We had a fabulous trip to Kauai from 31st July to 6th August - really not long enough for me.

For us it was a family reunion with 2 families from Australia and sister in law's family who now lives in New Hampshire. There were 11 of us altogether - 5 adults and 6 kids aged 9 to 17. We were a large noisy group.!!

It really looked like we were not meant to go on this trip. 10 days before departure date my mother-in-law had a nasty accident and ended up in hospital with 20 stitches in her head. Then a week before leaving ,my father-in-law had a heart attack and ended up in hospital. To top it all off 2 days before we were due to go our gorgeous little dog was knocked down by a car and killed instantly. It was devasating and my husband seriously thought about calling the trip off. Thankfully we all decided to go - we had been planning so long and looking forward to the trip so much.

After a 10 hour flight (with Jetstar) from Sydney we arrived in Honolulu but our troubles were not over. My 14 year old niece had been complaining of stomach pain and when we finally reached the immigration area to get our fingerprints and photos done she fainted! She was out cold. You know how serious and scary looking those customs officials are but I must say they were wonderful looking after my niece and getting medics to check her out and making sure she was ok. (They diagnosed low blood sugar and she had recovered by the next day) All of the staff at the airport were extremely helpful and went out of their way to make sure all of us made our connecting flight to Lihue.

When we finally arrived in Kauai I let out a sigh of relief. I was so happy to finally be there. And it was warm - we had come from winter in Australia.

Our New Hampshire cousins had arrived several days before us and had stayed on the north shore which they really enjoyed. (Bali High Villas). We hadn't seen them for about 3 years so we had lots of catching up to do.

Our first 2 nights we spent at Outrigger Waipouli Beach Resort and Spa. It was close to Lihue airport and a very central location to base ourselves for exploring the island. But as my 10 year old nephew said "It doesn't feel as Hawaiian" as other parts of the island.

The Outrigger Waipouli was a lovely resort. The 2 bedroom condos were spacious and beautifully appointed. Really comfy beds and gorgeous kitchen.

We were on a budget so we opted for the mountain view rooms which do look out over the shopping centre across the road. For us it didn't matter. If you look beyond the buildings those beautiful mountains are there in the background. Our Australian kids really liked going to Safeway because it is different to our Aussie supermarkets. It was really convenient for buying snacks and drinks.

We all loved the pool and the grounds. The best thing of all was on our first afternoon there we walked down to the beach right in front of the resort and there were 2 monk seals on the sand!! I was so excited. I had hoped to see a seal on our visit to Kauai but seeing 2 on our first day just blew me away!! That piece of beach in front of the Outrigger Waipouli must be a favourite spot for the seals because they were there everyday. How lucky were we??!!!

I warned you this was long.

I'll take a break and write more later.

Kristie