Entries Tagged as 'yvan'

Queen’s Bath

March 16th, 2011 · 3 Comments

When we finished ziplining, we couldn’t decide what to do. Some wanted to go for a drink, some wanted to hike, some were not sure. Somehow we all decided to go to Queen’s Bath. I’d been to Queen’s Bath before, but not since my first trip to Kauai. No one else with me had ever been to Queen’s Bath. It’s a little hard to find, you have to go through a bunch of residential and a golf course.. you swear you’re not going the right way. But then there’s a small parking lot and a trail.


Hiking on the wooded trail.


Surprise waterfall on the hike.

So you go hiking down the trail. At first it’s just a path in the woods. Pass by the waterfall.


Jessica


Shannan found a crab.


Ted wasn’t sure about going into the water, but in the end could not resist!

Then there’s a spot where you have to maneuver around some rocks and there’s a warning about people dying. If you keep going, you walk on a bed of lava rock. For a long time. Like, longer than you think you should.


Ted, Kate, Stephanie and Yvan climbing down to Queen’s Bath.

But then finally, we saw Queen’s Bath (Named after Queen Emma who was the mother of Prince Albert, from whom Princeville gets its name.) Basically, it’s a tide pool that has been carved into a lava shelf. When the tide is out, the pool is filled with water (and small fish and sealife).


Swimming in Queen’s Bath.

The water is so clear you can see all the way down to your feet and beyond. It’s so much fun to swim there, and so beautiful, but you can’t let your guard down. It can be very dangerous if the surf is not calm. People have been swept out of the pool into the ocean. And the current in the ocean here is very strong.


Swimming in Queen’s Bath.

So, I can never be totally relaxed at Queen’s Bath, thinking about all of this. I got nervous any time anyone was on the ocean side of the pool.


Jeannette


Richard


Richard’s splash.


Richard, Kate, Ted, Tien


Richard

If that’s not enough, there were a bunch of locals jumping off a cliff here and some of my more daring friends decided to give it a try, much to my dismay. After the wedding, people! How many times do I have to tell you?


Shannan


Paul

Paul Baker said it was the best thing he’s ever done in his life. He did it a few times that day and then went back on another day to do it again!

We had checked the times for low tide before we went to Queen’s Bath and we were in the clear. Still, as soon as the waves started crashing a lot on the ocean-side of the pool, we got the heck out of there!

Check out this video I found online of Queen’s Bath:

Sources: HawaiiWeb, Summit Pacific.

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Zipline Dip

March 16th, 2011 · No Comments


Lunch!

After the first 8 ziplines we stopped to take a break before the final line, King Kong. Our break included lunch – chicken and vegetable wraps, Maui chips and cookies. Lunch hour was also when we got to go swimming. There was a waterfall and swimming hole right next to our lunch area. The water was kind of muddy from the rains, but we were all so hot we didn’t really care. Also, there was a small ledge we got to jump from into the water.


Jeannette

Jeannette was the first to jump in. .. like immediately! Everyone else ate then went in the water.


Cat that lives on the ranch.

There are 3 wild cats that hang out by the zipline lunch spot. Well, wild, as in they don’t have a home, but at least one of them was tame enough to let you pet and feed it. Keiki, our guide, told us that the zipline manager once tried to adopt one of them. She took the cat home, to the vet, got it shots and everything. And as soon as she opened the door the cat ran out. No one saw it for a few days and then it reappeared at the lunch spot! They figured if it was determined enough to walk several miles and return then it deserved to be left living there. Keiki said not to worry, those cats eat several times per day, every time a tour comes through people are always feeding them. I’m sure the zipline manager leaves food out, too.


Amanda jumping in.


Stephanie jumping in.


Paul Baker jumping in.

After our lunches were finished, the rest of us jumped in. The water was…. refreshing. Which is to say, very cold! But jumping off the ledge was so much fun.

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Ziplining in Princeville

March 16th, 2011 · No Comments


Jeannette & Paul on the truck driving through the ranch to the zipline area.


Cows (and Chickens!) on the ranch.


Jessica & Rachelle (The Pose)


Amanda going down the first line.


Kate


Ted


I tried to take a video while ziplining. Mostly all you see is blue sky and my hair in the wind!

Since we had so much fun ziplining with Donna and Dustin on Maui, Dallas decided early on in our vacation and wedding planning that he wanted to coordinate a zipline tour for our friends. I didn’t want another thing to plan, but Dallas was all for it, so I let him take it and run with it.


Paul & Jeannette on the suspension bridge.


Shannan. The guides told us to run across the bridge and not use our hands to hold on. It was ok til they started shaking it like crazy!.


Stephanie. The ravine was really deep and you could see straight down it between the bridge slats. Scary!

Dallas did all the research and found that Princeville Ranch Adventures would best suit our needs. We were interested in the Zip ‘N Dip Expedition which lasted 4.5 hours, included 9 ziplines, a suspension bridge, lunch and an hour at a hidden swimming hole. Dallas sent an email to all of our friends and within less than a day we had 34 friends interested, which worked out great because we could do 12 people per time slot so, including us, we’d take up 3 full time slots (out of 4) that day.


Ted


Tien


Stephanie


A short hike between lines. Richard, Amanda, Tien, Jessica, Shannan, Kate.


Jessica


Shannan

Dallas split everyone up into the following groups: Team Discovery Channel: Caroline, Tammy, Limey, Kristin, Chad, Brian, Jill, Jess G., Trent, Loden, Allison, Herm. Team Packerrific: Rachelle, Richard, Amanda, Stephanie, Paul, Kate, Tien, Shannan, Jess B., Ted, Jeannette, Yvan. Team OG Kush: Dallas, Jordan, Liz, Cousin, Ross, Matt, Adam, Christine, Brian, Sara, Todd, Kelly. So, needless to say, all of my photos are of Team Packerrific.


Paul


Richard


Jeannette


Guide Taylor showing off!

Our guides were Keiki and Taylor. Keiki was a local guy, born and raised in the Princeville area. He said he lived about ten minutes away from Princeville Ranch. Taylor was a transplant, I think. Keiki was super jokey, teased me a lot for being the bride, and also told our group about local culture. Taylor was fun, too, but more straight-laced.

Most of the people on our tour had never ziplined before. Maybe no one, except me, I think. And even though I’d done it before, I still had a few moments of panic! It’s so fun, but can be freaky too. I thought Amanda was going to have a heart attack before the first line, but by the 4th one she was running off the platforms. You can run if you’re brave, but most people just step off and let gravity do its thing.


Ted and Jessica racing down the last line, a double line called King Kong.


Richard and Amanda racing down King Kong.


King Kong is 1200 feet long, the longest line of the day.


The ladder up to King Kong is 26 feet tall.


Looking down from the King Kong platform.


Guide Keiki getting Kate locked in.


Paul and Kate racing across the King Kong line.


Paparazzi at the end of the King Kong line!

The last line is called the King Kong and it’s 1,200 feet across! This zipline actually had two lines and you were supposed to race. Most everyone in our group was coupled up so the couples all raced against each other. Leftover was me and my niece Stephanie, so we raced. I thought I’d beat her for sure, just because I weigh more, but when the guide said “1, 2, 3, GO!” I hesitated and Steph ran off the platform when he said go. So I lost!


Back: Ted, Jeannette, Richard, Paul, Tien, Yvan, Shannan. Front: Jessica, Kate, Rachelle, Amanda, Stephanie.


Riding in the truck back to our cars.

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Ho’Onani Birthdays

March 15th, 2011 · No Comments

That night Jeannette and Yvan flew in and Tien, Shannan, Jess G. and I decided to meet up with them for dinner. We ended up going to our old favorite, Keoki’s, where I introduced our new arrivals to the wonders of the lava flow. Jess and Jeannette loved it, of course! I had some delicious Hapu’upu’u (Hawaiian sea bass). Keoki’s is never a let down and it’s always close to where we stay. No wonder it’s a favorite.

Afterwards we went back to the house, the back house, and so many people came over. It was two of our friend’s birthdays that day – Kristin and Adam. After they went out for birthday dinners, everyone headed to our house. Plus, each day more and more people were arriving on the island and paying a visit.

As I look at the photos above it is awesome to see all of our different groups of friends all mingling together. You know, people told me that your wedding day just flies by, and it did, so it was these daily gatherings that made the trip and the stress and planning well worth it. Just the fact that we got to hang out with all of our friends in Hawaii every day for weeks was awesome.

One more funny photo. As you walked up to either of the houses, you could tell how big the party was inside by how many slippers were on the lanai outside!

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Motorino

August 26th, 2010 · 2 Comments

When we saw Adam at Tien and Shannan’s wedding, we couldn’t help but ask him what his favorite pizza is these days. He is the pizza king, afterall. Without hesitation, Adam said “Motorino” so we decided to try it out for lunch on Sunday, our last day in New York.

We skipped any sort of antipasti and went straight for the Neopolitan-style pizza.


Stracciatella : basil / olive oil / sea salt


Prosciutto di parma : mozzarella / garlic / thyme / pecorino


Cherry stone clams : garlic / parsley butter / olive oil


Soppressata Piccante : mozzarella / spicy soppressata / garlic / oregano

Motorino’s pizza was really great. I loved all the flavors. I think we liked the soppressata the best, maybe followed closely by the clam pie and the prosciutto di parma. The stracciatella was good, but I didn’t realize it was a white pie when I suggested it. I wished for something more. Still pretty good though. And hot. When the first pizza came out, Dallas and Yvan took a bite, so I did too. And I burned the roof of my mouth. 3 days later I can still feel it! I didn’t notice that Yvan and Dallas did the fold so the scalding toppings were not directly touching their mouth at once. Oh well it was worth it.

The crust on Motorino’s pizza was really delicious too. We all ate all of our crusts. Usually there is someone who can’t finish their crusts, but not this time. They were that good. It was like baked bread with a nice wood-fire char. We even asked for olive oil to dip it in. So, all in all, great pizza, but here’s the catch. We were hungry so we got 4 pizzas for 4 people. Each pie is $14 – $18. That might have been the most expensive, per person, pizza dinner I ever had! But it was totally worth it to try Adam’s recommendation. Like Jeannette and Yvan said, it’s a good splurge, but not like they’ll be back there every week or something.

P.S. Dallas also tried this NY pale ale, Pork Slap. It came in a can and had this awesome label.

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