Monday the 16th was a group day, meaning that we would all be spending the day together in a team building activity. So after a wonderful breakfast made up of papaya bowls and Hawaiian sweet bread, we met again as a group for another session with Brent and then we loaded up into the vans and headed off past Waimea and all the way to the Waipoo Trail where we would walk several miles to the Waipoo Falls.
The road took us up to the top of the canyon and through some really scary hairpin turns but the view from the top was definitely worth it.
We would drive farther along the rim and then after we parked the van, we would begin hiking down the trail into the canyons a bit before climbing back up the trail to the rim again. Then we would hike over to the waterfall before coming back up to the rim and then out on another trail.
The entrance at the trailhead looked harmless enough but don't be fooled. It was quite the treacherous hike and although it was cool when we started, by the time we reached the waterfall, the sun was high in the sky and it was definitely much warmer.
There were definitely some amazing views as we hiked this trail. Hawaii calls this area the "Grand Canyon" of the Islands.
As I mentioned, the trail was pretty rugged so some in our group turned back before we reached the rim but the few of us who remained stopped to take a group picture to memorialize the event.
After we took pictures at the top of the canyon, several of us continued following the trail down to a couple of waterfalls and some of the guys were able to get in the water and cool off for a bit before we made the trek back up to the rim and then followed the trail back to the van. It was a long walk for sure, but there were plenty of beautiful sights to see along the way.
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It was a bit after lunch by the time we all made it back to the van so we headed back to the town of Waimea and stopped to get lunch. Brent and Karen live in Hawaii much of the year and they highly recommended that we try the shrimp tacos so most of our group did. I have never been a big fan of shrimp in the past, but this taco didn't just put whole pieces of shrimp into a taco... they grounded it up and mixed it with a tasty sauce and it was actually really really good. And filling.
And then we left the taco truck to head just down the street to a place called "Jo Jo's Shaved Ice" where we all had shaved ice with ice cream underneath. Noel and I chose to share one that was papaya, mango, and guava. Wouldn't necessarily go with those flavors again -- or at least not the guava on top -- but it was a fun thing to try at least once in my lifetime. LOL Because "hey, we're in Hawaii".
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Back at the house later on Monday afternoon, we were making plans on what else we wanted to explore during our free time. Most of the group took showers and then sat outside by the pool to talk and to share life with each other for a while. Several of us wrote in journals or read books. There were also two birds that came to visit us throughout the week and so we all had a little fun with them.
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After we had a little time to rest, a couple of us loaded up into one of the vans and drove over to a place called the "Spouting Horn". According to the website, "Spouting Horn is one of Kauai's most iconic natural wonders, located on the sunny south shore in Poipu. This dramatic blowhole shoots seawater up to 50 feet into the air through a natural lava tube, creating a spectacular show with each crashing wave. The sound of the water rushing through the narrow opening creates a hissing or roaring noise, adding to the legend that a giant lizard once guarded this coast and was trapped beneath the lava rock".
Before dinner, we headed back down to our spot on the rocks and we all got to witness a pretty amazing sunset on that Monday night.
Dinner on Monday night was "loco moco", which was basically a beef patty on top of rice and then topped with gravy and a fried egg. And then we ended our evening with another session and we all headed off to an early bedtime around 9:00. (By this time, we were all starting to really feel the time difference as it would have been 2:00 a.m. if we had been home.)
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