http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/ en Copyright 2009 Sun, 09 Sep 2007 02:58:56 -1100 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Despite a few delays, we made it home safe and sound tonight. My body-clock is all messed up from not doing anything but travel all day, so I'm wide awake. But I'm wearing a sarong and wrapped in a blanket, so life doesn't get much better than this. http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/home_again_home_again.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/home_again_home_again.html Travel Sun, 09 Sep 2007 02:58:56 -1100 We are all packed and ready to go. We were planning to leave by 9am. It is 7:50am, so I guess we didn't need to get up so early. Good-bye Kauai. See you in Seattle. --Matt http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/ready_to_go.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/ready_to_go.html Travel Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:48:38 -1100 Tomorrow, we fly!]]> http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/packing_it_in.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/packing_it_in.html Travel Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:27:04 -1100 There were a bunch of fish swimming around the shark. I yelled at them to RUN!!! But they didn't listen (I think either because they don't understand english, or they don't know how to run, just swim). I think the shark was asleep. I cut my arm open because I thought my blood might jazz him up a bit. When he woke up, he just gave me a funny look and said I was stupid for cutting my arm. Then I swam away. True story... really. Well the part about seeing a shark was true, and I did try to yell, but it is hard to yell underwater with a snorkel in your mouth.]]> http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/shark_attack.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/shark_attack.html In the water Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:35:19 -1100 Hmm, where should I begin? When I started walking the hill in Carkeek back in April and changing my diet to be in better shape for our trip to Hawaii (so I could keep up with Chris and Brooke), I never dreamed it would help me prepare for a 22 mile hike. There were many days I didn't want to go walk the Carkeek hill, but I always went out. Had I known what it was going to allow me to do, I think it would have been much easy to get out each day. Knowing that I can hike the Kalalau Trail in one day gives me great feeling of accomplishment. Thanks to all who encouraged me to do it. Now, some details about the hike... http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/kalalau_trail_hike_longest_hik.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/kalalau_trail_hike_longest_hik.html On the trail Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:16:46 -1100 I made it, the entire trail. Now I am going to go soak in the ocean. More to come later... http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/im_back.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/im_back.html Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:30:12 -1100 http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/week_4.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/week_4.html Travel Wed, 05 Sep 2007 08:14:13 -1100 Well, it is 5:20am and I am up and getting ready for the hike. I have to admit, yesterday morning's torrential rain had me a bit discouraged. This morning, however, is absolutely beautiful. I went outside to see what the weather was like and how cloudy the sky was. I saw very few clouds, just a very bright less than half moon and orion. I think it is a good sign of what is to come on today's hike. See you again in about 12 hours :) http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/beautiful_morning.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/beautiful_morning.html On the trail Wed, 05 Sep 2007 05:29:03 -1100 ]]> http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/coconut_hunting_tips.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/coconut_hunting_tips.html Mon, 03 Sep 2007 15:35:20 -1100 I did the Okolehao Trail one more time today. I told Danika about all the strawberry guavas the last time so she suggested this time I take a bag with and bring a few back. I brought back enough to fill a cereal bowl. We will be able to enjoy them for a few days. As good as they are, I am still missing my daily crisp, tart Granny Smith apple. The tropical fruit is pretty good here, but the two Granny Smiths have pretty much sucked. I think being able to walk across the street and go snorkeling or swim in the ocean makes up for it, but I do still miss them. At least one more hike left. I plan to rest the next two days before I try the 22 mile hike on Wednesday. My feet were pretty good again today. I have about 10-15 new small cuts from the coral during yesterday's swim. None of the cuts are that bad. One cut opened the remains of what was the blister that was my pinkie toe. Last night it looked strange, so it got a bandage and some Neosporin. Today it still looked a little strange so I took a closer look. That is actually when I noticed the coral had cut part of it open. I peeled it away and half a thimble full of sand poured out of it. That was a little strange to see. I cut away the rest of the blister before today's hike and my toe felt fine on the hike. It should be ready for Wednesday. Wish me luck for Wednesday's hike, I know I can do it, but a little extra luck won't hurt :) http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/mmm_strawberry_guavas.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/mmm_strawberry_guavas.html On the trail Sun, 02 Sep 2007 17:55:31 -1100 http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/man_overboard.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/man_overboard.html In the water Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:20:54 -1100 if we get kayaks, we'll get singles. The paddle was a little windy, but nice, and we had a good solid two-and-a-half hours on the river before we came home for lunch. It was entirely uneventful. We have the boats for the rest of the afternoon, so Matt is taking one out on the ocean by our house to ride some waves. My hips hurt from the morning, so I'm going to sit on the porch and read. [Raquel, I'm reading "Love Nun" and it is unbearably fun to read it in tropical weather!]]]> http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/single_kayaking.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/09/single_kayaking.html In the water Sat, 01 Sep 2007 14:06:13 -1100 After giving my legs (and feet) a day of rest yesterday, I thought I would try another hike this morning to see how it felt. I decided to hike the Okolehao Trail again. I got to the trail at 7:45am and started hiking. It had rained last night (it pretty much rains every night here) so the trail was pretty slick. It was a bit more challenging hike this time than last when the trail was dry, but it was still a nice hike. After hiking about 5 minutes my legs were warm and both my legs and feet felt pretty good. Last time I was on the trail there were a lot of little green fruits. They looked a little like guava, but they seemed too small and the ripe ones were red not yellow. This time I realized what they were, strawberry guavas, and they ripened quite a bit since last time, there were a lot of red ones. http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/08/back_on_the_okolehao_trail.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/08/back_on_the_okolehao_trail.html On the trail Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:40:58 -1100 http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/08/hanakoa_falls_hike.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/08/hanakoa_falls_hike.html On the trail Thu, 30 Aug 2007 10:22:52 -1100 Last Monday I got a chance to go back to Tunnels Beach to snorkel. I went fairly early in the morning so there weren't too many other people there yet. I saw a few new creatures, most of which were fish, but the coolest thing I saw was an octopus. I was on my way back in and saw something moving and scurry into a crevice. It didn't look like a fish, so I tried to investigate. I got fairly close to it but still couldn't tell for sure what it was since only part of its head was sticking out. I thought it might be an octopus and I should wait a bit to see if it would crawl out of its hiding place. I waited and waited and waited and finally decided to give up. Just as I was swimming away, bubbles started rising to the surface and I noticed there were some scuba divers below me. The place where the octopus was hiding started to bubble a bit too, so I decided to wait thinking the bubbles might get it to move. I don't know if it was the bubbles that did it, but the octopus finally crawled out of its hiding place and scurried across the reef. They sure have an interesting way of moving. I tried to get a video of it, but when I looked back after changing the settings on the camera it was gone. I also saw a small eel. I have seen a few eels one of which was pretty large. They kind of creep me out, so it was nice to see a small one. It didn't creep me out so I was able to get a couple of photos of it. Unfortunately, the underwater housing for the camera fogged up shortly after I started snorkeling, so wasn't able to get as many shots as I wanted to (at least I got the octopus), but now I have a good excuse to go back again. Follow the link to see some of the photos I did manage to get. http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/08/more_snorkeling_at_tunnels.html http://www.danika.org/kauaiblog/2007/08/more_snorkeling_at_tunnels.html In the water Thu, 30 Aug 2007 10:16:26 -1100