Why are there nudists on Kauai?

Doug and I did the unthinkable and hopped on a plane leaving Ethan and Sydney with grandma for 3 days and 2 nights!  We were both so nervous to leave them for so long and nervous for grandma getting completely worn out.  The excitement for Kauai was greater than our fear and we felt like two kids.

Right after we landed, we picked up our rental car and drove straight to Wailua, changed into our swim suits in our car (yes, only port-a-potties were available for changing--no thanks.) and rented a kayak.  We paddled 2 miles up the river and parked for a 30 min hike to a stunning waterfall.

After the muddy hike, the waterfall was music to my ears.

It was freezing, but worth the swim.

We hopped back in the kayak and decided to see the fern grotto that was nearby.  People are shuttled up by boat and are seranaded by Hawaiian musicians.  The ferns used to hang 15-20 feet, but a hurricane over 10 years ago wiped them all out.  There were some ferns that were 4-5 feet long or so and much of it was still bare.

We found these pretty pink ginger flowers.

There were also red ginger plants.

We got back in the kayak and paddled further upstream to find a rope swing.  Unfortunately, there was a group already there and upon closer inspection (unfortunately) the one adult male was NAKED.  Yes, completely naked.  He started to hide behind a tree.  I told Doug that I wasn't going to watch him swing on a rope swing with a naked Tarzan next to him.  Doug proposed that we keep going and give the Tarzan a few minutes to hop in the water or maybe (just an idea) put some clothes on.  

After a few minutes, we paddled back and made lots of noise as we rounded a corner and this time he was facing us, still naked.  We chose to skip the rope swing adventure.

We headed back downstream just as a boat approached the fern grotto with tourists.  We got out and got a little serenade before hopping back in to head downstream and return our kayak.  I came up with the idea to race the boat.  I figured they had 100+ tourists to get back on the boat and then make the 2 mile journey to their dock.  I am happy to report that we won, although it was a little close, we were victorious!  Nice.