Vacation's Over

Friday
We took time on Friday to hang out by the pool. Because the winter evenings were cool, the pool was cool too. In the afternoon we headed to the west side of the island to checkout the Waimea Canyon. We went past fields of sugar cane and coffee.

Taking some very curvy roads we climbed to the top and the mist and rain started. It was disappointing our pictures were not real clear. We've had some very good weather up to then, so we really couldn't complain.

Saturday
Our last day, and not wanting to miss out on anything, I got up before dawn to check out the sunrise over the ocean. Surprisingly, there were a number of people up at this time of the morning with exactly the same idea. We weren't disappointed, the sunrise was beautiful.

The early morning light also made for some fantastic shots.

After packing up and a little more time at the pool, we headed out for our last day. We hit some sites on the south end of the island. The National Botanical Gardens were interesting. We were too late to get on the tour to the gardens in the valley, but saw some good stuff just in their open gardens.

We headed back to take a look at the coffee fields and the Kauai Coffee visitor center. They had a self-guided tour and video. Never knew there was so much to coffee growing and milling.

Rick collects lighthouse photos from our travels so we had one more lighthouse to track down. After several attempts we finally found the right back road to get us close enough for a shot.

Hard to think about heading home to the snow and cold, but it's time to go, our Kauai vacation is done!

Excitement In The Air

Thursday

Before heading south, we drove into Hanalei, on Thursday there was something different going on. We saw alot more surfboards on the top of the cars. It wasn't until we drove out to the north shore beaches that we understood why. Surf was unusually high with 12-15 feet high waves. We saw wave riders pulling surfers out into the big waves and they would ride them in. The force and power of the waves was amazing. There are warnings too not get to close to shore or the rocks, because there have been tourists washed out to sea.


We were looking for the beach that South Pacific was filmed on. We think we found it, you will have to let us know if we are right.



On Tuesday, we printed a picture of a green church. After doing some reading in Kauai travel, we learned that it was the Waioli Mission church, established in 1834. The article also mentioned the Waioli Mission House, that had been restored. Fortunately it was open for tour on Tuesdays and Thursdays.



Rick had to do some snooping to actually find it as it was tucked way behind the church behind a white picket fence.




After ringing the large bell on the porch, the caretaker took us through the house. It was very interesting. The missionaries had taken a short trip to the mainland in 1869. It was there they died, never returning to the island. The house fell into disrepair and was restored around 1920. It still contains their whole library of books, and some of the household belongings. In the attic, there were letters from family and friends. Because of my interest in family histories, it was all very interesting to me.




We then headed south, back to the Lihue area on the east side. We both need some time to just relax.

Snorkeling Sights

Wednesday
Driving back into Hanalei, we stopped at an overlook over Hanalei Valley.

We went down into the valley to take a closer look at the Taro fields. Taro is used to make poi, a staple in the Hawaiian diet. Rick said the area reminded him of Vietnam with a similar look to rice fields.

We finally found a beach where we could snorkel. This beach had a reef quite a ways off shore so the waves broke out there instead of onshore, so it was safe to swim. Rick saw a couple schools of fish. Others on the beach we able to see sea turtles. I saw two fish. OK, I guess I'm not much of a snorkeler.

Another great sunset over Hanalei Bay.

Last night on the north coast. Tomorrow we head south. Only a few days left in Hawaii.

Sunset Over Hanalai Bay

Tuesday
Our first introduction to the northern cost was the Kilauea Lighthouse, which was built in 1913.




The coast views were awesome. The area is also a bird sanctuary, our favorite was the red-footed booby. Near the lighthouse was a quaint, small stone church that was quite old.


We drove on through Princeville and then Hanalai Bay, where we found another interesting church,the first green church that I had ever seen. (more about that on Thursday).


We continued on to the farthest point on the North coast. There is only one way to get there, crossing 5 or 6 single laned bridges. We finally made it to the the end of the road, Ha'ena State Park. The waves had to be 8-10 feet. You could feel the power of the waves.



This is really jungle country. We saw some people returning from an 11 mile hike into the jungle. They were covered in mud. Decided maybe that was a little past our comfort zone.


The Limahuli National Botanical garden was located at the entrance to the state park. We took a quick trip through the gardens. We managed to find a few flowers, but not many in bloom at this time of the year.

We ended our day with a sunset over Hanalai Bay. There's much more to explore on the northern coast, but tomorrow is another day.

Surf's Up

Another beautiful day in the 80's on Kaua'i. We started out the day going to see the Wailua Falls. It was a bumpy ride but we made it. No hiking to this waterfall, you just drive up and see the whole thing. In ancient times men would jump off the top of the falls to prove their manhood. Unfortunately there were many "men" who did not survive the 173 ft. jump.

I did not think about Kaua'i being a farming community. But there were ranches and grazing steers. We also saw some very strange flowers. More research is required to figure out what these are.

We drove further north and finally found some surfers. Apparently the riptides were not so dangerous in this area because there quite a few surfers, young and old. They were interesting to watch.

Rick and I took a late afternoon hike into a forest area. It became quite dense, but strangely we did not see any animals or birds. Daylight was running out so we only made it about a quarter way up to the top, but still had some very good views of the area.

Another great day on the east side of the island. Tomorrow we head for the northern coast. It tends to be more rainy there during the winter months. So we will see if our luck holds!

Awaking to A New Sound

After a long day of travel and a good night's sleep, we awoke to a new kind of alarm clock and they don't just crow once! Actually they greeted us just about everywhere we went.

We are finding Kaua'i is pretty laid back. Lots of locals were at the beaches and parks. We stopped by Lydgate State Park to get our first view of the ocean. Huge waves and too dangerous to swim, except in the pools that were created.

We both enjoy photography so lots of pictures were taken. It's easy to take good pictures when everything around you is so beautiful.

We stopped at Opaeka Falls which is just down the road from our B&B.

Kaua'i gets lots of rain so everything is very lush and green. Actually at the highest point in the center of Kaua'i it is the rainest place in the world. We did some hiking near there.

Tomorrow we head to the beach to kick back and relax. Friends and family in Wisconsin we are thinking about you...where there is 20 degree below zero wind chill!