Kaua'i: A Rainbow Every Day

This is the island's new slogan, just so you know.  Starting right now.  I have declared it and thus it is so.

David and just I spent a week on the Rainbow Daily Isle with my parents.  (Thanks for sharing the timeshare, Mom and Dad!  And thanks for the pre-arranged official Aloha orchid lei greeting, David!)  I read a list of funny questions tourists have asked about Kauai, and one of them was if you could actually see rainbows every day.  Didn't seem like that silly of a question to me, so I started paying attention, just for fun. Guess what. IT'S TRUE! If you spend a day there and didn't see one...you're probably just on the wrong side of the island. Just sayin'.

And before I get going, just so you know, it's not even possible to not post a zillion pictures from this trip. I've already narrowed down the selection quite a bit, but nobody really minds getting a taste of just how amazingly...amazing...this island is, right?

Naturally, we went diving on this trip. (Hat tip: Bubbles Below)  David and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get our Advanced Open Water certification, which means now we can dive in really deep water, or go in caves or at night or crazy things like that. Kaua'i is teeming with underwater life. Here are some of the favorites we saw (we didn't take any underwater pics this time - I borrowed some shots to give you a better idea)...

lots of these guys (we went to a cleaning station
so they were EVERYWHERE)

a few of these beauties

a handful of these uglies

a number of exclusively Hawaiian fish, like this one...

...and this one.

...and this one...

At this point, our dive master says, "Anything you guys still want to see?" So David says, "How about some sharks?"

Ask and ye shall receive!!  We saw not one, but TWO of these guys.

I'm told if you go during the right time of year (which we didn't), you can actually hear the whales singing while you're underwater. I'll definitely be back to check that out.  Someday.

Now, on to the above-water adventures.





We'd been told that Waimea Canyon is like the Grand Canyon, only better because you've got all the green. 












Having been there just earlier this year, I can speak to this claim: it's true.







Our first sunset together there gave my parents a taste of what it's like to travel with ACDC. You know what I'm talking about: the mad dash down the mountain and beyond where the road goes from concrete to dirt to sand as we raced against the clock to reach Polihale Beach (don't tell our car rental people we went there - we almost got stuck in the sand which they definitely don't like), just in the nick of time to see THIS: 

Look at that great smile we got out of Dad!

Next day we decided to try out our sea legs on a catamaran dinner/sunset cruise down the Na Pali coast.    

Everyone we talked to told us that we absolutely had to kayak/ helicopter/catamaran this part of the island. I wish we'd had time to do all of them. My, my, my, what a beautiful place.  

I was the only one who didn't actually feel seasick at some point during this ride. But I don't think anyone would say they regretted going. The combination of seeing the stunning Na Pali cliffs, plus being out on the ocean, plus good food (when people felt up to eating it), plus the sunset, PLUS a cameo appearance by some spinner dolphins who came out to play with us...do I really need to keep going here?

Yeah, didn't think so.

Next day, David and I found our way to Secret Falls. This involves: 

kayaking up the Wailua River (straight through a sudden tropical
downpour, I might add.  But rain in Hawaii isn't cold, it's just wet!
So I just enjoyed watching the patterns of the rain hitting the water.
 Besides, it's not like we weren't going to get wet anyway.),

hiking through the hills,

  

crossing a raging river,

  

a little more hiking, and voila: Secret Falls!

Did we even have the option of not swimming under the waterfall?
I submit that we did not!

We also paddled just a little further up the river to check out Fern Grotto. 

I guess lots of weddings happen there, so here's our
token wedding-type picture.

A trip to Hawaii isn't complete without a luau, amiright? We asked someone at the front desk of our hotel if their luau was any good. They said, "not really - you should go to Smith's Luau." Thanks for the honesty, front desk hotel guy!  And so that's what we did. 

(P.S. they were right - everything about this luau was awesome. Food, landscape, performances, everything.) 

 Let's pause to talk about food.

Check out this pancake! It's full of coconut macadamia nut goodness and slathered with coconut syrup.  Yes, this is a normal-sized plate. My mom and I shared one. And we were totally full. 

This is a local delicacy called Loco Moco. Rice + hamburger patty + eggs + gravy = traditional Kaua'i breakfast. That's right. 

Of course, we had plenty of these. Hawaiians definitely nailed it with the shave ice: mac nut ice cream on the inside, sweetened condensed milk on top. Perfect for a hot day.  Or even a cold day.  I'd eat this whenever the chance arose! 

And finally, a trip to Kaua'i just isn't complete without a Puka Dog. It's more than just a polish dog wrapped inside a ginormous sweet bread bun. They include this decadent spicy buttery garlic-type sauce to give it a little kick, and some sweet Hawaiian mustard. But for me, what really completes the party in my mouth is the relish. This is not your regular run-of-the-mill relish. I hate that relish. But I love me some Puka Dog relish. This relish, you see, is of the tropical variety - coconut, mango, and the like. Put that all together and top it all off with their lemonade (fresh squeezed, of course) and you have yourself a true Hawaiian delight. In my dreams, I'm dining on a Puka Dog and I am very happy, indeed.

We ate at many other amazing places.  If you want to know about them, ask me.  I took notes.

Un-pause.  Now back to the adventures. We spent the next day on the north side of the island - the reeeealy green side (the rainbow side). 

We checked out the taro fields, 

we spent some time napping/ snorkeling at Ke'e beach, 

My dad is so hard-core.  He goes hiking even with a broken toe!

and we hiked down the lava rocks in Princeville to Queen's Bath (where mom and I came up with an awesome synchronized swimming routine - see video at end of post).

Random shot from the car - I call it "Jambo Kaua'i!"  in honor of
the Kenya days.  Acacia is pretty much my favorite kind of tree.

And, of course, we made it to Hanalei Bay in time for a nice picturesque sunset.  

I wanted to get my parents out on some paddleboards for this one.  Better luck next time, I suppose.







My parents left before we did.  On their last day we went to Glass Beach - seriously interesting place.  Right next to the actual beach is all lava rock, and people used to deposit all their old engine blocks and glass bottles there.












It's fascinating to see what the ocean has done to this stuff over time.  All the old, rusted metal and pebbles of glass are strangely beautiful, in a "I'm nature and I'm taking this stuff back!" kind of way.

Can you see us?  We're trying to make ourselves as big and noticeable as possible.

We also finally spent some QT at our hotel pool that day. (Biggest pool in...Hawaii?  The US?  The universe?  I forget what their claim is, but it sure is big.)  (And yes, it is shaped like a flower.)

The other thing everyone told us we had to do was to hike at least part of the Kalalau Trail (which goes right along with the first thing we were told to do, since it's also along the Na Pali coast). And so the next day, we did.



Next time we come back (the time when we'll come to hear the whales singing underwater), we're doing all 11 miles and camping at the end.  This time, for lack of time (and permit), we only hiked 2 miles in to Hanakapi'ai Beach, then 2 more miles to Hanakapi'ai Waterfall.

Hanikapi'ai Beach

This is on the way back - we're much more tired than we look!

I spent a bit of the hike teaching David things I remembered from the PCC days - and also making up a few details, like the Hawaiian Elephant Corn that we kept seeing on the ground (which I actually remembered later was seeds from the Pandanus trees, and I even remembered some cool uses Hawaiians had for them...but by then my credibility was shot.)





This was no easy stroll. It was hilly, it was muddy, and it involved multiple river crossings, but MAN it was gorgeous.

As you may expect, the waterfall at the end was totally worth it.   

The water was so cold that it took my breath away when I jumped in! 

David caught me having my moment.

Despite the freezing temperature of the water, one of my very favorite moments of the whole trip was floating on my back in that icy water, bobbing in the current created by the waterfall, and staring up at the massive force of water pummeling down toward me.  It was magnificent and powerful and also very peaceful, all at the same time.

After that, it was back in the car and a nice jaunt all the way around the island (with a brief stop at Kilauea Bakery for some of the best pizza I've had in recent memory) to catch the sunset at Waimea Pier. 

Incidentally, it was the first black sand beach either of us had ever been to. :) 

We took it easy on our last day. We went to church in Hanalei, putzed around Tunnels Beach, and settled in for a scenic ending at the Pu'u O Kila Lookout.  

similar to Kalalau Lookout - only just down the road and BETTER!

When the fog was cooperating, it was quite spectacular.  

Aloha Kaua'i. Mahalo for bringing back so many memories and helping me to make some more.