Carley and I wanted to put together some pictures and a description of our trip. We used this old blog o'mine that rarely gets updated, and platial. There is a link to the entire gallery at the end of this post.
Febuary 14th - Kauai ho--five weeks after we make plans (of which I tell everybody whom I come into contact with) we touch down on the Garden Isle. It's nice--sunny, 80 degrees, and not raining. It's vacation. Finally.
After touchdown we headed down to Poipu to check in to our
condo. It was a nice--close to the beach on the east side of Poipu. We walked right down to the beach to watch the sun set. When we arrived we saw we had forgotten important accessories--the adult beverages that everybody else was carrying around. This mistake was not to be made again.
Febuary 15th - Thursday we woke up early and walked over to the
Hyatt to look for whales. That is, we looked for whales in the ocean in front of the Hyatt, not in the lobby or in one of their lovely pools. When we checked in the receptionist told us that we would see whales, and we did--spouting several hundred yards off of the beach. They were so close you could see fins and tails as they surfaced for air. Quick whale facts--they come to HI to give birth, mate and site see. Whale calves gain up to 150 lbs a day while they are nursing.
After whale watching we hit Poipu Beach for snorkeling and relaxing. The only time we left was to get sushi and beverages, but we were back in time for the sunset. I don't remember watching it while we were on our honeymoon. Glad we made up for it this trip.
Febuary 16th - Friday we drove to the north side of the island. There is a dearth of non-Starbucks coffee places in Poipu. We found a nice place in Hanalei. Brace yourself--a cup of drip is $2.25. Make it $4 for Kona. Other than that the place feels pretty hippyish in a tropical, hawthorne meets tropical island way.
The Hanalei region is picturesque. Much of it is a wetland preserve. Most of the island's taro is grown in this valley in submerged fields. One-lane wooden bridges are the norm--all the traffic goes in one direction until everyone has crossed--then the other side goes. In the afternoon this can lead to some delays.
The pier in Hanalei bay is a good place to watch surfers. Noobs surfer in the protected interior part of bay, and the experience head out to the edge of the reef, where the waves pile up. Everyone and their dog is there to fish, surf or hang out.
Next stop--Limahuli Garden. This garden has terraces that are supposedly 700 years old. It shows how the first settlers grew taro. It is cool place to see lots of plants and how the different waves of settlers have brought new plants that have done different amounts of damage to the landscape. The garden is trying to replant the entire valley with native species (pre-whitey).
Next stop, Ke'e Beach. This is the northern-most beach accessible by road. It was windy when we went and the waves were hammering the sand. In a shallow, seemingly protected area someone had written "It is not safe" in the sand. I didn't see any freaky children around so assumed the message was referencing the ocean and not some otherwordly phenomenon.
The beach has great views of the Northern end of the Na Pali coast.
On the way back we stopped at Banana Joe's Fruitshack. We intended to get shave ice, but they only have fruit drinks here. The frozen banana thing is really good. You should really try it--banana custardy and frozen. They also have local fruit and over-priced granola.
Later that night we toured the art walk in Hanapepe. It was more fun that I expected. The Time/space gallery has nice paintings not necessarily related the beach.
Febuary 17th - Slept in. Tried out Salt Pond Beach. It is a good protected place to swim. The east side has some shallow snorkeling. More of a local place--not busy while we were there.
Febuary 18th -
(ds) - By now we had forgotten what day of the week it was. It was a little windy so we decided along the coast toward Gillin's Beach. The hike takes you along beautiful cliffs along the south facing shore. Nice hike. You also get to see several spectacular golf holes.
Febuary 19th -
Headed to Borders to buy some music and reading material. After listening to local radio stations for 5 days we began to tire of
"shaka" and went looking for cds to play in our Pontiac. We bought "Wincing the Night Away" by The Shins and "Not Too Late" by Norah Jones. I also bought a
communist mag to read on the plane ride back. The David Sedaris article is great. As I was reading it I would quote passages to Carley. Eventually, after quoting almost an entire page I just read her the whole thing.
The story deals with the roster and offers a nuanced discussion of gender politics.
Before we arrived in Kauai we planned to go to farmer's market to experience the local vibe, score some cheap produce, and generally get our portland on. There is a
Sunshine Market at different locations on different days. If you go get in line early, though, or all the produce will be sold and you will be tempted to produce-snatch from an octogenarian. Watch out for the hip-replacement checks. The retirees are there to score there mangoes and nothing will get in there way. While we were waiting in the parking lot before they opened the market we witnesses one spouse berating the other to hurry up--the old man was clearly limping too slowly and might be excess baggage in the heat of the market battle. We did end up getting good produce for about half the cost of what the Big Save had, but it wasn't a chill experience.
Apple Bananas, lettuce, some big yellow fruit, pineapple, and hairy lichi.
Febuary 20th - We drove to the top of Waimea Canyon intending to hike around a little bit.
First we drove to the end of the road--amazing view into the Na Pali canyons.
The Honopu Ridge trail sounded promising in our
book but when we found the trailhead it was not well maintained or marked. Instead we tried the Awa-'awapuhi Trail a little further south. This one is well marked and maintained, but also very slippery after rain. We slipped and slide for almost a mile until I landed on my back on a particularly treacherous section and threw in the towel. The trails in this area look like they have great payoffs at the ends, but we'll never now--thankfully the guidebook took pictures for us.
We stopped at the Shrimp Shack after the abortive hiking incident for some shrimp cocktail. Actually, I (dave) was the only one to enjoy the tasty critters. Carley would rather eat just about any other type of seafood. She was interested in the granola shop across the street, though.
Kauai Granola is a little shop that makes granola and other snacks. Lots of samples. If you are looking for a fiber fix I would definitely recommend it.
Febuary 20th - We were running out of days. On this one we visited the
Hindu Monastery. At the monastery they are building a temple that could be straight out of Indiana Jones movie. Each piece of the temple is hand carved and amazingly detailed. It will be a beautiful ruin in a couple thousand years. The monastery is very peaceful and the grounds are lush and manicured. I don't know much about the Hindu faith but they seem pretty chill.
There is a symbolism in all parts of this temple. The rain alligator, whoever, is just there because it looks cool.
This chain is carved from one piece of rock.
The detail work is amazing--each flower is fully carved on site. We would missed this detail if the wire thingy hadn't been behind the rock petal.
This temple was one of the three favorite things I saw on the trip. The coolest thing was the mother and calf whale breaching simultaneously, with the baby then breaching another 5 or 6 times...more pictures from the boat ride below.
A few random pictures
Places we ate:
Garden Island Barbeque, Lihue. It is a decent, cheap, local place to eat. I had been hoping for some fresh, lightly cooked fish and was a initially disappointed by the battered fried goodness that greeted me. It was good, though, once I got over my lingering resentment. Seared ahi would be had, but not that night. While we were there a steady stream of people came through picking up meals to go. Carley's tofu stir fry was good and tofuey. It was a good place, and cheap, especially for Kauai.
Koloa Fish Market. Great simply prepared fish. We had the plate lunch--seared ahi with mac salad, rice, and some sort of slaw.
Beach House. Great food. Expensive. If you want to eat dinner you can either make reservations before you leave for HI or proceed past the hostess directly to the bar. They will serve you dinner there. We had drinks and appetizers--what isn't there to love about raw fish? Nothing that I know of. Just check your mercury levels.
King and I. Thai restaurant, reasonably priced. 4-901 Kuhio Highway, Kapaa.
All photos:
