Kauai
The beach at the Kauai Shores Hotel
Sandy and I like to travel a lot. Because travel is expensive, we are always on the lookout for good deals on trips. When United Airlines announced a special offer on trips to Hawaii using only miles, we were quick to jump on it. Even though we had done a trip to Maui in the spring and had a trip to the Cook Islands booked for November, this was too good a deal to pass up. Sandy had a lot of miles left from her days as a VP with Hewlett Packard. They were going to expire soon anyway so it was use them or lose them. We booked a trip to Kauai for September.
While we were there we stayed at the Kauai Shores Hotel. It's on the east coast of Kauai a little bit north of the main town, which is Lihue. We had stayed there once before on a previous trip and thought it was a nice place. It was right next to the beach and it was close to restaurants (pizza!) and shops (tshirts!). That made it pretty much perfect for us.
Waimea Canyon...some blue sky and some rain
Our first excursion was to Waimea Canyon. It's often referred to as "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific". It is an impressive canyon. It's 14 miles long, a mile wide and 3600 feet deep. Although the walls are impressively steep, they are rotten volcanic rock. But that rock is a deep red which contrasts with the dark green of the vegetation. And that vegetation is everywhere as the west side of the island gets a tremendous amount of rain. Mount Waialeale, a few miles north of Waimea Canyon, is the highest point on the island of Kauai. There is weather station on the summit (it's automated) and the mountain competes every year for the title of the rainiest spot on earth. The average rainfall is 450 inches per year, which is usually the second highest after the village of Mawsynram in India. But rainfall can be as high as 600 inches in a year. That seems like a lot of rain to me, since Boise typically only gets eleven inches of rain a year. Mt. Waialeale gets that in a week.
Waimea Canyon viewpoint selfie
We drove around to the southern coast of the island to the town of Waimea, where wo turned onto the road that climbed up into the mountains towards Waimea Canyon State Park. When we reached the park, there were a number of viewpoints that provided spectacular views of the canyon. Continuing to climb higher, the road eventually entered the rain forest. Next we made a stop at the Kokee Lodge, where there is a small lodge, restaurant and gift shop. I've been to Kauai twice before and both times when I went to the Kokee Lodge it was pouring rain. This time, surprisingly, it was dry, although it was overcast. We took advantage of the unusual weather and did a short hike on the Kokee State Park Nature Trail. Sure, it was only a quarter of a mile with twenty feet of elevation gain, but at least it was a chance to stretch our legs. It was definitely a lot better than a mad dash to and from the car in pouring rain, which is the best that we managed on previous trips. And hey, Sandy and I each got a cool tshirt in the gift shop.
Na Pali Coast from Kalalau Lookout
Beyond the lodge the road climbed higher for several miles to the Kalalau Lookout, which provides a view of the Na Pali Coast. It's an extremely rugged, seventeen mile section of Kauai's west coast, where the mountains drop directly into the ocean. It's a wilderness with no roads into or through the area. The only access is on foot from the north by taking the Kalalau Trail, a tough 11 mile hiking track. For less intrepid visitors, there are also boat and helicopter sightseeing tours that can give you an arms length view of this section of island.
There's a large parking lot and a walk of a few hundred yards to the overlook. From there we could look down the Kalalau Valley all the way to the Pacific, 4,000 feet below. The sheer cliffs, red rock, deep green vegetation and blue water make for a spectacular scene. It was mostly cloudy but bright sunshine poked through in spots making the sight even more impressive. Just as we started to snap photos though our luck ran out and it started to rain. A minute later it was pouring pretty good and we had to make a mad dash back to the car. There is never nice weather in the mountains of Kauai, just brief pauses between rain showers. There is a campground near the lodge but I'm not sure why anyone would want to stay there. It seems like it would just be soggy and dreary, while it's warm and sunny on the beaches.
Visiting the Kauai Coffee Company
After driving down the mountain and back to the sunshine and warm weather, we started back to our hotel. On the way we stopped at the Kauai Coffee Company. I don't drink coffee at all but Sandy is a bit of a connoisseur and wanted to check it out. There was a short self-guided walk where you could see how the coffee beans were grown. Then there was a tasting room where Sandy tried their different blends. She found some she liked and bought a couple of bags to take home with her, so our visit was a success.
Another day we drove up to the north side of the island. On the way, we made a stop at the Kiauea Lighthouse. We had been there on our last trip but it is very scenic and was worth another stop. We also checked out a small shopping area in nearby Kilauea and had a snack at the Kilauea Bakery and Pizzaria. It claims to be the oldest eatery in Old Kilauea Town. I had to make the tough choice between bakery or a slice of pizza.
Continuing around the island we drove through Princeville. It's a resort/residential area at the very northern tip of the island. The setting is gorgeous with the ocean on one side, the central mountains on the other, and a beautiful golf course winding through. It's a very high end community though. Way too rich for our blood. After driving by the fancy houses, we stopped at the Princeville Shopping Center. There were some jewelry and clothing stores with really nice stuff but also super expensive. All we could afford was an ice cream at Lappert's of Hawaii, but that was good enough for us.
Enjoying lunch by the ocean at our hotel
Continuing west we went to Hanalei Bay. There is a shopping area along the highway that we had visited on a previous trip but this time we went into town. It is an older town than Princeville and much more modest. This is where local working people live rather than rich folks moving from the mainland. We found a large parking area and headed to the beach. The bay was very pretty but it was very crowded. It was definitely more of a local crowd rather than tourists. We weren't there to lie on the beach or, so we walked out to the end of the long pier, checked out the view and then headed back to our car.
And that was pretty much it for major excursions. The rest of our vacation we spent most of the time at or near the resort. We did a lot of walking during the week, enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery. Most mornings we walked several blocks to the Passion Bakery Cafe to get a fresh malasada and a coffee for Sandy.
One of the locals sunning himself on the beach
Of course we had to take walks beside the ocean every day. There was a nice path from our hotel that went about three quarters of a mile along the water that we walked most days. It had nice views of the ocean and mountains. One day there was a big Hawaiian monk seal lounging on the beach. He was working on his tan, I guess. We got pretty close for pictures but stayed far enough away so as not to disturb the seal. They're endangered and are found in very few places on earth, so it was very cool to see one.
Twice we drove a few miles down the road and parked at Kapaa Beach. From the parking area there, we took the coastal path north to Donkey Beach. It was a very pretty walk on a nice walking path. And of course we frequently walked from our hotel to the nearby Coconut Marketplace to get supplies at the market, for dinner (at Bobby V's Italian Restaurant & Pizzaria), for an ice cream treat, and of course to check out the tshirt shops (there were several).
Morning coastline walk
Once we went into downtown Kapaa, such as it is, to wander around. It's not very big. We started by having a leisurly brunch at the Olympic Cafe. It was on the second floor, where most of the tables were on a covered patio looking out over the street. It was a good place to watch people and traffic and we had a nice view of the local mountain known as The Sleeping Giant, also known as Nounou Mountain. There is a trail to the summit and I would have liked to have done it. Somehow we never found the time, weather window, or most importantly, the ambition to climb it.
After we finished eating, Sandy went to Vicky's Fabrics, a local quilt shop. It wasn't very big but she found a lot of cool tropical-themed fabrics. While she spent time there I went into the tshirt shop down the block. While chatting with the owner I mentioned that I was killing time while my wife was at the quilt shop. He mentioned that he was a quilter too. I had to go get Sandy and drag her along to the shop to meet the guy. She ended up having a long conversation with him. Sure enough, was an avid quilter.
Dinner at Duke's Kauai on Sandy's birthday
Most evenings we just spent at the resort. We usually sat out on our patio with a glass of wine that we got from the nearby market, just enjoying the beautiful weather.
Sandy did have one day that she didn't feel well. She was having palpitations and her fitbit said that her heart rate was elevated. We went to the local hospital in Kapaa. It was very small but that was an advantage because we were the only ones there. The doctor checked her out and didn't find anything serious. After resting the rest of the day she felt better so we both breathed a little easier.
On a happier note, Sandy's birthday was on our last full day on the island. We went into Lihue and had dinner at Duke's Kauai, one of the famous chain of Duke's restaurants in Hawaii. It was open air, as many restaurants in Hawaii are, right on Kalapaki Beach. It was a beautiful evening and our dinner was excellent. A great way to celebrate Sandy's birthday and finish off our trip.
We did have a little excitement on our trip home. We started with a short flight from Kauai to Maui. On our approach to land it was very windy and the plane was bouncing all over the place. At the last minute the pilot gunned the engines and aborted the landing. He announced that we had to go around again due to the high winds. I've flown a lot and that is the only time I've ever been on a flight aborted a landing. Fortunately after circling around we landed safely. There were no more issues the rest of the way home. It was some excitement that we didn't need though.
