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Our hotel in Kauai was on the Poipu beach area. This is a view of the courtyard from the private balcony in our room.

There were wild chickens all over the courtyards at the hotel. The little bastards would crow at 4am in the morning, too.

Here is a view of the pool area. We stayed across the street from the beach side area of the hotel.

And here is a picture of one of the hotel water features.

These beautiful chandeliers are made from thousands of tiny shells harvested on the neighboring island of Niihau. Also known as the forbidden island, no visitors are allowed to the island. Jewlery made from the shells is extremely popular, and a single shell lei can fetch up to $8000.

This little guy is Sue's buddy. She chased him around for 3 days trying to get a good picture of him.

More of the gardens outside our hotel.

Here is the beach outside our hotel. Poipu beach is actually a series of smaller beaches along the coast. Together they have rated amoung the top 10 beaches in the world.

Another shot of our beach.

I usually hate going barefoot anywhere, even in my own house. So Sue found it hysterical any time I would walk bare foot on a beach. You've got to do it while you're there, right?

Compared to back home, I was constantly surprised how quiet the beaches were.

Here is a cool lava rock I found as we were walking the beach. The holes would have been made by escaping gases as the rock cooled.

And here is another nice picture of an old lava flow

Another picture of a rainbow. It was remarkable how many we saw in our time there.

On one of our bus trips we stopped to see Opaekaa Falls.

It would have been neat to hike up to one, but we never got the chance. Something to think about next time, maybe?

On the other side of the road from where we viewed the falls was a very pretty river valley.

After flying in from the big island, which was mostly lava rock, I think we were all taken by the luscious greenery of Kauai.

And of course there were the chickens. Apparently a hurricane hit Kauai in the early 1900's and scattered domestic chickens all over the island. With no natural predators, there is nothing to keep them in check.

Here I am getting back on the bus with Florence after taking more pictures of chickens than I probably needed.

Here is another canyon that we stopped off on the side of the road to see. I don't remember it's name, though.

Apparently, this is one of Steven Spielberg's favorite spots, and is a place he visits every time he comes to Hawaii.

This picture has a long story to it. The short version is that we saw this bird in Kona, and I said it looked like a cardinal. Well, Sue thought I was crazy and that it looked nothing like a cardinal except for the fact that it's head was red. Well, in Kauai, our bus driver asked if we'd seen the red headed birds around and told us that they were Brazilian Cardinals. Ha!

Here's another chicken. They never stopped cracking me up for what ever reason. Someone asked a guide why people don't eat them. He explained by giving us the recipe for cooking Hawaiian chicken. "You add it to a pot of boiling water with a lava rock. When the lava rock is tender, so is the chicken."

Here is one of the last sugar cane mills on the islands. A lot of the agriculture has left the islands because it can be produced more cheaply in Central America. They are experimenting in Kauai to convert the old sugar cane industry over to biodiesel production.

This is a coffee plantation in Kauai. The coffee in Kona, Hawaii is the #2 coffee in the world. Kauai is trying to capitalize on the industry by starting plantations here.

This is the Iao Needle in Iao Valley. Iao was the daughter of the Hawaiian Demigod Maui. The needle was thought to be her lover whom Maui turned to stone.

In 1790, this was the site of a famous battle in which King Kamehameha I defeated the Maui army during his push to unite the Hawaiian Islands.

Brave warriors would climb the needle in order to gain a high vantage point from which they could watch for approaching ships or armies.

The Maui Warriors from Kahului retreated into Iao Valley where they were so bloodily defeated that the waters of Iao Stream were choked with bodies and the area was called Kepaniwai meaning "Damming of the Waters."

Leaving the Iao Valley, we proceded to the Spouting Horn.

The Spouting Horn is an old lava tube that opens at sea level. When conditions are right, incoming waves force air and water out of a hole in the rocks like a whales blow hole.

It reminded us of the Thunder Hole in Acadia National Park.