I am happy to report that Tom did not participate in Movember this year, and he has also NOT been growing a crazy beard like he did last year. However, 11 members of my team at work DID participate in Movember. At the time of this blog, they have raised $4820, and are ranked as the 335th team in the nation (too bad I don't know how many teams there are in the nation). Still, pretty awesome, and their fundraising total will continue to climb as our company does charity gift matching for donations over $25.
My contributions to the wrap-up this afternoon were the delightful moustache cupcakes featured above. They were gobbled up by one and all in no time flat.
Congrats to all those who participated in this great cause!
For more information about Movember, you can check it out here: https://ca.movember.com/?home
The remaining days of our vacation passed quickly and quietly. Although the last few days were more overcast and rainy, we still caught snatches of sunshine, and it was consistently warm.
We saw sunsets...
And rainbows.
We snorkeled off seemingly empty beaches.
And used a series of ropes and stairs to get down to hidden beaches.
We went out to the Kileau Lighthouse and wildlife preserve to check out the many different species of birds that nest on the jagged cliffs.
The wildlife preserve is overrun with Nene, the state bird of Hawaii. Nene appear to be very similar to Canadian geese-- just a little less hostile. We saw some toddlers getting pretty close to some of the birds, and we were sure that if anyone had gotten that close to a Canadian goose, they would find themselves being chased by a hissing, angry bird.
We ate breakfast on our balcony each morning.
And made use of the waterslides at the condo/hotel pool.
And we took in whatever remaining sights we could fit in. Including waterfalls and taro fields.
And we only saw a few creepy spiders.
Nothing beats Hawaii. I anticipate it is going to be a long time before Tom and I have another holiday like this one, and I think we did all we could to enjoy it.
As you may or may not be aware, Tom and I did not get in our annual backpacking hike this summer. This is mainly due to the fact that we knew we were going to try to start a family, and we weren't sure what stage we would be at by the time summer rolled around. We did get in a few minor hikes, but we were both looking forward to doing some additional hiking during our trip to Kauai.
The Kalalau trail is an 18km (11 mile) hiking trail from Ke'e Beach to Kalalau Beach on the North shore (Na Pali coast) of Kauai. It is known for its sweeping vistas and breathtaking views. Interestingly, it is also known to be very strenuous, and has been called one of the top 20 most dangerous hikes in the US. On a beautiful day like when we hiked, there wasn't too much to worry about, but the main danger comes from intense rains at higher elevation which flow down from the mountains and make normally tepid looking streams into rushing torrents. Flash flooding can occur, and there have been many incidents when hikers become stranded by impassable streams, and have to be airlifted out. Most notably, in April 2014, 121 hikers had to be airlifted out over a two day period because of impassable streams. Hikers have died trying to cross flash flooding streams-- and apparently in December 2012, a woman was thrown from a cliff! After a four-day search, the perpetrator was apprehended and faced second-degree murder charges. Who knew a hiking trail could be so exciting?
But for us, the Kalalau Trail was dry and tame. It was warm and sunny-- we basically couldn't have asked for better hiking conditions. Tom and I only tackled the first 2 miles of the trail to Hanakapiai Beach (4 miles round trip).
View of Ke'e Beach.
Me and Pom on the trail.
The trail was BUSY. There must have been hundreds of other hikers out on the trail. Some were day-trippers like us, but there were quite a few who were tackling the whole trail with their big backpacks. Every few minutes you had to pause to allow someone to pass on the trail, so it was slow going. This was fine with me, considering I am nowhere near as agile as I was 6 months ago! At one point, a woman asked me, "Are you hiking for two?" I misunderstood her, and told her I was hiking with Tom. It wasn't until a few hundred meters later that I realized what she was actually asking. Whoops!
Na Pali Coast views.
Dire warnings.
The trail was for the most part, very dry. There were only a couple sections that were slick and muddy from little streams spilling out onto the trail. We did witness some people drinking from one of these streams (such a bad idea-- waterborn illess, people!), and we also witnessed a couple asking a lifeguard at the trailhead where they could buy water from because they "forgot" to bring some. If you plan to go hiking in 27 degree heat, and you "forget" to bring water... You're an idiot. Consider yourself judged.
Hanakapiai Beach.
Tom and I arrived at Hanakapiai Beach just after 1pm. We settled in to have our lunch, chickpea and hummus wraps, and enjoy the view. There were many people who had the same idea as us, and there was even one man who decided to ignore the signs and go in the water. He didn't go in deep, or try to swim, but still! 83+ people have died at this particular beach!
We also got eyed by this tiny, mangy cougar-- aka, feral cat. He wasn't too interested in getting to close to anyone, but he was checking everyone out. There was also a second black cat who stopped to beg for food. I have no idea how they ended up so far out on the trail. And there were, of course, chickens and roosters everywhere too (just like everywhere else on the island).
Mangy cat-friend.
The whole hike took us about 4 hours round-trip (with a healthy stay at the beach in between). Tom would have liked for us to tackle an extra 2 miles of the trail to get to a waterfall, but I think the 13km trip would have been too much for me at this point. As it was, the whole way back, Pom (again, the pomegranate sized baby), seemed to be sitting on my bladder for most of the hike. I imagine it was like a delightful waterbed for her to relax on!
Pom is giving me some good kicks right now. I think we're done with blogging, and moving on to breakfast! A breakfast that includes ALL THE FRESH FRUIT we bought at the farmers market. Nom.
Although this is my fourth time in Hawaii, somehow I always manage to forget just how warm and humid it is. As I pack, I find it impossible to imagine that I'm going somewhere where I won't want to wear socks, and there is no point in having a long-sleeve shirt. I actually threw a cardigan into our bag at the last minute. You know, just in case! How much do you want to bet that piece of clothing goes untouched the entire trip?
Tom and I arrived in Kauai late on Saturday night. It was pitch dark out, 27 degrees and humid, and we navigated our car to the hotel with our windshield wipers running to get rid of the condensation on the windshield. We made it to our hotel, or rather, the condo that we rented via AirBnB at 10pm local time, or 2am home-time. Needless to say, we were exhausted.
The condo is beautiful! The kitchen is nicely appointed, the bathroom is huge, and there is glorious, glorious AV. To think we considered renting a pace without it.... This is out first time on Kauai. Previously we have always gone to Maui, but with a baby on the way, we decided we wanted to explore a new island for this holiday.
Here are something I can tell you straight off the bat about Kauai... There are chickens and roosters EVERYWHERE. Hundreds of them. Probably thousands of them! They are in parking lots, on athletic fields, at beaches, on the side of the highway... The sounds of roosters crowing at all times of the day has become a familiar sound.
The baby, currently the size of a pomegranate, and hereby referred to as Pom (at least in this post), does not like seat belts. My God, every time we get into the car and I put on my seat belt, it's like there's a tiny revolt going on in my belly-- limbs flailing in protest at the restriction of the seat belt. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not (maybe she doesn't like the band of my shorts cutting into her, or she doesn't like the position I have to sit in in the car), but Pom will let it be known that she is displeased.
What's that? Did I say, "she"?? That's right! We're expecting a girl!
Tom and I have spent the last few days beach hopping, and exploring the south and west sides of the island. The beaches here are not as nice as Maui. They are rockier, and we are both cut up with some minor scrapes and scratches from our first venture out into the water.
We stopped to see the Spouting Horn, a blowhole on the south side of the island, and the found a beach to park ourselves on and enjoy the sun.
Yesterday we drove to Waimea Canyon on the west side of the island. We drove the windy road and stopped at the many outlooks to see the wide expanse of the canyon, and waterfalls. Unfortunately, even though yesterday was supposed to be the "clearest" day here, there were too many clouds to see much of the Na' Pali coast line.
Waimea Canyon.
Waipoo Falls in Waimea Canyon
Cloud-covered Na Pali Coast.
Wai'ale'ale, one of the wettest places on earth.
After exploring the canyon, we headed further west, and happened to come upon a beach where there were dozens and dozens of people looking up at the sky. There was a weather balloon up in the sky, but some eavesdropping allowed us to glean that the Super Strypi rocket was set to launch of the Barking Sands launch site at 4:30pm. By luck, it had been delayed until 5:45pm, and Tom and I were able to witness it take off.
The rocket was carrying a selection of small satellites into orbit as part of the ORS-4 mission for the Department of Defense. Unfortunately the rocket failed about a minute after takeoff, and broke up.
One of the coolest things about the launch, which you can sort of witness for yourself in this video that someone posted on YouTube, is the time delay between the speed of light and the speed of sound. You can SEE the rocket launch, and then a few seconds later, you hear the roar of the takeoff. The power of physics, my friends!
In the photo above, you'll notice that the trail of smoke appears to have some curls in it-- this is likely because the rocket was rotating.
It's been a busy few days, and today Tom and I are going to try to take on the first 2 miles of the famous Kalalau trail. This hike is actually 11mi one way, and most people backpack/camp overnight when they take it on. We know we can't make it that far, so we'll do the first section of the trail only. It'll be slow going with my belly, but we're looking forward to it.
For those of you at home keep warm! I heard it snowed. :)
I've never really thought of myself as someone with many maternal instincts. Being pretty much the youngest in my family and extended family, and never had much interaction with babies. When I was a teenager and I would babysit kids on my block, but they were always well past the baby phase. When friends or co-workers had babies, I would avoid having to hold them. In fact, I think I was either 22 or 23 when I held my first baby, and I distinctly remember my co-worker was horrified to learn that I had never held a baby, and thrust her son into my arms. And now when I do hold babies, I feel like they can feel my anxiety and are intuitively uneasy-- they know! They know I don't know what I'm doing!
Now, that being said, I've also always known that I wanted to have a family. But when you're 20, and thinking about your future that seems oh-so-far-away, it is easy to say that you want to have kids. You don't have to think too much about what that all really MEANS.
Well, I'm not 20 anymore, and I have thought long and hard about what having a family really means. And despite the fact that I'd previously never felt too many maternal instincts, the last 18 weeks have been a pleasant surprise for me.
At first the whole thing didn't really seem real. We saw the positive sign on the pee stick, and I felt elated, but I didn't really FEEL pregnant yet. Then we got confirmation from blood tests, and I realized, there really IS something little growing inside me-- something blueberry sized!
I was lucky in my first trimester. I didn't have any nausea or morning sickness. I was tired, and occasionally a little queasy, but otherwise, very lucky. So the blueberry grew into a raspberry, and into a kumquat. At 8 weeks we had a dating ultrasound, and could see a head and amorphous blob body, and the flicker of a heartbeat. At 12 weeks, the size of a lime, we had our first trimester screening, and saw how much more developed everything was. A spine, legs, hands, nasal bones, and so much movement!
Near the end of my 16th week, two weeks ago, Tom and I are were sitting in a theatre watching a movie, and I felt the first movements of our baby. The internet had told me it would feel like flutters, gas bubbles or popcorn popping. But it really felt like a little poke to me. It made me think of when a pet (a cat, or a little dog) walks over your lap and pokes you with their peg legs-- it was like that, but at a much smaller scale. I tried to get Tom to feel it, but it was too faint.
The next morning we were in the car heading to meet some friends for lunch, and I felt some pokes and peg legs again. I had a good cry.
How many women before me have carried children and felt those first pokes and prods? Millions? Billions? There's something indescribable about the connection you feel with that little life that's growing, and moving, and undeniably a part of you. There have been plenty of milestones in these first weeks of pregnancy that have have made it seem more real, but nothing more than those first little movements. My maternal instincts are in full swing!
Tom has been able to feel a few of the kicks in the last week, and earlier this week I got to hear the baby's heartbeat with Doppler. There is was, chugging along a 144 like a little freight train (a really little freight train).
On Tuesday we find out if it's a boy or girl! Hopefully the baby cooperates!
If you haven't already heard, come March 12, 2016, Tom and I will be welcoming a new addition to our family!
Meet... The Lime! Or at least, that's how big the baby was when we had our 12 week ultrasound on the first of September. At my current 17 weeks, the baby is the size of an onion, or about 5 inches long. 5 inches doesn't seem so big-- until you look at a ruler!
I will be the first to acknowledge that I was incredibly lucky during my first trimester. There were a few weeks where if I let my stomach get empty, I would start to feel a bit queasy, but I never experienced any real nausea or morning sickness. My energy levels have not been too bad-- I get tired in the evenings, and I have still be sleeping quite well. I haven't had any food aversions, but I do want to eat spaghetti and meatballs for EVERY meal.
It's been eight years since the last time Tom and I were in Tofino. It might have actually been the first holiday that we ever took together. We went in October, and the main thing that sticks out in my mind is that it rained. EVERY. DAY. This should not be a surprise; Vancouver Island is one of the rainiest places on the west coast, but subsequently, my memories of Tofino are a little dreary.
Our trip this year could not have been more different-- it was BEAUTIFUL while we were in Tofino. Sunny, warm and dry, it was everything our first trip was not.
We arrived on a Tuesday after a grueling 12 hours in the car (or on a ferry). We misjudged how long it would take us to get to the ferry terminal-- so we missed the 12:50pm ferry, didn't have a reservation to get us on to the 2:30pm ferry, and had to take the 3:10pm ferry. We left Kelowna at 8:15am, and it was just after 8pm when we finally arrived in Tofino.
We stayed at the lovely Cox Bay Resort. There were a series of units lines up along a long walkway, facing the beach. We were only three units away from the beach, so it was a short walk. Each of the units were there own self-contained condo with a living area, dining area, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. More and more, I love having a kitchen on holidays. It's so convenient to be able to buy a few simple groceries, and then you don't have to rely on eating out for every meal.
Cox Bay Beach
On our first morning in Tofino, we took a long walk on the beach. Given the beautiful weather, it was bustling with tourists and locals-- most of them relaxing in the sand, or taking surfing lessons.
Surfers out in the bay.
There were large and small groups of people learning to surf, and people of all ages, shapes and sizes. I did a day-long surf camp when I was in Australia in 2007, and I remember it was an exhausting endeavor. I spent all day climbing up on the surf board, only to be immediately knocked off into the water. I feel like I'd probably be better at it these days, given all the yoga I do (better balance), but Tom hurt his ribs playing soccer a few weeks ago, so we didn't make an attempt this time.
Tom and I.
We wandered around the beach and found a path that we had travelled during our first visit to Tofino. It took us out to a nice outlook point where we had a nice vantage point of the area.
When we finished our beach walk, we headed out to Tacofino for lunch. Basically, anyone who I've talked to who has recently been to Tofino recommends going to Tacofino. Tacofino is a fish taco food truck. Lines are epically long. On our first visit, we waited an hour between getting line and receiving our food. We obviously thought it was worth it though, because we went back again the next day. The second time we waited 35 minutes.
We had lingcod fish tacos, and tuna fish tacos. The lingcod was pretty basic-- deepfried, with mayo, salsa, lime and cabbage. The tuna tacos had a more Asian flare to them with a sweet soy-sauce and ginger along with the cabbage and salsa. We also had some fruit smoothies-- mine being watermelon basil, and Tom's being lime mint.
Tacofino fare.
Also worth mentioning, Tom and I ate at a restaurant in town called the Wolf in the Fog, and it was also delicious! We had the Spanish Bombshell, which was a combination of scallops, mussels, clams, potatoes and barnacles in a tomato saffron broth with a tangy aioli. There was a tomato salad on the side. It was so good, we went back to eat it a second night too!
Rainforest Trail A.
In between all the copious amounts of eating, Tom and I drove into the Pacific Rim National Park and did a few short hikes on the well maintained Rainforest Trails. I admit, I was a little disappointed that it was so dry on the trip-- there were no banana slugs in sight! Banana slugs are pretty gross, but there's something fascinating about them as well.
Banana slug from our 2007 Tofino trip.
We didn't see much of anything in terms of animals during our short hikes-- unless you count a particularly pissed off blue jay (we must have been near its nest). But it was quiet and humid in the rainforest, and we enjoyed ourselves.
Rainforest Trail B.
In retrospect, we probably should have spent longer than two days in Tofino-- but it was a nice break before the long drive home.
Where to next, you ask? Well! We just booked tickets to Kauai, Hawaii, for the first week of November. Hoorah!
