Advertisement
Published: April 18th 2017
What better way to celebrate a 60th birthday than to invite some friends to join you in Hawaii to do so. That's what Michael did resulting in friends from Australia, Switzerland, USA and the UK accepting the challenge and here we all are. Kev and I flew from Sydney to Honululu on the same flight as the birthday boy himself. In Honolulu we met up with Annie, Michael, Claire and Alexander and from there we all flew to Kaua'i which is the island where the movie Jurassic Park was filmed. Advertised as the 'Garden Island' it has sculpted mountain ridges, lush rainforests and spectacular beaches together with the natural grandeur of the Waimea Canyon and the awe-inspiring scenery of the Nā Pali Coast which, at this stage we're yet to explore. By the time everyone had arrived there were about 24 of us living in four different houses in Princeville which boasts many nice houses and a few golf courses with the mountains on one side and beautiful beaches on the other.
Once settled in we spent most of our first full day at a beach on Hanalei Bay where it was lovely in the water; blissfully relaxing! We spent
the evening at a BBQ at Michael, Paul, Annette and Tracey's house just across from the tennis court and swimming pool from where we're staying together with Michael, Annie, Claire, Alexander, Luke, Andy, Caroline, Mira and Larissa. Three super chefs - Annette, Tracey & Kevin - slaved over a hot stove and the BBQ to create a delicious meal. By this time Trevor, George, Alex and Jill had arrived from the UK which was almost everyone who was expected. Needles to say, a good time was had by all.
At Saturday morning breakfast we enjoyed the view of the mountain behind our house without the clouds which seem to roll over the top most of the time. Mind that that didn't last too long; we had just enough time to take a photo. Michael, Trevor, Alex and Jill went on a helicopter trip over the island while myself, Kev, Caroline, Tracey, Annie, Michael, Clair and Alexander went off to the Hanalei Farmers Market. Close by the area where the Farmers Market was held was the Waioli Hutta Church, a gorgeous wooden church built in 1834 and with beautiful stained glass windows. While we'd been exploring the market and church
With Claire, Michael, Alexander and Annie
At Honolulu airport about to take off for Kaua'i Annette and Paul went snorkelling at Tunnel Beach and the rest of the party went every which way. But we all met back at the tennis courts for a tournament at 4pm and which was great fun. The winners of the tournament were Trevor and Alex - aka Toddy; this was despite the fact that they hadn't played tennis in years. Congratulations!
The last remaining guests had arrived by Saturday night; Luke's parents (Lisa and Peter) together with his sister Georgie from Coffs Harbour and David from New York.
Sunday morning Kev and I walked to the Hanalei Bay Resort, down the windy hilly road to the beach. Walking along the beach we soon discovered that the beach where we'd been on Friday was just further along the headland. There were plenty of deck chairs to enjoy a little rest before we walked through the St Regis Resort and back to our house. On the way we bumped into Luke, Georgie and their parents which was a pleasant surprise. Back at our house i just had time to pack my cossies into the back pack and join Tracey for a drive to Kē'ē Beach which is where the
road ends. Despite the fact that it rained, some of our party - but not me - went swimming. I just enjoyed watching and photographing all the chooks on the beach plus the seal enjoying a rest there.
We had a very scrumptious dinner at our place together with Tracey, Caroline, Andy, Mira and Larissa and were joined by most of the others afterwards - who'd been doing their own thing - before calling it a day.
Come Monday morning Kev and I walked the two miles (yes, the US hasn't joined the 21st century yet!) to the Princeville Shopping Centre where we bought some more goodies ready for tonight's birthday bash before getting a lift back with Michael and Tracey. I'm about to make an apple and blackberry crumble ready for the celebration so will get this posted before something else stops me from doing so.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.069s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 14; qc: 33; dbt: 0.0388s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
travelerpoints
John Blake
Amazing Trip!!
I hope you guys enjoyed a lot in Hawaii