kyotesue

March 10 The Wailua River

No trade winds are blowing this morning, everything is quiet as the winds do their spring time turning. It’s humid and still, the surf is low, and the clarity that was so incredible the first couple of days that we were here isn’t as striking today.

We were up reasonably early for vacation time, since we were to meet in Wailua for our guided tour before 9. We looked at several options for this first-time trip, with a large number of choices available, but thought that maybe a guided trip would be ok for us and there might be some information we would get this way that we might not on our own. Of course, there was also the problem of how to get a rented kayak from the store to the river on our little rental car, so that problem was solved with the guided trip as well.

We went with Kayak Wailua, http://www.kayakwailua.com/ and our group was led by a young man born on Kauai whose father actually owned the company. He seemed fairly quiet and reserved until you asked a question, and then it was clear that he loved to talk. He told us all about the family business and the interactions of his mother and siblings with his father, the reason Hawaii became a state, and how it was really the Hawaiians that sold out to the US because of the money involved in the sugar cane business and the powerful politicians connected to that industry. He said Hawaii was definitely a Democratic/Liberal state, although he seemed to think that it was originally more conservative and was the antidote to the entry of the liberal Alaska to the union. He talked about the trees and the plants and the people and it was all kind of fun in a way that we wouldn’t have experienced on our own. There were 12 people on the tour, the legal maximum, and who knows why but they were all young people, 3 couples from Utah traveling together and another young honeymooning couple from Minnesota. Our guide Jonathan, led us up the hidden channel to the hidden trail and all its twists and turns that went to Secret Falls. I suppose we could have found it all on our own eventually if we had followed the rest of the kayakers on the river, but for 50 bucks each, we both decided that the trip was a pretty good value.

For me, Sue, this was the highlight of the trip. The river is easy, with an easy current that makes paddling effortless, and hiking through the forest along the stream was what I had somehow imagined our Kalalau hike would be. Lovely, green, soft ground underfoot, wading streams and gentle ups and downs until we came to the falls. Secret Falls itself is all that you might imagine a tropical waterfall to be. It’s about 120 feet tall, and ends in a perfect pool surrounded by lava rock. Of course, there were people there, but somehow that didn’t really matter. The water was about 64 degrees on this day, a bit cool when you first get in, but wonderful once you are swimming. I can’t really describe how it feels to be in this place, but it is everything magical that I wanted to experience on my dream trip to Kauai. I swam to the waterfall and felt that water pounding my body sharp and hard, and surprisingly at least 10 degrees warmer than the pool itself. I then floated on my back looking up at the falls for a long time, finally ending with another moment of the falls pounding on my head. Looking at pictures of the falls and the pools, even being there and looking at people swimming and watching the falls doesn’t come close to the actual experience of being in the pool and feeling the energy of the place. I’m so grateful for this experience and won’t forget the feelings, even though I can’t even come close to describing them at all.

We hiked back down, and enjoyed the kayak trip back to the marina, although the time on the river itself seemed much to short. If we ever go back, we will definitely rent a boat on our own and take our time in this place, exploring much more than we had the chance to do on the trip.

Home in time for a rest and a shower before driving again to Kapa’a and Wailua State Park to experience the Smith Family Luau and Tropical Gardens. As with everything else on Kauai, there isn’t really any kind of dress code, and many people, including us, were wearing the standard shorts and sandals. But others seemed to use this luau as a chance to dress up, and dressing up most of all seems to be the classic matching Hawaiian shirts for the men and dresses for the women. We even saw an entire family in the same matching print, all from Hilo Hattie’s, of course. It was fun. Especially fun were the young couples, obviously honeymooners, in their matching outfits.

http://www.smithskauai.com/luau.html The gardens were lovely, and made up a bit for our choice to skip the botanical gardens. Lots of beautiful plants and trees all with name tags and introduced to us by the driver of the tram. “and on your left….” We enjoyed the silly tram ride, and the luau itself was fun. The “Imu” ceremony was classic, with the conch shell blowing, and the strapping young guys in their native sarongs taking out the pig. The food was served in a large open shelter and there were close to 500 people there, with free MaiTais and drinks and huge buffet lines. The food itself wasn’t exactly memorable, the kahlua pork isn’t as smoky as it smelled coming out of the pit, and it pretty salty. There was some fried rice and salads, some teriyaki beef that MMo liked and some chicken thing that was forgettable. But we had been forwarned that Hawaiian tastes were different so we didn’t really expect fabulous food anyway. I ate poi with lomi lomi salmon and actually thought it was quite good. Mo had tried poi when she was in the islands a long time ago and had no desire to experience it ever again.

The music was classic kitschy Hawaiian with ukeleles and a lovely hula dancer. I had expected something a bit more traditional, but it was still fun. The show after dinner was held in the theater area, with a fake volcano spitting fire and dances from many places. Tahitian dancing always seems to be popular in Hawaii because it’s faster and wilder than traditional hula, and of course the fire dancer thing is always dramatic and a crowd pleaser. The whole thing was fun and the moon through the clouds silhouetting the palms against the sky made it especially lovely. We went home feeling satisfied with our Wailua day.

March 8 hanging at home

Saturday March 8

This day we decided to just hang around the lovely home we were living in and appreciate all the delights of a quiet day on the island. The suite had laundry facilities just out the door that were shared by the residents, but we had no problem finding the washing machine available, and every once in awhile, a chance meeting at the dryer gave us a chance to interact a bit with the neighbors, exchange pleasantries about interesting things to do, and visit a bit. Our day was lovely, with perfect weather and skies, and another extra provided with the suite was leftover snorkeling gear. Rene was sure to tell us that they couldn’t officially rent out gear, but we were welcome to use whatever was left on the shelf in the laundry room, so we found some stuff and headed down Rene’s trail to the local beach.

It was Sue’s first time to snorkel, and just a little bit intimidating but Mo had done it before so we strapped on the masks and headed into the water. Of course, Sue’s snorkel was a bit leaky and a noseful and then a mouthful of salt water was a bit daunting. But I remembered what a coworker told me about staying with it, and of course switching out masks with Mo was a big help. That one didn’t leak, so I eventually got the hang of it and was rewarded with the magical appearance of tropical island fish right under my nose. We were in what is called Aliomanu Beach, and according to our well worn guidebook, this is the beach where local Hawaiians go to do net fishing and to gather other underwater treasures. A man and his wife were hanging out and he showed us how to use some local succulent beach leaves to wipe out the inside of the snorkel so it wouldn’t fog up. I still managed to swallow a good deal of salt water while getting used to it all, and am not sure if the upset stomach was from all that water or maybe I was just seasick. A quiet rest on the beach in the sun and shadows of passing clouds made it all ok in a short time, though.

The rest of the afternoon passed quietly, with actual relaxation a real part of the whole day. Late in the day we went in to Kapa’a and the Coconut Market http://www.coconutmarketplace.com/stores.html which turned out to be a delightful touristy area, that we enjoyed completely. There was even Hawaiian music on the plaza, and all the “stuff” for sale that you expect in Hawaii, including those wiggly hula girls for the dashboard of your classic car if you happen to have one. Sue found a great Hawaiian dress coverup at Bodacious and we ambled back in the late evening to a home cooked simple supper and early bedtime to the music of the ocean and breezes.

March 9 South side towns

Sunday March 9

Quiet morning here with early morning news. It’s the first morning where things have felt a bit cool and we even had to turn off the big fans that have run almost constantly since we arrived. Nice this morning that the internet is again working and I have a chance to update the blogs and upload photos. Of course, in the process, I realize that I am losing days in spite of my commitment to keeping track of what we are doing. I know that in the blur of all that we are doing, if I don’t write about it on a regular basis, the whole thing will run together in one big chunk and Mo and I will look at each other and say, now when did we do that? Where was that? What year was that?

I guess that’s the whole reason for the MoHoTravels blog in the first place, somewhere that we can go besides a tattered old journal to try to remember when we did what. The fact that it can be shared if I choose is just a little bonus, and also forces me to spell and at least think a little bit about what I am writing. That’s good for me even if no one but Mo or I ever read anything at all. Of course, the main reason is that I can type about a zillion times faster than I can write, and I am at the point in my life where I can no longer read my own writing. Ha!

The day is unfolding quietly, with thoughts of going back to the Poipu area and checking out the tropical arboretum there and the Spouting Horn, and maybe walking around the town of Koloa.

We decided to explore the southern coast today and check out the little historic towns of Koloa and Hanapepe, then on to Poipu. It’s still amazing to me just how different the southern and western side of the island is compared to the east and north where we are staying. The historic aspect of Koloa plantation history could have been interesting, but most things don’t open until noon in these little resort towns, and as we discovered, Sunday is a very quiet day all over the island, except for the churches. Many shops and attractions are closed on Sunday, so if you decide to visit, plan Sunday as a beach day or a home day. Although the beaches were fairly busy with the addition of locals to all the tourists. We also found out that this is the quietest time of year, a lucky thing for us. Winter and summer are much busier, with traffic jams and long lines waiting to get into any restaurants, so we smiled at our totallly random luck. When we planned this trip, we were just thinking off the best time to leave late winter early spring snows behind us. Great timing!

We left Koloa and drove up the coast a mile or two to see the famous Spouting Horn, a typical blow hole kind of feature with the addition of a very noisy vent that sounded exactly as you might imagine that a dragon would sound. In spite of all the warnings about not going behind the fence, people were all around the blow hole and I went down there as well to try to catch a photo of the water exploding like a geyser. Photos didn’t quite get it, but I did get to be up close to the very scary dragon sound! spooky!!

We had also planned to go the tropical botanical gardens, one of 5 in the world, but decided that the $30 price tag was too high for our plans so skipped that one. After viewing the Spouting Horn we continued north on HWY 50 to the little town of Hanapepe, the art center of the island. Everything was very very quiet, with most stores and galleries closed, but we walked across the swinging bridge, and talked with one artist in her studio who filled us in on some of the more controversial issues that are plaguing the island in this day of dot.com millionaires and absentee owners. The problems sound the same as many other places in the world, gentrification and second homes eating up all the real estate, inflating the prices far beyond what a working person can possibly afford, and killing the local culture while it feeds the economy is ways that don’t help the masses very much.

We returned home in the late afternoon to more relaxation, and I cooked a truly wonderful stir-fry with chicken and some truly sweet pineapple. I haven’t mentioned the pineapple, but omigosh, it is every bit as sweet and non acidic as the pineapple I loved so much last year in Thailand. Ahhh! and great little very sweet bananas, called “apple bananas” are also wonderful. This time of year is quiet as far as fruit and veggies, go but the pineapple lived up the the dream!

March 8 dot.com stories

Here is a photo of the dot.com world in action. Computer Dave we call him. The first morning that Mo and I were on Kauai, we went walking and found Dave. I called him the florid man who showed us the way to Rene’s Trail. As our internet connection continued to baffle Karl and Rene, they asked their friend for help. He knocked on the door, and lo and behold it was Dave. Dave is a great guy, every time we see him he is smiling and happy and helpful. When he wasn’t able to correct the cable problem, he offered his home office for me to check email and print our vouchers for the kayak trip we ordered online. (gotta remember that part about travel, computers, and online orders, there has to be a printer somewhere!!)

So we walked down the road, over Rene’s hidden trail, along the beach and up a little sand bar to this magnificent home overlooking the water. Dave’s dot.com house. Everything was all open and breezy and lovely in that island way, and his wife was standing at the sink, looking a bit pertubed that friendly Dave was hauling some strange woman into the house, probably not for the first time. He took me up to his climate contolled office the only room in the house that has air conditioning and where he keeps all his equipment. He makes his living now doing computer consulting when he feels like it. What he told me is that he worked in San Jose and retired in 91, and his stock options bought this house, he moved to Hawaii, and the market crashed 6 months later. No wonder he is so happy all the time!

March 7 Waimea Canyon

After seeing the south and east side of the island on our first day out, we decided that today we wanted to see the famous Waimea Canyon, Grand Canyon of the Pacific, as it is referred to. Our typical granola and banana breakfast and we were on the road by 8 am, traveling south on 56 and then west on 50 through the towns of Hanapepe, which we saved for another trip, and Waimea, and up Canyon Road. Interesting that the road to the canyon isn’t well marked because the powers that be actually want you to miss it so that you will continue on to the next town of Kekaha to hopefully spend some more money before continuing up this other route to the canyons. We had our trusty guidebook which warned us of this little problem, so even though we also missed the turn, we knew enough to turn around and fine the hidden turn.

The road goes up very fast, from sea level to 1500 feet in about 2 miles and then it settles down to a bit more reasonable elevation. There are several wide spots in the road for views, and the main lookouts are marked well with parking and of course, lots of people. We were glad to have stopped at one of the earlier unmarked areas for the first view of the canyon because we had the dramatic run of a herd of wild goats running along the cliff sides. Of course, the telephoto on my camera works great, but I can’t seen anything in the viewfinder in the bright sunlight so I have a closeup of some very pretty rocks, and no goats. But we at least got to see them. On up the canyon, we stopped at each of the bigger viewpoints, including the main Waimea Canyon Lookout where I bought fresh pineapple (a hit) and ice cold coconut floating in coconut water (a miss). We also stopped at the Pu’u Ka Pele and the Pu’u Hinahina Lookouts where you can see the lovely Waipo’o Falls in the canyon and the forbidden island of NiHau in the west. We got much better views of Nihau later in the day but it was fun to see it from the high point of the canyon drive.

As we drove higher, over 3500 feet, the fog started coming in and the views lessened. We drove past the Koke’e State Park and on to the end of the road and the two lookouts that give views off the Kalalau valley and those famous vertical green cliffs and the Pacific Ocean. The road wasn’t as potholed as suggested in the guidebook, but the clouds were there and the views were not. Ah well. I looked at the photos and imagined what I might see if my timing were better. There are several trails that take off from the last viewpoint, including the Pihea Trail and the Alaka’i Swamp Trail. All trails that would have beckoned us another time, but on this day our legs were still complaining about what we did yesterday on the Kalalau trail so we looked at each other and said, “Hey, who needs to hike in the fog, we couldn’t see anything anyway. Let’s go find a beach”.
On the way back down the canyon we decided lunch was a good idea and stopped at the Koke’e Lodge for a surprisingly nice meal and some fun watching the feral chickens doing their chicken thing. Chickens on Kauai are like seagulls on the Oregon coast. They are everywhere, brought here originally by the first settlers with their pigs and dogs, but since Hurricane Iniki they have multiplied even more. According to Rene they are a good thing, eating roaches and centipedes, two bugs that were also imported here. The feral cats seems to keep the population of the feral chickens to a manageable number as well. It was shocking to find a feral cat half the way into the wild area on the Kalalau trail, and out on the distant beaches of Polihale. A sound in my memory of Kauai will be of roosters crowing. All the time, in town, in the country, at home, everywhere.

After our refreshing lunch we continued back down to the western beaches, long long stretches of sand and hot sun. It was amazing just how much hotter it was down here, and the clouds of the mountains completely dissipated as we drove to the end of the road and Polihale Beach. Here the sand dunes are 100 feet high and the sand is HOT. We were happy again to have the guidebook that directed us to go left at the monkeypod tree to find the Queen’s Pond and the southern end of Polihale beach. The surf on this side of the island is huge and strong and scary, and this is supposedly a nice gentle place to swim safely. We tramped across the deep hot sand to plop down next to this lovely spot and swim. I love it, the keiki (baby) beach, and it was plenty strong for me. I swam and swam and played in the waves and felt the strength of it and remembered childhood days at Huntington Beach in California, getting pounded into the sand by waves and wondering if I was ever going to surface. Just outside the boundaries of this little reef area there were huge waves, so big the a couple of surfers trying to get into the water walked up and down the beach and finally gave up. We swam and rested and swam some more before finally decided to leave this lovely place. Drove a bit farther north into the state park to check out the picnic area and camping and after checking out the wild surf we were really glad to have found our baby beach at Queen’s Pond.

Heading back along the coast to Waimea we stopped at the famous Jo’Jo’s Shave Ice and had the tropical treat. If you have never had a shave ice, believe me, it is NOT a snow cone. The ice is shaved really fine, and the best way I can describe it is like the texture off eating a really good crispy watermelon. It ‘s ground really fine, then covered with fresh tasting tropical juices and all on top of a scoop of macadamia ice cream. Unbelieveable. Like the best watermelon you ever had, and maybe something like a tropical root beer float as well. Ahhhhh! Another perfect end to a perfect day. Home at sunset to reading and relaxing and enjoying our tropical breezes and home.