We spent a weekend on Kauai earlier this year. It is such a beautiful place, it took our breath away. And after Honolulu, the peace and quiet was very welcome! We stayed in Kapa'a on the east side of the island and had a perfect view of the sunrise each morning. The hotel was right on the boardwalk and the gardens overlooked the ocean. Beautiful. Check it out on: http://www.kauaidiscovery.com/
On the Saturday we decided to hike a portion of the Na Pali coast. The hike winds along the cliffs on the north west side of the island and the full hike stretches around 11 miles. To do the full stretch you really need to plan an overnight trip, but as we have no gear with us, we decided to aim for a shortened version. We ended up completing around 9 miles or so. Two or three miles along the coast, a back track, and then a further two miles up to the Falls at Hanakapi'ai. The falls were lovely but the water was way too cold to go in! At least for us!
The hike along the cliff side was gorgeous. The mountains just fall down into the ocean and the colours are incredible. The sound of the surf booming followed us the whole way down the trail - I wouldn't want to miss my footing and fall into it at any point. The warning signs on the beaches made it clear that it's not a particularly safe place for swimming!!!
Another view down the cliffs as we were walking down the trail
The flowers and trees were amazing. These trees (mangoes?) grew all around the bay near the falls, as did huge bamboo thickets,
and these beautiful pink flowers were everywhere. The ivy was huge - I used to have one of these ivy plants in Colorado, but these guys were absolute monsters! Look at the size of the leaves compared to Nick's hand...now I can see why they filmed Jurassic Park there!!!The video is Hanakap'ai Falls, about four miles into the trail.
After getting completely covered in Kauai red mud we stopped off at Hanalei Bay for a stroll along the beach. The bay is ideally situated with the Na'Pali Coast giving it an amazing backdrop. The beach was sandy, the water was clear, and the bay sloped slowly out towards the open ocean. What a lovely peaceful spot for a long weekend! Perfect! Can't wait to come back!The hiking had been pretty tough so we decided not to stop for a refreshing beer, and to head back for a nap instead!
After another lovely sunrise, we headed out for the other side of the island. Waimea Canyon rises from ocean level to over 3,500 feet above sea level. It is 10 miles long and over a mile wide and you almost miss the turning when you drive along that side of the island as it's just an unassuming turn off that looks like it's going into a residential area! The canyon is so red and green that it's hard to capture it on "film". One of the best parts of the Canyon is at the top where you can hike along towards the Alakai Swamp and see some of the views over the Na'Pali coast. We never got this far along during the coastal hike (it would have meant an overnight back pack, or certainly not the casual, "wow, look at that let's get a photo" type hike we had!) but the views are bird's eye up here.
After the canyon we explored further round the south west side of the island, but the road quickly runs out and rains and slides had closed down the State Park. We did see the Brick oven pizza out there too, but I was too slow to get a photo for the folks back in CB. We also missed the landing site and statue of Capt James Cook (yes, from Whitby, near Hull!) who came ashore here in January 1778. He was reportedly the first westerner to ever set foot on the islands, and he changed history for them in many ways...I don't think he is too revered in this area...
After exploring, we were very thirsty and headed down the the resort area of Po'ipu to grab a beer and hopefully the last part of the Superbowl. We weren't disappointed on either front and found a great bar to slake our thirst and hunger at Brennecke's. We even managed to win a free drink each with the "wear the cap when they score" game (hence the photo), but had to give our drinks away cos we needed to leave for the airport...bummer! Oh well, guess you can't have your cake and eat it...or win your beer and drink it...one or the other!Needless to say, it was well worth the visit and we are now hooked on Kauai and can't wait to go back! The plan next time we go is to take a helicopter ride over Waimea Canyon, which is supposed to be breathtaking, and then to take a boat along the Na'Pali coast to capture some of the incredible views of it from the ocean. We'd love to do some river kayaking to...so many things to do, so little time!
