Kauai has always been a dream destination for me.  My super adorable grandmother always tells me to this day about her trips their with my grandfather, and how it was her favourite place on earth. I saw a super awesome deal online, and then I touched base with my friend Meg who I met a few years ago at WPPI, who travels there a lot to see if she might be there at the same time!  Turns out, she was actually moving there and the timing was kind of perfect for a familiar face.

Kauai was better than I could  have even dreamed.  I had to pinch myself so many times, to make sure that it was actually happening, and what I was seeing and doing wasn’t a dream.  It was an adventurers WONDERLAND.  I mean, I have been incredily fortunate to travel to some epically beautiful places in this world, but I have to say that Kauai is easily the most lush and beautiful place I have been lucky enough to see.  The hikes, the ocean, the people, the food, the drives, the diverse climates, the desert, the forests, the mountains and the beaches are some of what makes this place magical.

There were just too many amazing moments from hiking the first 2 miles of the Kalalau Trail, to frolicking barefoot up the river at Hanakoa beach, to sitting on the beach and watching the sunset at Polihales,  beach parties, hot tubbing, turtle watching and seal finding, watching amazing surfers surf the scariest waves I have ever seen, to the Sleeping Giant Hike, to the drives with windows down to actually isolate a favourite moment.  The absolute SUCK in me cried when we drove to the north shore, because it was actually the most beautiful place I had ever seen.  Go ahead… make fun… I will own that I am a complete sap.

Meg is an extraordinary person, friend and photographer/mentor.  I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to run around the island exploring, drinking green juice, eating ahi, hiking, scaling ridges, laying on the beach, off roading, driving on sand, and talking endlessly about all things this crazy thing called life has presented us with. This girl is as spontaneous as they come, and reminded me how awesome life is when you don’t plan too much 😉 Girl, I am grateful for your friendship, your support, and your heart.  You are an inspiration to live each day to the fullest, and not to let obstacles block your path to get where you want to be.

I had to divide this blog into 2 posts, because I am over-sharing a ridiculous number of images, because I simply can’t choose.  If Kauai is not on your travel list, I would highly recommend getting it on there 🙂

This was just the start of Day 1… I knew it was going to be an epic trip immediately!

This guy was pretty large.  

And on my search for turtles, I stumbled upon this guy!! I swear he was flirting with me with his cute poses.
I love the dude catching a wave in the background of this photo of Meg!
This is pretty much my favourite photo of Meg that I took on the trip.  It pretty much captures her awesome spirit pretty perfectly 🙂

Thanks for the shots Meg!

I was super eager to head to the North Shore. I was so excited to see the views in real life that I had seen in photos.  I can honestly say, that photos just don’t do it justice!  

This was the first chance I saw this view on the hike. I couldn’t help but take at least 50 photos that looked more or less the same… and then continued to photograph it in changing light all the way down the trail (and then the following week when I did it again.  It was breathtaking.

The waves were MASSIVE… and SO loud.

Happy dance to make it to the river 🙂

I lovvved this view so much.

This is definitely one of my favourite sunsets of all time… hands down.  

Taking sunset photos here have set the bar pretty high for all future sunsets.  The next three photos were edited by Meg 🙂
Yep…

Check back next Tuesday for Part 2 of this post!  So many more photos of this amazing island 🙂

Happy Thursday!

xox