The Last Day in Kauai. The Gardens and Goodbye Beach!

The last day in Kauai was the day that kept going and going as we didn't have a flight until 10 p.m. Hawaiian time (which makes it 2 a.m. our time) and we flew and flew and hung out an an airport and flew some more until it was all of a sudden Tuesday afternoon!

On this last day we chose to visit the McBryde Garden.  It was next to the Allerton Garden where some movies were made, but you are required to have a tour guide at the Allerton Gardens, and we like to wander around as fast or slow as we want.

Derek in this building thing :-)

Me by the same building thing

This is a kind of pine tree.  It is
different than the ones we usually see.

This is towards the beginning of our walk.  There is a canoe behind Derek.
I didn't go over there because it was a lot more wet and smooshy than it looks.

This was a really interesting pokey tree (not its technical name).

This is the same tree closer up.  Derek said all of those bumps
were really sharp.  I took his word for it.

Some kind of palm tree with interesting
round things growing that might be a kind
of food, but I don't know.

Me in front of the dam

This is a philodendron.  I have a philodendron house plant but the leaves
do not get anywhere near this big!  I wonder if it is just because my house
isn't very much like a jungle -- or if it's a slightly different variety.
Mine really looks the same, just smaller.

Beautiful parasites.  All throughout the garden there would be flowering vines,
or weird flowering fungus growing on trees.  They look pretty, but I do not
know if they are really good for the trees!

Derek had me take a picture of him while he tried to make a grumpy
face to text to the kids.  I forget why.  He was disappointed because
when you look closely you can tell that he is amused, not really
grumpy.

Pretty flowers!

More beautiful parasites.
The leaves on the tree are
up higher and very different.

Jungle.

A kind of fuzzy looking tree.

Derek by some very large Jack Fruit

Cool vines!

I don't know.
I just took a picture :-)

Me trying to imitate the signs they had everywhere showing
how we might fall.  Naturally, after trying to pose I lost my balance
and fell -- but only a little.

Back to the cool vines.

This is one of the top three tourist attractions in Kauai according
to the bus driver who took us to the gardens.  It's called the "Spouting Horn blowhole,
and spouts higher than this sometimes.

This is right by the blowhole and I was so happy to see dolphins here!
They were swimming by the second point a lot even though we were
told they can usually be found by shallow beaches.  The person next
to me was trying to get pictures of the dolphin but we only ever saw a
fin or two really, and so I doubt they got much!

We climbed some stairs and found a Japanese graveyard at the top.
Since Connor got home from Japan recently we asked if he could
tell us what the gravestones said, but he said they were old kanji and
while he had a vague idea what they meant, he could really tell us.

This is at the bottom of the stairs we took.

This is what the sign to the right of Derek in the picture above says.

In the evening we sat by a beach.  I was trying to get a picture that showed how high the waves were,
but you can't really tell.  They were probably at least as tall as me where right before getting
to the beach.

Trying again.

Goodbye Hawaii!

Another picture because the sky changed colors.

After our long flight, and getting back to a really big rainstorm in SLC
and then driving to Payson, we got home to a dog that was very happy to see us.

It was a really great trip.  It is also great to be home.