Let's see, where do we pick up the story? Ah yes, towards the end of our days in Maui. On our last morning in Maui we strolled on Ka'anapali Beach, and stopped to shoot this photo of ourselves with Molokai in the background.
We spent our last morning on Maui snorkeling, and then we did some souvenir shopping and exploring on the island before heading over to the airport for our flight to Kauai and the second half of our Hawaiian adventure.
When we landed in Kauai and got our rental car, it was around sunset. Katie shot this amazing photo from our moving car on the way to the hotel!
Kauai was a whole other world compared to Maui. Whereas Maui was well-developed and featured high-rise resorts and fancy dining and shopping, Kauai feels much more laid back and rural, and had a lot more "foreign" feel to it. At times it felt more like Malaysia than the U.S.
Then again, it doesn't get more "U.S." than the Grand Canyon, and Kauai features what Mark Twain dubbed "the Grand Canyon of the Pacific", Waimea Canyon. You can certainly see the resemblance, although Waimea Canyon is a bit more green, I'd say.
We spent a few hours driving up the ridge alongside the canyon, which made for some excellent vistas and exciting moments of driving, as we ascended through clouds. The top was shrouded in cloud cover, and it was about 20 degrees colder than down at sea level. Rainy and 50s, but at least rainy and 50s in paradise, right? We drove an extra few miles over a deeply rutted dirt road (sorry, Alamo Rent-a-Car!) to get to the final overlook, but alas, the dense clouds precluded us from seeing what was billed as "one of the most amazing views in the Pacific". No bother, it was still fun sticking our heads in a cloud!
On the way back down we stopped on the side of the road and a friendly couple snapped this photo while standing in the middle of the road, a favor we returned for them moments later (we all emerged in one piece.)
After the descent down the ridge back to the coast, we consulted our guide book and learned of an isolated beach that could be reached by parking on the side of the highway and hiking down a path. We had to hop a guardrail and slip through a fence, but we eventually found the trail...
It was on this trail that we had our first encounter with Kauai's most infamous wild animal. It sounded fearsome as it rustled in the foliage mere feet from the path. Was it following us? It sounds large! Katie grew more and more skittish as she led us down this path. And then, suddenly, we were face-to-face with our stalker:
That's right. The Chicken. Kauai is ruled by chickens. There are thousands of them, and if you forget that, the roosters will remind you at 5am. The theory is that Hurricane Iniki in 1992 spread chickens from farms and redistributed them all around the island. Since then, chickens reign supreme on Kauai. In the woods, up in the trees, on the beach, and yes, crossing the road, chickens everywhere. This shot was taken later in the trip, when mama posed with her chicks. The chicken on the trail was much more fierce looking, I promise.
After we negotiated with the chicken for passage, we came to the beach. It was indeed isolated, only two other people on this half mile long stretch. We wandered down to the other end and then left a message in the sand for our girls...
That night we headed down to our condo's beach to check out the sunset. On the way there, I snapped one of my favorite photos of the trip, which I thought summed up the mood perfectly:
We nestled in on Poipu Beach to watch the sunset.
You've already seen the amazing picture of the sunset in the last blog post. We sat there a good long while just soaking it all in.
The next morning it was time to head to Port Allen to catch our catamaran for our 6 hour tour of the southern coast, including snorkeling and whale watching. They were not kidding - we got up close and personal with the humpbacks. This photo is not zoomed!
The whale watching for the entire trip was amazing. Kauai's waters were just as active as Maui's and we spent many hours on beaches, boats and even from the air watching the humpback whales. We saw mamas with babies, packs of males showing off to try to impress the females, lots of tails and breeches out of the water and big splashdowns. The highlight had to be hearing them sing while we were snorkeling, I've never experienced anything quite like that before.
Another highlight were the spinner dolphins, which jump out of the water and do rapid corkscrew spins. They were very friendly and curious and liked to surf the pressure wave at the front of the boat, so you could hang over the edge and watch them from just feet away. They were extremely fast and hard to photograph, but I managed to catch these
The boat was a great time and it was extremely relaxing to lay out on the trampolines that stretched between the catamaran hulls.
It had been many years since we'd had the opportunity to be out on a boat and we both love it, so it was the perfect way for us to spend the morning.
Near our hotel were some excellent hiking cliffs. The further you hiked, the more impressive the coastline and views became. I spent a lot of time watching the waves wash over this interesting shelf that extended out into the ocean.
After a very active couple of days on Kauai we decided to take it easy on Friday. We started off the day by hitting Poi'pu beach, right outside our hotel. It's supposed to be one of the best beaches on the island and it did not disappoint. I opted to snorkel, which was amazing because the water was very shallow and the fish were right below the surface. I snapped some shots with an underwater camera.
Meanwhile, Katie decided to stay back on the beach to catch some rays. That afternoon, we drove up the coast to the north side of the island, to Kilauea Lighthouse. In the winter the surf is very strong on the north side. They were not kidding! It was here that I witnessed one of the most powerful examples of nature I've ever seen. It's hard to tell from this photo, but these waves are NOT small. The waves themselves were 20-24' tall, and the spray you see shooting up was going 100' into the air. HUGE waves, by far the biggest I have ever seen. It's amazing the island is still here at all with this sort of onslaught. I was mesmerized by the scene and had a hard time pulling myself away.
These same waves had the island's surfers very excited. We stopped at Kealia Beach on the way up to the lighthouse to watch the brave few who ventured out into them, and we saw some amazing moves on the giant waves. Crowds of locals had also gathered to watch, so we got the impression that we happened to be there on a day when there was unusually high surf.
Later that evening, we went to Smith's Family Luau.
Katie received a pleasant surprise by learning that her parents were treating us! The luau experience from Katie's childhood has been a long-running joke/sad story. In Katie's words: Apparently, in an effort to save money, someone (I do not remember which parent) decided that it would be good to not buy me a meal at the luau and I could just eat off of everyone else's plates. Problem was, everyone enjoyed the roast pig so much that they were very stingy with their offerings to me. I have consistently reminded my parents of the time when they let me starve.So, Katie finally got her huge helping of roast pork and it was glorious! The show was very fun too- lots of hula dancers, people dancing with fire, and the usual shenanigans.
Finally, we were down to our last day in Hawaii, and it was time to do something that we had been planning since the moment we decided to take the trip. We wanted to find a peaceful place to spread some of Sarah and Claire's ashes.
We woke up before sunrise and headed out on a hike along the nearby cliffs. We searched around for the perfect spot, a spot where the girls would have some sand to play in, where they would have amazing views of nature, and where they could see the whales swimming by in the winter. We also wanted a spot that was private and peaceful but one that was somewhere that we could still get to when we're older. Finally, we found the perfect spot, with a perfect rock to sit on, look out over the ocean and think about our girls while we watched the sunrise.
After a while there, we felt it was the right time so we spread their ashes. Now they are forever a part of Hawaii and the ocean will carry them all over the world on other adventures. We look forward to future mornings spent with them in our special spot.
We had time for one more adventure before we had to pack up and head home, and we saved the most adventurous for last - the helicopter tour!
Given that nearly the entire island is inaccessible by car, this is the best way to take in all the views of the beautiful scenery. I was more than a little nervous about the flight, and so was Katie, especially after we saw our pilot who looked about 19 years old. However, it turns out he was very skilled and had lived on the island his entire life, so we was very knowledgeable.
About one second into it I thought it was the most awesome thing ever and I was totally into it. Katie, I would later find out, was doing her best to look relaxed so I wouldn't worry, but she told me that while she was glad she did it, she was most glad when it was over! But she did a great job of hiding it for the hour we were in the air.
We flew in and out of the green cliffs and saw waterfalls up close.
The famous Na Pali coast (where many movies were filmed, such as Jurassic Park and King Kong) was amazing and lived up to its billing, with its 3000' sea cliffs shrouded in mist.
An hour passed by in what seemed like only 15 minutes, and we were back on solid ground again. But it was an experience neither of us will ever forget!
We spent the rest of the day touring around the island and taking in a few last sights. We saw Spouting Horn, Kauai's most famous blowhole, and Wailua Falls, one of the few falls on the island actually accessible by car.
Our trip ended with an unexpectedly fantastic meal. At the last minute, we decided to duck into a restaurant that was recommended to us earlier in the trip. Katie and I both opted for the 6 course tasting menu (hey, you gotta do it up big on your last night in Hawaii), which was very tasty. The sun was setting in the background and we were able to watch over the beautiful grounds of the restaurant and the beach beyond while we ate. It was a perfect ending to a very relaxing and healing vacation.
All too soon, we had to get on a plane for our 20 hour journey back to home and to reality. But Hawaii was an amazing place and we have definitely only scratched the surface. Since I got back, I have been making a list of all of the great "firsts" one or both of us experienced there:
- First time snorkeling
- First whale sighting (and hearing)
- First sea turtle sighting (swimming among us as we snorkeled)
- First helicopter flight
- First time on a catamaran
- First time eating poi, manchang, shave ice, and several other things
- First time hiking over lava rocks
- First time being next to an ocean blowhole
- First sightings for many bird species (common myna and brazilian cardinal among the favorites)
- First luau
- First time driving through and above a cloud
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