We are home from our 10 days in Kauai and of course we had a marvelous time. We stayed in a small cottage off the beach near Hanalai on the North Shore. near the Na Pali Coast.We liked it there even though it is the wetter side of the island. It isn’t quite so busy and touristy.

Haena Beach & "Bali Hai"

 The above beach was one of the best places to snorkel and swim. One of the few beaches with a lifeguard.

Jerry in the little town of Hanalei

A friendly little Brazilian Cardinal who hung outside Bubba's Burgers in Hanalei

We were also close to the famous Kalalau trail that traverses the eastern part of the Na Pali Coast where high sea cliffs, stream valleys, waterfalls and historic sites exist. The trail is recommended for experienced hikers.We did 4 miles of the trail and  I am so very proud of myself for even attempting that trail as it had rained heavily for 2 days and we knew the conditions were going to be rough. Combine steepness with slick mud and it can spell disaster for someone with MS. However I proved to myself that with determination, carefulness, & prepardness, I could do it. Jerry who has done more recent hiking than I have, even admitted it was a very rugged trail. Here are some photos from that adventure.

1st uphill climb on the Kalalau Trail-that's Ke'e Beach below

Many people only climb up to this point to get a picture of the beautiful beach below. This trail was not made with switchbacks in mind either!

Na Pali Coast from the trail

Hanakapiai Beach-destination pt. for our hike

Hanakapiai Beach is a destination surfer beach on the Na Pali Coast because the waves are absolutely huge during the winter. We watched 3 guys surfing while there and one hiking the trail with his board. Most hikers only go into this point because of the roughness of the trail, the lack of potable water and going any further requires a permit.

Huge waves crashing against the Na Pali coastline

a beautiful orchid on the trail

This sign is near the 2mile marker before you head down to the beach-quite amusing

only way to see Na Pali Coast!

It is hard to see details in the picture to the (L), but there are hash marks for emphasis?? on how many lives have been lost in the big waves on the beach.

Jerry & I after doing the trail-it took days for the shoes to dry and we were a bit sore the next day!

Here we are after our hike-this picture doesn’t do justice to the mud & sweat we brought back with us.

We snorkeled until we got prunelike and have some good underwater videos of swimming with a large variety of fish as well as green sea turtles (Honu). The waves were getting a bit rougher on the North shore so we did have to be careful about where we chose to go in the water.

Christmas Wrass

One of the more colorful fish we captured on film with Jerry’s underwater camera.

The little blob to the (L) is a green sea turtle-so cool to swim with!

I visited Kauai 20 some odd years ago and don’t remember much except Waimea Canyon so the scenery was splendid and the beaches are shell heaven. We came back with 3 ziploc bags of shells-many puka that I will drill and grind for necklaces. We have many other varieties some of which we would like to polish so they show their true purple colors. We collected some interesting coral species also. The artist in me has plans for many of the shells we collected.

Being the avid rockhounders that we are, we did investigate wether there are any rocks of intrigue on the island, and there was Kauai Calcite. It comes from only a couple of places and is formed by the rain and saltwater running over the basaltic and volcanic rocks and sand to form white crystals on a host rock of petrified sand. They call it their semi precious state gemstone. I think the reason we came home with so many shells is that we are used to our eyes being on the ground, and when we snorkeled we did so along the waters edge; to find the shells just out of a normal persons reach or sight. Shells that haven’t quite made it to the beach yet and more likely to be intact.

We attempted to see Waimea Canyon but the day we chose to tour the island it was overcast and occassionally drizzily. When we reached the viewpoint we were definately in the clouds. It was quite eary knowing there was a 1500-2500ft deep canyon down there.  The Canyon is 13 miles long (north to south), and 2-2.5 miles wide. It was not a great day for pictures though, but we did enjoy picking Guava on the way down the road.

Waimea Canyon is down there in the fog

Speaking of fruit; my husband is addicted to Papaya and every morning we each had half a papaya with lime. Oh my that was so good and so good for us. We are now going through withdrawl. At home we usually drink a juice mix of Passion fruit, Orange juice and Guava juice that in Hawaii and Tahiti is known as POG. We literally drank our weight in that juice while there. I am quite fond of Lilikoi (passion fruit) and in the town of Waimea we found a cute little factory that produces Lilikoi products. Aunty Lilikoi is its name and I would recommend anyone on Kauai to stop and taste the Lilikoi pie and mail home some passion!

 We enjoyed eating out only infrequently as we had a small BBQ at our cottage and enjoyed cooking our own meals dining on our private lanai. Meals out could be quite expensive but the ones we did enjoy were very delicious. Of course the catch of the day is the best dish to taste. We both enjoyed Ahi and Ono prepared in a mediteranean style as well as a Brazilian flavor. Bubba’s Burgers is the closest thing you’ll get to a hamburger and they put McD’s & BKing to shame. Many famous film stars as well as President Clinton have tasted one of Bubba’s delicous burgers.

We saw intersting birds and beautiful Orchids as well as other tropical flowers. Being on the wetter side of the island really made us feel like we were in the rain forest at times. Over 90% of the native Hawaiian plant and animal species do not exist anywhere else in the world and are primarily found in the undeveloped and mountainous zones of the islands. 

waterfalls cascading down the mountains

We did visit Wailua Falls which is normally split into 3 actual falls but due to the heavy rains for two days, it was one giant falls. This isn’t the best pix but I wanted to capture the rainbow at the bottom of the 80ft falls.

Wailua Falls

There are so many waterfalls you could spend a couple of days just searching for them. The film Jurrasic Park with the large beginning waterfall scene was filmed here on Kauai. The only way to get a glimpse of it now is to take one of many helicopter trips over the island. 

Some of the interesting facts about Kauai that we learned are that Mt. Wai’ale’ale-(5,148ft), in the middle of the island, is one of the rainiest places on earth, with an average annual rainfall of 430 inches. The Na Pali Coast is 14 miles long and displays a step-like gain in elevation to heights over 4000ft within a half-mile from the coast. Over 47% of Kauai’s 111 mile perimeter is edged by sandy beaches including the state’s largest beach, Polihale. 

We had a wonderful trip; the people were gracious and the rain didn’t stop our daily adventures.