The Garden Isle

Kauai is known as the Garden Isle and also contains the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." In other words, we were never short of anything beautiful to look at. The North Shore, where we were staying, is lush and beautifully green. We have never been to the Grand Canyon, but this canyon was incredible. I'll list below some of the landscapes we were blessed to take in.

1. Waimea Canyon - the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific"
We drove to the top of the canyon one day and must have stopped at least half a dozen times on the way up to take pictures. What was awaiting us at the very top was stunning as one side looked down to the ocean and the other side back into the canyon. One of my best friends in Korea, Nikki, became a Christian just a few years ago. One time I asked her what it was like to see beautiful places and not know Christ. She told me that it was just beauty. That's it. No more to it than that. I am struck by how much I feel God's presence and majesty in these places. To think that He created such beauty, yet He cares about me!? This canyon is one of those places that filled us with a deeper sense of God's glory.

2. Opaeka Falls and Wailua Falls
Who doesn't love waterfalls? Unfortunately we didn't get up close to either of these, but they were still beautiful. We must have seen 20+ waterfalls on our helicopter ride as well. WOW.

Wailua Falls

Opaeka Falls

 

3. Queen's Bath
This is a natural pool formed by lava rocks and the ocean. It was a steep, muddy walk down, but pretty cool. We were advised to not swim here during the winter but other people were swimming.

4. Fern Grotto
We went on a tour down the Wailua River to the Fern Grotto - it was beautiful and lush.

5. Spouting Horn
This is a blowhole that occurs from water rushing under the lava rocks on the coast. The tide was out when we were there, so it wasn't spraying as high as during high tide, but it was pretty cool. We could hear the wind whip under the rocks when the water receded.

Amos 4:13
For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
    and declares to man what is his thought,
who makes the morning darkness,
    and treads on the heights of the earth—
    the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

If Grace Is an Ocean We're All Sinking

We visited many beaches on the island and saw some breathtaking coastlines. The water was cool but not too cold, and we had a blast snorkeling and/or body boarding. I never get tired of looking out to the sea.

At Tunnels Beach - the beach where Bethany Hamilton got attacked by a shark

Justin body boarding at Hanalei Beach

the pier at Hanalei

 

Watching the rain - yes, there was a rainbow!

One day before Tim and Lissel arrived we rented four bikes and rode on a 5 mile bike path that went along the coast. It was one our favorite activities the entire trip. I don't think we would have seen those views without biking along there.

 

Hawaiian Shave Ice is the BEST

Psalm 93:4
Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
    mightier than the waves of the sea,
    the Lord on high is mighty!

The Sky Above Proclaims His Handiwork

We are pretty used to a beautiful blue sky in Busan, but the blue skies in Kauai showed us part of God’s creation we haven’t experienced before. The first morning we were there, I woke up to my Mom yelling my name and telling me to come outside. I was anticipating there being whales in the ocean, but instead I walked out to a complete double rainbow of which one end “touched” the ocean. I have never seen anything like it. What we thought was so unique, though, ended up being an everyday occurrence for us, although not always quite as grand. While we were never in any fear of floods, it was still a reminder of God’s promise to Noah that He would never flood the earth again.

We also saw God’s beauty in the sky through sunrises and sunsets. I, not surprisingly, saw fewer of the sunrises, but my parents say they were all beautiful.

Sunrise

Sunset

 

Sunset on Christmas

Sunset on Christmas

 

Another way in which we got to experience the sky in Hawaii was through a helicopter ride. Only 20% of Kauai is accessible by car, and the road doesn’t even go all the way around the island due to a canyon. Since we didn’t want to do the 11 mile one-way hike to see the other coast, we opted for the helicopter and were in total amazement for an hour as we saw countless waterfalls, beautiful cliffs, the coast, and even a rainbow.

Right after our ride

Na Pali Coast

Waimea Canyon

Tim and Lissel

Dad and Justin enjoying the view

 

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. ~Psalm 19:1
 

I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ~Genesis 9:13

Animals in Hawaii

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking here. We saw some incredible animals in Kauai - whales, turtles, fish, and birds. And then there were the chickens. Who knew Kauai was FULL of loose chickens?? Not us!

Nene's - a type of goose that only lives in Hawaii

Coolest fish we saw while snorkeling

Gecko that I spotted while we were talking

One of many roosters

Chicken family in the parking lot

Sea turtles!

Red Crested Cardinal. We saw these birds a lot too - they were really pretty!

 

Watch until the end to see a whale!

So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ~Genesis 1:21

More Fun in Hawaii

This post is to fill in some of the activities that didn't fit with the others.

It was sometimes hard to remember that it was winter while in the tropics. Justin had never spent a Christmas in a warm climate, and while I have a few times, it is still a bit odd to me as well. Waking up to the sound of the surf is a pretty nice Christmas present though, don't you think?

When I was younger, especially, my family would make doughnuts for Santa instead of cookies, and that is something I have always loved to do. This year, though, Justin and I brought a Korean treat to make for Christmas Eve. We made Hoddeok which is a popular Korean street-food snack that is like a doughnut with cinnamon and nuts inside. It was a hit and maybe a new tradition?

Christmas morning we read Luke 2, opened presents, and got to Skype with my Grandma and her husband, Tim. We always read Luke 2 on Christmas morning in my family, but I have been struck this year by the fact that the Gospel story does not begin with the birth of Christ. It started at the beginning. Creation. This Christmas we got to see more of God's creation through Hawaii. What a precious gift we got to enjoy - along with celebrating the birth of the Messiah. We spent the afternoon on a beautiful beach and the evening eating juicy steaks.

Steaks for dinner on Christmas Day.

Most of you know I love sports. What you may not know is that sports are one of the things I miss most from the States. So while some of you may think it was a waste of time to watch both a Taylor basketball game and a Colts game while in Hawaii, it was a blessing to me!

We had the TUBB game loaded on 3 computers so we could all see and hear.

Another thing my family loves to do is play Mini Golf. I think all of us would say that we have never played a course like this one before, though. Not one of us got a single hole-in-one! It was HARD but so fun!

I almost got a hole-in-one on this hole.