Kaua'i, Days 0.5 and 1

David and I spent 3.5 glorious days on Kaua'i this week. And I went almost 4 whole days without checking my email or going online at all. It must be a new record for me. Of course, as soon as we walked through our front door on Thursday night, the first thing David and I did was say hello to our poor Suyom (who was quite lonely in our absence) and then turn on both our computers. We're addicts, we are.

I try to explain to people that the palm-tree waving tropical paradises they associate with Hawaii exist on the neighbor islands (Maui, Kauai, the Big Island, Molokai) but not on Oahu. Oahu is not a tropical paradise. So it was a pleasant break to escape from our island and visit Kauai. Of course, after three days of one-lane roads, no easy conveniences, and sparse civilization, I was ready to leave the beauty of Kauai. Because while I can get a little island fever on Oahu, it's nothing compared to the tiny emptiness of Kauai.

Day 0.5

We flew into Lihue, the biggest town in Kaua'i (big being a relative term), Monday evening. We got our rental car, checked into our cheap hotel, and grabbed some dinner. I may have watched a little TV in my excitement. (I haven't had real TV or cable in over 3 years now so watching TV on a real TV and not my computer is exciting for me now.)

This was our view of Kaua'i as we flew into Lihue right at sunset.

Day 1

The next morning, we woke up relatively early and set out for the Kalalau Trail, a strenuous 11-mile hike along the Na Pali coast, which is comprised of sheer cliffs. It took us about an hour to drive from our hotel in Kapa'a on the eastern side of the island to Ke'e Beach, which is literally the end of the road on Kaua'i's North Shore. The cliffs prevent a road from being constructed all the way around the island. It was a beautiful drive, but there's not a whole lot our there.

At the start of the trailhead. David and I decided that we'd hike the first two miles, which takes you to a small enclosed beach and that we'd consider hiking another 2 miles to a waterfall.

Here we are halfway up the trail, with the beautiful, though hazy, Na Pali coastline in the background. The trail was quite slippery and muddy, but the view was spectacular.

Like this. I wish we could have gotten closer to the coast, but the only way to really see it is by helicopter or boat and we didn't want to pay for that.


We finally reached the beach and David was excited to find raining rocks to stand under. We ate our lunch and decided to head back rather than trek on the next 2 miles. The trail was rather slippery and our feet were already hurting. Plus, I discovered that my trusty hiking boots, which I've had since I was 14 or so, were separating between the sole and the shoe and were no longer very reliable. So sad. I guess this means I need to get new hiking boots, although I'm not sure how much I'll actually use them in Korea.

After hiking the two miles back to our car, David and I set out to visit the other sights along the North Shore. We stopped at this "wet" cave.

And also this "dry" cave. David likes caves. Truth be told, they kind of freak me out a little. But I've done some caving in my past so I guess I'm not totally paralyzed by the thought of being inside a tiny hole in a huge mountain. I guess.

We stopped in Hanalei, where this beautiful green shingled church stands. I love anything with gabled roofs and stain-glass.

And it was beautiful stained glass. The colors of Kaua'i, which is lush and green and aqua blue.

We passed by this beautiful valley where several movies have been shot. Kaua'i has been the location for a lot of movies and there are all sorts of movie tours you can take, but we didn't do that. This valley has many taro farms. Taro itself isn't so bad but poi is absolutely disgusting.

Next, we drove out to the Kilauea Wildlife Preserve with it's old-fashioned lighthouse. Why are lighthouses so cool? I haven't figured it out yet, but I love lighthouses. We didn't want to pay to go into the preserve since they were about to close. So we headed home to rest and relax and recover from our busy day of hiking and sight-seeing.

Later that night, as David and I were sitting on our bed, watching a little TV, David glanced over and saw what he thought was a gigantic spider. But on second glance, we discovered that a crab had somehow wandered into our room.

So we caught the little sucker (crabs can sure move fast) and David took him back out to the beach and set him free.

We also tried this bizarre fruit called a mangosteen which we picked up at a fruit stand along our drive. It, despite it's name, has no resemblance to a mango.

It actually tastes like a combination of kiwi and lychee. It was, however, quite tasty.

Well, that's it for now. I've got to get ready to see Wolverine. Up next, days two and three of our trip.

Expect chickens. Lots of chickens.