Blogs about kauai:
Hawaiian Fever, Part Seven.
This day was our last full day in Hawaii. In the morning we toured Steelgrass Chocolate farm. The tour was mediocre. We did get to see live cacao trees with chocolate pods, as well as a vanilla orchid and some other exotic plants. But the farm was hot and humid, and the area we toured was rather small. We ended the tour with a tasting of a variety of dark chocolates. I enjoyed eating the chocolates, but I do not like tastings. It seems to me that a "tasting" is a lot of sitting around sharing adjectives. Given the cost of the tour - $60 - I wouldn't recommend it to other visitors.
In the afternoon, we went to Kapa'a and Hanalei and did a little more shopping. Kapa'a had a beautiful glass art gallery and a very unimpressive glass blowing shop; no glory hole - only a blowtorch and an oven! Finally, we capped our trip with one more round of snorkeling in the best spot on the island.
Hawaii, and Kauai in particular, were wonderful. We are scheming to go back as soon as we can. I shall have to start buying Powerball tickets.
Hawaiian Fever, Part Six.
We spent much of the following day in the Waimea Canyon area of Koke'e State Park. We saw some astonishing views, and bought some fresh mango and coconut from a parking lot vendor. We hiked the the Pihea trail from Pu'u o Kila lookout to Pihea vista. The view was worth it - we could see the ocean straight down Napali, clouds surrounding the base of Wai'ale'ale, and the highest swamp in the world. The trail was a deceptively tough 1.8 miles out and back. If you're ever considering a hike in Hawaii, your "difficult" is Hawaii's "moderate". There was a lot of climbing; I used tree roots and branches as rungs on a ladder in some places.
Hawaiian Fever, Part Five.
The next day we took our sunset snorkel dinner cruise; a delightful combination of concepts. As mentioned before, it was a ton of fun. Our only complaints are that the catamaran took us to Makole instead of Nu'alolo (the superior spot); and that the post snorkel beverages couldn't really be classified as beer. It was a great, tantalizing introduction to snorkeling. I'd rather be snorkeling than doing pretty much anything else.
The following day (I was finally forgetting what day it was), we drove around to some of Kauai's famed waterfalls. Alas, we weren't terribly impressed by the waterfalls. Perhaps it was the recent drought on Kauai, or perhaps we northwesterners were already spoiled by the close access to excellent waterfalls such as Silver Falls and Ohanepecosh Falls. Later in the day we took a helicopter tour of Kauai, and that was beautiful. This picture doesn't do it justice, but there is a waterfall.
On July 4th, we did some early morning snorkeling at Poipu beach. It was beautiful - the husband took this photo of a Moorish Idol. For most of the afternoon, we did some hard core relaxing. In the evening, we went to a local fireworks show. The husband was very pleased - even giddy - with the fireworks photos he took - I'm sure he'll post them soon.
Hawaiian Fever, Part Four.
The condo we stayed at is right against an idyllic beach in Poipu. It had great amenities - a hut near the beach to rent gear from, community grills, an on-site bar and restaurant, and even an orchid and cactus garden. My only complaint is that the furniture was not very comfortable. But this is easily avoided by spending more time sitting on the giant lanai or, better yet, snorkeling.
Near Poipu is old Koloa town, where we did a bit of exploring and shopping. Actually, it would be more correct to say I did a bit of shopping, and the husband did a bit of photography. Anyway, an astonishing variety of fruit bearing trees grow all over Hawaii - such as coconut, pineapple, avocado, and papaya. Here are some avocados growing in old Koloa town square near Poipu.
Just a quick drive from Poipu is a water fountain created by waves rushing through a lava tube called Spouting Horn. This shot a good 20 feet into the
air. I'm told that in the sugar plantation days, there was an even more fabulous water fountain, but a plantation manager had it destroyed because the spray was damaging the crops. Boo!
Hawaiian Fever, Part Three.
On Monday we went to Pearl Harbor, and saw the Arizona Memorial. The Memorial was very touching, and the Museum was very interesting, but the whole facility was rather run down and a bit cramped. I'm glad to know that the whole facility is undergoing a major refurbishing as we speak.
In the afternoon, we went back to the beach. The husband tried boogie boarding, and some "water level" photography. I sat on the beach, read about America's race to the moon, and avoided a sunburn. It was very pleasant. In the evening, we took a taxi out to a Kona Pub; a pilgrimage of beer for the husband. He did manage to take some nice photos in the sweet sunset light at the dock near the brewpub. The husband tends to blog more than usual when we are on vacation, as he takes a lot of photos.
On Tuesday we flew to Kauai in the morning - 2 hours at the airports for a 30 minute flight. We picked up our rental car, and enjoyed the local delicacies - siamin and proper shave ice. We then checked into our awesome and kitchen-equipped condo unit, and did some grocery shopping for the week. There's nothing like the cost of flown-in dairy products to make a person sensitive to the local food lifestyle. In the evening, I read on the beach at our condo, and the husband took more photos.
