Tomorrow Is Another Day...

Yes, Another Hawaii Post

I was hoping that I would be able to wrap up Hawaii in one more post, but what can I say, we just did too much.  I thought about skimming through the rest of our trip, but while I generally keep a trip journal for every day of our big vacations, this time I forgot.  All I have to remember our trip is the pictures and what I write here, so I feel strongly that I need to do this right.  So. when we last left that tropic isle, I was having tiny fits of nervousness as we walked home from dinner in anticipation of the next morning's adventure.

You see, when we met up with our friends in Kauai, they told us all about a lovely kayak tour they did up the Wailua River to a beautiful waterfall where they were able to swim and frolic and eat a picnic lunch together.  I could see the light in Colby's eye as they talked about their excursion into nature, but I knew that he would never ask me if that's something I would be interested in trying because of all the times I'd looked askance at kayakers and pondered the many varieties of death one could encounter in that manner.  So, being the loving wife that I am, I proposed that we try to book a kayaking tour in Oahu.  Surely they have rivers and waterfalls there!

Well, they do.  But the kayak tour that we booked just happened to be in the ocean.  Yes, I willingly agreed--nay SUGGESTED--that we go ocean kayaking when I was still working up to putting my face in the water and relinquishing my floaties.  Needless to say, I was a bundle of snappish nerves that morning, and I tried to mostly just keep my mouth shut for fear that the harpy inside of me would come flying out at the least provocation as we signed a waiver and stowed our worldly goods in a tiny, damp locker.

Much to my surprise, I was able to get into the kayak without tipping it over, and even more surprising, when the waves weren't bouncing us high into the air and dashing me with gallons of saltwater, the experience was verging on enjoyable.  We went from Kailua Beach out to Flat Island, a tiny island and sea bird sanctuary, where we swam for a while and took a little walk around the volcanic terrain.  Feeling a little more confident about my skills after our trip out to the island, the trip back in was much more enjoyable and my snappish comments to Colby much fewer and farther between as I was no long convinced with every paddle dip that we were about to go overboard.  It was about 30 minutes out to the island and a little less on the way back as we weren't going against the waves, and I think I can say with a degree of sincerity that I would do it again.  Though I think the river kayaking would be a bit less stressful.

And as though that level of excitement could possibly be topped, we went to get pizza at a tiny restaurant next to the kayaking company and lo, what to our wondering eyes should appear?  Jorge Garcia, of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes on Lost fame, walking right by our table as he went to pick up a large pizza.  Alas, there is no photographic evidence of this moment in time as we were camera- and phone-less, but it was still pretty amazing and surreal.

 

We spent the afternoon driving around Lanikai, a ritzy neighborhood near Kailua searching for more Lost cast members to no avail, swinging by Moloki'i Island (also known as Chinaman's Hat for... obvious reasons), and visiting Byodo-in-Temple which was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Japanese workers arriving in Hawaii and is more famously known as Sun's father's house on Lost (Are we noticing a theme here??  It was really totally unplanned!).  It was a beautiful temple and we had a great time walking around the grounds, taking in the dramatic surroundings, and feeding the fish and swans.  That evening we hiked up to the Makapu'u Lighthouse where we were granted an incredible view of Oahu's coastline and the islands of Manana and Kaohikaipu.

And after a day like that, we treated ourselves to some treats from the Cookie Corner conveniently located next to our hotel, and collapsed on the balcony where we enjoyed our saturated fats and a gorgeous sunset before kicking off our last two days in paradise.

Oahu: The Island of a Bajillion People and Three Interstates

 

So, here's the thing, I'm just going to say it and accept the backlash that this controversial statement will likely create.  I just didn't like Oahu.  I could write paragraph after paragraph listing all of my reasons, but really they can all be summed up thusly:
1) Tiny island, LOTS of people.
2) Big city conventionality.

If you want to get a parking spot at the beach, you have to be there by 8 am, or walk miles from the closest available spot.  It may look like it will only take 10 or 15 minutes to get to Waikiki from the airport, but it will, in fact, take an hour.  And all of this in a place that has become nothing but a bite-sized, beach-side version of Times Square.  Were we miserable while we were there?  Well, sometimes we were, but overall, no.  Were we ready to go home when the seventeenth rolled around?  Yes.

But our hotel room was nice.

And our view was TOO DIE FOR.

 

But first!  We had to finish our Kauai "to do list".  No, I didn't make an itinerary, but come on, you didn't think I would go on vacation with at least SOME sort of goals in mind!  The morning before we caught our flight we woke up to the torrential downpour of Tropical Depression Felicia.  Lucky for us, she apparently had gotten wind of our schedule and was kind enough to clear up for our visit to the Kauai Coffee Company (tried the coffee--still hate it) and the Hyatt at Poipu for lunch (new goal--STAY THERE SOMEDAY).  The waves were still enormous, but the sun was shining, and we were crying on the inside as we headed off to the airport to do battle with the car rental agency.  It was, however, with a joyful heart that we waved goodbye to our crappy PT Cruiser, and soon we were back in the air, on the way to our next island.

We were greeted by a lovely rainbow over the mountains as we drove to Waikiki, but opted to stay in for the night as Felicia's rain had followed us.  We dined on delicious Wolfgang Puck Express Pizzas as we watched the mysteries of magic revealed on tv.  The next morning we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed to Pearl Harbor to visit the Arizona Memorial.  It was an intensely powerful experience, and I found myself not in the minority as a few tears made an appearance as I looked down into the oil-slicked water.  It wasn't the most uplifting moment of our trip, but I think a reminder about the true cost of freedom is important every now and then.

For lunch, we decided to check out Hickham AFB, where a few of our friends will be moving in the next few months, and then went back to the hotel to get ready for the Hale Koa luau that evening.  Now, I can't speak for other luaus, but I can tell you this, if you're looking for good food, hot men climbing coconut trees, women shaking what the good Lord gave them, and a delicious pina colada, then the Hale Koa luau is the place for you.  We were even treated to an adult contemporary hit of the late 80s as the MC sang his world famous chart topper, Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You.  (You have to watch that video--horses, beaches, sunsets, pink sundresses--you will NOT regret it.)  (I may or may not have downloaded that the minute I got back home.)  (I did.)  He's a high school teacher now.

The next morning we totally rejected the schedule we'd decided on the night before and slept until after ten.  Which meant that we began hiking Diamond Head around noon.  Bad Idea Pants.  Which leads me to a recurring observation we had about Hawaiian hiking levels--they say "easy", I say "It's not easy if you can't hike it with a pina colada in hand and not break a sweat."  They say "potato", I say "bullshit".  Fortunately, it was a fairly impressive sight once we heaved our broken bodies up the final step, and even more fortunately there was a moderately shady spot for me to sit.  Triple fortunate, and a damn good marketing strategy, there was a shave ice stand at the bottom of the crater.

We rewarded ourselves with a long afternoon at the beach across the street from our hotel, and that night had the great fortune of meeting up with a longtime "internet friend", Mandy, and her husband.  We met at the Outrigger Waikiki for dinner at the Hula Grill, then wedged ourselves into Duke's for an after-dinner drink.  It was so much fun to meet someone that I've felt so close to over the years without ever having actually met and have her turn out to be just as awesome in person as she is online.  I could have happily sucked down another couple of daiquiris, but we were all clearly wiped out by 9:30 and my stomach was already tying itself up in knots at the thought of our next morning's adventure...

Kauai Did We Have to Leave??

And then there was no internet.  We stayed in a great hotel on Oahu for the last five days of our trip, and they provided everything we could ever need, including internet for the low, low price of $9.95 per day.  Eye roll.  I know all 2 of you have been anxiously awaiting my next Hawaii update, so my deepest apologies for making you wait this long.  Let's finish up in Kauai today, shall we?

On the 9th we made our transition from our B&B in Princeville to one on the south shore, so we wanted to finish up all of the "things to do" on the north shore before heading down.  We started off with a hike to Queen Emma's Bath, an amazing naturally created pool in a lava rock formation right in the ocean.  Because 1) I am a chickenshit and 2) There were a lot of people jumping and splashing around in the pool, I opted not to actually get in the pool, but we had fun watching other people jump in. We finished up the north shore with a visit to Lumahai Beach where the "Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" scene from South Pacific was filmed, and lastly Kilauea Lighthouse, a combination lighthouse and bird sanctuary--two for the price of one!

Our B&B in Lawai was... beyond words.  It was the most beautiful B&B I've ever stayed in with an absolutely spectacular view, and I'm already dreaming of going back again in our hopefully not too distant future.  I don't know if I want to share it with the world, but it's pretty popular already, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you that it was the Kauai Banyan Inn.  Just don't try to book the Ulu suite for the same time as us!  We discovered a couple of days before we left for our trip that a couple of our friends from college were going to be in Kauai while we were there, so that night we got together for a delicious dinner at Brennecke's on Poipu.

The next morning, we headed out to Waimea Canyon--the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.  Since I've never seen the ACTUAL Grand Canyon, I can't make a comparison, but Waimea was pretty dang impressive.  We drove to a few of the overlooks, then got down to the business of beach-going. 

We made our way to Poipu and I camped out on the beach with my book while Colby tried his hand at body-boarding.  He had fun for a little while, but eventually the waves began to overpower pretty much everyone out there as they grew in size.  It was one of the few effects of Tropical Depression Felicia that we felt, and it was actually pretty cool to see the 10-12 foot high waves and the locals body-boarding and surfing.  That night we opted to stay in and enjoy a quiet night on our private porch overlooking the old sugar mill and the ocean.

On the 11th, we went for breakfast at Eggberts in Ka'apa, then met up with our friends again and went to Wailua and Opa'eka Falls.  I was still in search of what I call a good "floating beach".  All of the beaches we'd been to so far were gorgeous, but they were covered in coral making them good for snorkeling, or pretty wavy making them great for surfing or body-boarding, but all I wanted to do was get in the ocean and float!  We FINALLY found the perfect floating beach in Salt Pond Beach and I just got on my noodle and floated to my heart's content all afternoon.

After we had our fill of floating, we packed up our mountain of beach gear and caravanned over to the Barking Sands military base where we walked the gorgeous beach and then offroaded a bit to Poli Hale State Park.  We watched the sunset at the state park and it really was the perfect combination of sandy beach, crashing waves, and dramatic cliffs at the start of the Na Pali Coast.  Unfortunately, on our way back to our B&B, our radiator busted on us, so the four of us ended up doing some late night "redneck camping" on our beach chairs and mats on the side of Kaumaulii Highway, waiting for the tow truck to rescue us.

It was certainly an interesting way to spend our last night in Kauai, but it's definitely one of those vacation moments I will always remember.  The next day Felicia finally hit the island and we were off to Oahu where we experienced a completely different side to Hawaii.

Just Another Day for Me in Paradise

Kauai, in a word, is paradise. It's the most beautiful and the closest to untouched place that I've ever been, and as much as I’m sure Oahu will be a blast, I’m kind of heartbroken to be leaving this tiny little island in the Pacific.

 

We arrived on August 6th, and having decided to split our trip between the North and South shores, we headed up to Princeville to the Princeville Bed & Breakfast for the first half of our stay.  The B&B was a beautiful home on a golf course, and we really got to feel as though we were part of a family as we got to know our fellow boarders and the sweet couple running the place over breakfast chats.

We began our time in Kauai with fish tacos, a bottle of wine, and a twilight dip in Hanalei bay before crashing into a deep sleep in preparation for hiking the Kalalau trail along the Na Pali coast. The hike begins at Ke’e beach in Haena State Park and winds along the Na Pali cliffs for 11 miles, ending at Kalalau Beach, but we opted to just do the first 2 miles out to Hanakapi’ai Beach and then back to Ke’e to sun ourselves (me) and snorkel (Colby) for the rest of the day.

The hike was definitely strenuous at times, and we were glad that we had stashed as much water in our backpack as we did, but we were rewarded with the most glorious views of the coastline and the ocean, and Hanakapi’ai Beach was definitely worth the trek. If we ever make it back here—which I very much hope we do—it is possible that I could be talked into the 11 mile hike with a sleepover at Kalalau before hiking back.  I’m sure it’s a test of one’s mettle, but if the views we had over the first two miles were any indication, it would absolutely be worth it.

Saturday we got up with the chickens (literally, the amount of wild chickens roaming this island is absolutely astounding—and they particularly like to make their presence known in the wee hours of the morning), and drove down to Port Allen on the southern coast for our catamaran trip along the Na Pali. I was a little worried about seasickness, but I’m proud to say that I made a pretty decent little sailor (though a sailor who was sure to keep a firm grip on the railings at all times).

Once again, our views of the Na Pali were magnificent, and we stopped to sail for a little while before those who wanted to got out to snorkel and the rest of us (me and a French girl) chose to sit on the boat and hang our feet in the water. Though I didn’t snorkel (I'm still... working up to that...), I saw plenty of fish swimming around near the surface, and on our way out to the snorkel spot we saw a few sea turtles tumbling along and scores of adorable spinner dolphins earning their name. After lunch, we motored on back to Port Allen, and decided we were very glad we had woken up early to do the morning tour as the sea hadvgotten substantially choppier in the early afternoon hours.

 

That afternoon, we packed up our beach gear and headed out to Tunnels beach, which apparently has a reef so large it can be seen from space. I floated around a bit on a boogie board while Colby went in pursuit of undersea creatures, we went for a beach walk which led us to a sleepy Monk Seal taking a nap on the shore, and then we sat on the beach reading until we were met with a gorgeous beach sunset. All of that beauty and we were only 2 ½ days into our trip, as we would find out, Kauai just kept getting better and better…