Waimea Valley and Turtle Bay

We enjoyed Kono's so much that we went back for breakfast this morning and it was delicious. I had the breakfast burrito this time. They also had the most amazing vanilla macadamia nut coffee. We spent the entire morning at Waimea Valley. They valley has a trail that leads to a waterfall with lots of botanical gardens and trails going through the different area. The valley also had some neat archeological sites and we got to see a fishing shrine and some remains of walls that once used to hold domestic animals. Some of the animals we saw included a really brightly colored lizard, peacocks, pigeons, some songbirds, and moorhens. The moorhens were my favorite because they are indigenous and they had baby chicks. Devin and I spent a lot of time looking at all of the different garden areas. I think we both liked the hibiscus garden and the bird of paradise garden. We reached the waterfall and there was a small pool at the base of the waterfall that you could go swimming in but sadly neither Devin or I had our bathing suits. I waded a bit while Devin took pictures. I almost went swimming in my clothes but there was a cool breeze and I would have been freezing afterwords.

Deb and Jodi, my Sea Scape Motel coworkers, bought us a Turtle Bay gift certificate for our wedding we we went to the Turtle Bay resort for the evening. First, we hit the beach. They had a really nice beach and the snorkeling was really good; we saw lots of fish including my favorite, the humuhumunukunukuapua'a, which I chased around a lot trying to get a good picture. There we also a lot of spiny urchins, including one that had

died and left a big pile of spines behind. I wanted to take a picture of it but after I went and got the

camera and swam back out I couldn't find it again. After we got tired we hit one of the restaurants which had a really nice view of the ocean. Devin and I tried out a couple of their specialty beverages and had dinner. I think any tropical location should have lots and lots of

rummy drinks including bahama mamas which they didn't but the drinks they did have were still very good. There were some stray cats wandering around including the most pathetic cat I have seen in my entire life. I asked on of the waitresses about him and she said that he has been at the resort forever, his name is Alien, and he was recently found in a hole after having been missing for a while. The sunset was beautiful and it felt very much like Hawaii with the tiki torches burning, surfers on the waves, and lovely sunset over the ocean.