When we woke up on Sunday the 15th, we were all asked to meet together at 7:00 a.m. and then we would all walk down to the rocks together before heading over to the Hyatt for breakfast and the sunrise. It was really windy down at the rocks, but the sun was just starting to come up and since it was really windy that morning, the waves were powerfully crashing up on the rocks.
After a few minutes we needed to keep walking so we headed about a mile and half down a dirt path that ran along the shore until we arrived at the Hyatt. Once we got there, we could visit the Starbucks or just sit outside and watch the sunrise.
Our group had our first marriage session of the week and then we would all have the rest of the afternoon to spend time alone or with other couples. Noel and I chose to do a little of both as we looked around the hotel lobby and gift shops and then ventured out to explore Shipwreck Beach with some of the other couples.
There were several macaws staying in this open air lobby.
And then we also enjoyed watching all of the fish in the Koi pond.
After spending a little while at the Hyatt and seeing what amenities they offered all of their guests, Noel and I started walking down the beach and we met up with some of our friends and we all probably spent about two hours exploring the area of Shipwreck Beach. It remained really windy (which did wonders for all of our hair) and then it even started to rain for a little while. (But at least we're in Hawaii, right?) LOL
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We all went back home to grab some sandwiches for lunch and then Noel and I took two of the e-bikes and headed on a bike ride. I had never ridden an e-bike before so Noel wanted me to try it out to see if it's something that I would ever want to own. I have to admit, it was nice getting to ride 17 mph and hardly having to pedal. We rode around the house for a while and then took the road down to the beach and a few of the other resorts. On our way back past the beach, Noel saw a man loading up several packs on his bike so he stopped to talk to him and to ask him what his story was. We spent the next ten or fifteen minutes talking to Mario about his bike trips back and forth across the United States. He said that when he retired a couple of years ago, he was very cynical about people and he had a hard time believing that the world was kind, so he set up on a mission to find out whether people are generally kind - or not. He rides to a lot of different locations and along the way, he will strike up conversations with random people and ask them if they believe that the world is generally kind or unkind. He was a very friendly man with an interesting story to tell...and he even interviewed us for his instagram page, so maybe we will show up some day talking about our thoughts on kindness. He thanked us for stopping by to talk and said that it was because of people like us who have changed his mind in recent years and now he believes that most of the world is indeed kind, if given the chance.
Here was Mario's home for the weekend, but since it was raining, he was packing up and getting ready to move on. Eventually he was hoping to make his way over to Japan.
Before we left Mario, he suggested that we find the Hopa Trail and ride it over to the next town over which was about three miles away via the trail. We thanked him and then headed off. We were able to find the trail right where he said it would be but unfortunately, it really started raining so we decided to turn around and head back to the house. We could try to ride it again once the skies cleared up.
This is us at the beginning of the trail when it was clear, dry, and windy.
And then just minutes later the clouds moved in and the rain started
This is how much of the Hopa Trail was. It was grassy and it became more and more secluded as we left our area. It's a popular trail to see goats and roosters walking along with you.
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Some of the others were playing cards when we got back, so after a quick shower, I joined them and learned a new game called "Flip Seven". And since we still had an hour or two before dinner, we decided to split up into a couple of vans and ride down to the beach again to see the turtles that were nesting up on the beach. They are called "Basking Hawaiian Sea Turtles" and this area of the beach is covered all through the day and night with turtles as they come up to the shore to rest and to bask in the sun. I think we counted 25-30 turtles every time we visited them.
The lifeguards did a really good job of trying to keep the swimmers away from the turtles, but every now and again, you would look down in the water and see one just making their way past your feet.
This was also a popular place for the Monk Seals to rest and we saw several of them throughout the week as well.
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We finished out our day watching the sunset on the rocks before heading back to the house to eat Poke Bowls with rice and roasted vegetables. The Poke is different types of raw fish (which I was tentative about eating) so I only put a couple of pieces in with my rice, but it was actually quite good if you could get past the texture. There were also Purple Sweet Potatoes, which had amazing flavor!!
Good Night Kauai. It was a great first full day on the Island!
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