Island images, part I

Ok, so things happened; life came between me and my grand plans of Hawaii blogging. Instead of detailed descriptions of my various doings - some of them among the craziest, most unexpected adventures I've ever experienced, involving hitchhiking and blind trust in "eccentric" strangers - a number of snapshots will have to do.

(Sorry about that.)

Anyway. The view from my hotel room was quite acceptable.

Ocean. Lots of it.

Each morning started with a 10-km run along this scenic beach walk.

The weather was ever-changing, but the wind was always warm. Rain would fall in the distance, but stayed away from where I was.

My snorkeling cove. The waves were big, but it was well worth some cuts and bruises to experience the incredible underwater diversity. Sea turtles, moorish idols, triggerfish, trunkfish and various kinds of surgeon- and butterflyfish kept me company this sunny afternoon.

Dinner cruise on a katamaran; the objective was to see the Na Pali coast, but due to stormy weather we had to stay on the south end of the island. A joint effort from hundreds of spinner dolphins and several groups of humpback whales made the evening more memorable than I could have dreamed of. Also, I got wine.

Splish splash!

Quite the rainbow.

These whale watching photos are about as good as they get with my camera, but I can assure you that the sight of those fins and massive bodies made my heart skip more than one beat.

Distant sunset sailor.

Next: more ocean, more scenic views and more animals (some chicken, at least). But first, a tip: if you ever go to Kauai, make sure to stop in for breakfast at Beachwalk Restaurant & Grill in Kapaa. I highly doubt that I will ever have fluffy flapjacks like their dreamy banana-macadamia nut pancakes again... Too good to even photograph.