Kaua'i

Monday 20 May

We’re flying to Kaua’i today, but we have a few hours to spend this morning relaxing and getting ourselves sorted.  We get to the airport, eat our picnic lunch and take the scenic 30 minute flight over the islands to Kaua’i.

Immediately it seems more toned down than Maui and a little more rugged.  The earth is red, the steep, ridged mountains are velvety green – and there are more chickens.  Chickens everywhere: the airport, the golf course, the beaches… everywhere.  Proud, strutting cockerels and fat, fluffy hens followed by broods of cheeping chicks.  I love it.

We check into our hotel (a fairly cheap last minute deal) to be told that we have a sea view room – this is certainly not what our reservation says, but who are we to argue with this:

Even better, the room is quite nicely set up for self-catering, so we head to the supermarket to get stocked up.

Tuesday 21 May

We’re not sure what to do this morning and the weather can’t quite seem to decide either.  After a little while the sun comes out and we decide it’ll be a beach day.  We drive off to the beaches south of here – this is one of the prime beach areas on the island, so we figure we may as well see what the fuss is about.

We spend some time trying to find a snorkel spot mentioned in the guidebook.  We think we find it, but as there are no other snorkelers in the water and it’s looking a little rough we decide to play it safe and stay dry.  It doesn’t matter too much anyway – there are a couple of giant turtles swimming about that are easy enough to see from land.

Next stop is Po’ipu beach – a safe, family-friendly beach. 

Or as close as you can get in Kaua’i.  There are still huge, crashing waves braved by reckless surfers, but there is a calmer swimming area too.  A couple of endangered monk seals are also using the beach as a sunbathing spot and they’ve been roped off like VIP.

We have a bit of a swim/snorkel and then head back to our towels.  We’ve carefully placed these on a nice high bit of beach, but the sea here has a mind of it’s own.  One minute we’re sat on dry sand, the next we’re in a puddle of water.  A rogue wave has soaked us through.

We retreat to the picnic tables to try to dry off.  The seals too have been dislodged from their chill-out spot and have swum into the beach – the lifeguard is quick to chase people out of their way.

Once we’re mostly dry we take a wander to the next little cove over.  Here, body-boarders and turtles seem mostly content to surf the waves together – a quick glance tallies up at least 10 turtles.

We go back to our hotel in the afternoon and spend the afternoon having a stroll about and trying to do some planning.

Wednesday 22 May

We were meant to be on an epic kayak trip today, but it’s been cancelled due to the large swell that’s arrived.  Luckily for us we’ve managed a last minute rearrange and we’re now booked on for Friday.

Today we’ve set aside for Waimea Canyon.  We take a scenic drive around the island and then start climbing the canyon rim.  We’re not entirely sure what to expect and the first viewpoint blows us away.  This is a serious, deep and vast canyon, painted in bright reds and forest greens.  The Waimeariver twinkles down below.  It’s beautiful, and not a typical sight for a tropical island.

We drive on to a couple more viewpoints, including one that gives us views of the Na Pali coast, partially cloaked in cloud.   The Na Pali coast is a stretch of coastline about 17 miles long that is so rugged it’s accessible only by boat, air or hiking trail (but even that can only cover the first 11 miles). 

We hadn’t really planned on too much hiking, but as the scenery is so gorgeous we can’t resist exploring a bit more.  We tackle a fairly easy 4 mile round trip hike that takes us through thick vegetation to a fantastic canyon rim lookout point.

We get back to the car hungry, hot and sweaty.  It doesn’t take long to find a picnic spot to have our lunch – a spot we’re sharing with numerous chickens, including this proud mummy with her 8 chooks.

We wind our way back down the canyon and head in the direction of home. We make one final stop for views of the broad, tranquil Wailuariver.

Back at the hotel I decide to cool off with a swim in the sea.  Nick stays behind, so I’m a little weary heading into the water alone.  The water is lovely though and without expecting it I almost bump into a turtle.  I’m not sure who is more startled – me or the turtle.  We both freeze, check each other out a bit and then head our separate ways.

Thursday 23 May

We’ve got a big day tomorrow, so we’re taking today steady.  We do some laundry and then hire some bikes - big old cruisers.  Just a little way up from our hotel is a lovely, broad cycle path that winds along the coast for about 4 miles.  It’s great cycling and the views are simply gorgeous.

We stop off at a beach to eat our picnic lunch.

 Afterwards, we jump into the water to get battered by the waves.  Mind you, I’ve had an eyeful of the lifeguards and ‘drowning’ doesn’t seem a bad option.  Nick is not having it though.

All too soon it’s time to cycle back and drop the bikes off.  We have another swim to cool off and call it a day.

Friday 24 May

We’re up a little after 4am in order to make the check-in for our kayak trip at 6am.  We arrive early and munch some bagels at Hanalei beach just as the sun is coming up.  By 6am we’re waiting outside Kayak Kaua’i.  And we wait.  And wait some more.  A helpful neighbour tells us they don’t normally show up until 7, so we’re not overly worried, just a touch annoyed.

Eventually someone does show up, just a little before 7.  He makes every effort to avoid us, disappearing round the back as soon as he can.  Not a good sign.  We wait it out a bit longer and then I give up and hunt him out.  The kayak trip is not going, but they couldn’t let us know because I didn’t leave a contact number.  When I remind him that I did in fact leave the hotel number, then suddenly they were trying all day yesterday but nobody answered.  At a hotel.  I leave before I chew his head off, boiling with equal measures of annoyance and disappointment.

It’s our last day here, we’re a 45 minute drive from our hotel and we’ve no internet to try to organize anything else last minute.  I’m about to lose the plot when we stumble upon Na Pali Catamaran.  The helpful and charming gentleman inside soon has us booked onto a lunch-time trip up the coast.  We won’t get to kayak the coast, but at least we’ll get to see it.

With 4 or so hours to kill we head to Ke’e beach – as far as the road will take you along this coast. 

We have a swim and a sunbathe and then head back into town to take in the views and explore.  Hanalei is a charming little town set in a deep, green valley.  It’s backed by steep, deeply ridged mountains and fronted by a wide bay.

Finally it’s time for our boat trip and we get boarded onto a small boat (there are only 6 passengers in total) with our capable captain Sean.  We cruise out of the bay and then open up the speed a little.   Sean stops off regularly to allow us to snap pictures of the dramatic scenery and to feed us tidbits of information.   We go past knife-thin ridges, hidden valleys, secret beaches and tumbling waterfalls. 

At one point we even blast at full speed into a sea cave – it’s quite terrifying having a wall of darkness coming at you, but the cave is wide and long enough to accommodate us.

We anchor in a fairly sheltered bay for a late lunch and a quick snorkel, then it’s time to make our way back.  The wind has picked up and the swell with it: we’re bouncing and slamming our way over the waves, getting soaked in the process.  It’s all good fun and Sean gets us back to Hanalei in one piece.

It’s time to get back to our hotel and start packing our suitcases for tomorrow.

Janet adds:  I’m a little disappointed about the kayaking, but had so much fun on the boat and saved my arms a heck of a lot of work.