the ‘secret’ about “Secret Falls” is that everyone on the island knows about it. We were there with probably about 30 other people and their guides; this was easily the most inhabited waterfall we had been to so far in Hawaii. Of course Ofer swam to the waterfall and sat under it. This one was 140 feet into shallow water so jumping off of it wasn’t an option. The walk to and from the waterfall was incredible. Our guide showed us how the rivers and streams had been diverted in different directions to reduce or increase water flow for the ancient Hawaiian’s needs. They created fresh water baths for their kings and queens and directed specific amounts water over certain crops to keep their hydration regulated.


The area that we were walking in was just east of the wettest area in the world called Mount Waiʻaleʻale. Our guide told us stories of flash floods that have traveled through the areas we were walking in. Large trees had been uprooted and broken in half. It was incredible to imagine the kind of power the water must had had. We could see staining on the rocks showing different water levels at different times. Our Hawaiian trip has certainly given us an appreciation for the power of water.

Another thing about Kauai is that there are chickens and roosters everywhere! They were at our hotel, on the side of the road, by the waterfalls even at the tops of the cliffs overlooking canyons. Seeing chickens everywhere really brought me back to my childhood days when we would raise chicks into chickens in our backyard. I chased them, learned the best way to catch them and took them on the swing with me. Yep, I was that kid. I also do an incredible chicken imitation; ask Ofer and my parents, its true. Ofer got to see a lot of that in Kauai; I was lucky he gave me the ring before he saw my version of a deranged one-eye chicken with a bad leg. Classy.



We also had a lot of downtime in Kauai. I spent a lot of that time doing research on wedding planning. But we also lay by the pool, watched soccer, went swimming, had Mai Tais and listened to the live bands in the bar. One night we had a mini photo shoot in our room before going out for dinner. Ofer had been growing a beard since the start of the trip and was increasingly reminding me of a Neanderthal. He decided to shave it and of course documented the moment. The goatee was pretty good; I was surprised I like it. The mustache was the scariest thing I had ever seen, he looked like a mix between Luigi from Super Mario Bros and a serial rapist. I refused to kiss him before he shaved.



One of our last days in Kauai we drove to another waterfalls that we had heard about. Ofer decided that because he had swam in so many waterfalls on this trip that he didn’t need to swim in this one too so he didn’t bring his suit. It was the twin falls from the show “Fantasy Island”. It was the most powerful waterfall we could be that close to. We stood up by the road and were about to go back to the car when we overheard someone point out that there were people in the water below. We looked over the edge and saw tiny little people hundreds of feet below us walking into the water. Ofer had to do it despite not having a suit. I was nervous letting him go by himself but we had heard that the path down was steep and I didn’t trust the shoes I had on for that kind of a hike. Someone told me that I looked like I was in labor passing back and forth waiting for Ofer to appear down below. Then someone else walked by and asked me if I had seen that there was a guy swimming in the water. I told him, that the guy swimming was most likely mine. And sure enough, it was. Ofer had safely made it down and was among the other tiny specs swimming in the water and waving his arms at me. He stayed down there for a least an hour and took some incredible pictures and videos.