Honeymoon on Kauai

Kauai is an island in the northern end of the Hawaiian islands, and it was Mary and my chosen honeymoon destination. We were there from October 12 through the 19. This blog is a collection of photos and thoughts from our trip! Enjoy!

Aloha from Kauai, Hawai'i! 

Just before sunrise, taken from our balcony. 

Mary in the living room of our condo. This place was bigger than our house! It had two bathrooms, and could easily sleep another 2-3 people.  

The master bathroom with shower. 

Our bedroom and a super-mega-king sized bed. 

Mary at the beach in front of the Princeville hotel 

Anini Beach, one of our favorites on the island. 

A view from our balcony 

Where the Chicken Run Free

Everywhere you go on Kauai, you will see chicken. From the white sand beaches, to the highest mountains you'll hear the clucking and the crowing.

Filipino immigrants to Hawai'i liked to train their chickens to fight and when they came to Hawai'i, they brought their chickens with them.

The first battle for chicken freedom on Kauai blew in with the winds of the hurricane of 1982. It blew down all the chicken houses and released all the chickens into the wild. Afterwards the chicken houses were rebuilt and stocked with new chickens. Then, ten years after the first, another hurricane unleashed not only its fury on the island, but also unleashed all these new chickens.

Compound that with the fact there are no snakes, mongooses (mongeese?) or other predators except people on the island...and you have a burgeoning chicken population!

A fowl customer..  

Smith Family Luau

One of the things Mary wanted to do was experience a Hawai'ian Luau. I'm sure you've all heard of them, or maybe even attended one. If you don't know, it's a meal/party thrown in honor of guests. Which makes our attendance at one very appropriate!

We went to one that was recommended to us, held by the Smith family at their Smith Family Polynesian Gardens on Kauai.

I know what you're thinking.."Smith? That doesn't sound very authentic!". This was explained by Freckles Smith, who is the patriarch of the family. Apparently, his great-great grandfather came to Hawai'i from England in the 1800s and settled down with a Hawaiian girl. How he was given his legal name of "Freckles" might be an even more interesting story..or maybe not.

Before the luau they took us on a tour of their botanical garden in a little tram that slowly snaked its way through their gardens. They introduced us to many varieties of plants and trees that grow on the Garden Isle. Trailing along behind us the whole way was a flock of various fowl, anticipating that we'd toss bread crumbs or other bird treats their way.

When the ride ended, Mary and I roamed the grounds before the dinner was to begin. It was here we confirmed the rumors. They were indeed letting people have as many Mai Tais as you could drink. While they were good, I only sipped some from Mary's..and Mary only enjoyed one. Apparently there was someone from state alcohol enforcement there, as they drilled into our heads one person could only carry one alcoholic beverage at a time. (More than one? Is this luau normally like a frat party?)

Then came the imu ceremony, where the baked pig is extracted from the ground before being carved up. Following that, we all headed for the dining area and pigged out.
Our admission paid for us to see a polynesian cultural show, which we watched afterwards.

A scenic shot of the Smith Family's slice of polynesian paradise. The place is a botanical garden and is chock-full of hungry and aggressive peacocks, chickens and various other fowl. Oh, they (so we were told) have the best traditional Hawai'ian luau on the island. 

I coerce a fellow luau-attendee to take a photo of Mary and I. We were wandering the Smith grounds before dinner. 

A breadfruit tree in the Smith Family Garden. We tried slapping some mayo and ham between two slices of the breadfruit, with disasterous results. It was then we decided breadfruit can't be eaten like bread. 

Before removing the kalua pig from the underground imu, two young members of the Smith family ritually blow the conch shells... fulfilling part of the Imu Ceremony.  

Freckles Smith discusses the Imu ceremony with the crowd as the two boys remove the pig from the imu 'oven'.  

Mary waits for the start of the Luau show.. 

Some brightly dressed Hula dancers at the Smith Family Luau show. After dinner, all 400 of us or so wandered over to the stage area and watched a cultural show featuring all the peoples of Polynesia and Hawai'i.  

A Hawaiian girl appears out of the darkness to dance among the tropical flora. I wasn't using a flash..in case you couldn't tell, so it's a bit blurry. 

Many Polynesian cultures were represented here at the Luau show.. here is a Maori (from New Zealand) girl swinging some fire bolos. 

A Tahitian Fire-Sword man demonstrating how to eat a fire-laden sword and not get heartburn. 

Mary has this thing about photographing feet..must be some artsy thing I do not understand..here she is documenting her footsies as we drive down the road.  

A view of the mountains from the road as we drove down to Lihue.  

Kauai by Air

One of the things I was looking most forward to on our trip was the helicopter tour. Our guidebook likened taking a helicopter tour on Kauai to "..going to the Sistine Chapel and not looking at the ceiling". I heard similar sentiments from many people who visited, or wrote a book about, Kauai.

It was easily the most expensive tour Mary or I have ever been on, but it was worth it in my mind.

The 60 minute tour left from the main airport in Lihue, and flew clockwise around the island. We flew over Waimea Canyon, also known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific", the Na Pali coastline, the 'tunnel of trees' and, because we were blessed with unusually clear weather, the pilot flew us RIGHT INTO the crater of the extinct volcano, Wai'ale'ale'. (Try saying that 3x fast). I never figured out how to pronounce that correctly.

The whole thing was awe-inspiring. The only disappointment was the fact that the cheap replacement rechargables we bought to use if our main camera batteries failed (which they did just before the flight), died after only about 15 minutes or so. Luckily, I had decided to bring along my camcorder.

Emerald mountains on Kauai, the oldest of the Hawai'ian islands. 

The waterfall from the movie 'Jurassic Park' as seen from our helicopter tour. I'm not sure what it's real name is. 

A glaring (literally) view of the 'Cathedrals'..a rock/cliff formation that you must see to believe. It is one of those fantastic views of the Na Pali coastline. 

The final still picture taken from our helicopter tour, just prior to the death of our back-up cheap-o rechargable batteries that expired after 20 minutes of use. The picture shows the Na Pali coastline. We did get plenty of beautiful video, however.  

A shot of world famous Poipu Beach. This beach is one of the nicest on the island, as it is protected by some volcanic rock sea walls. We decided to swim and frolic here for part of the day. The beach continues past long past the point you see. 

A dastardly band of wild, roving chickens raids a picnic site at Poipu Beach.  

Lounging on Shipwreck Beach was a Monk Seal, of which there are few in the Hawaiian islands. They relax so deeply that some people in the past have thought that they are dead or beached and tried to push them back in the ocean, or perform CPR (kidding on that one). The truth is, they are simply deep-sleepers! Now, authorities cordon off the resting beast and post signs like this one. Click to enlarge.. 

Mary and I at Shipwreck Beach. Apparently there was once one there, but it was broken apart and washed away by the relentless sea. People have been known to leap off the point behind us. Hey, whatever floats your boat.  

Putting my trust in the strength of the sandstone ledge I stand on..  

One of many odd sedimentary rock formations on our hike behind Shipwreck beach. 

A couple get married on the cliff's edge.  

My Mary..  

Shipwreck beach from the other side. 

Rainy Friday

Rain was something we expected during our stay on Kauai. After all, we were staying only a few miles from the wettest location on Planet Earth. We were very fortunate, however that only one day was rainy.

We picked up a couple of parkas and decided to explore the northern coast of the island.

A pair of Nene geese, seen at the Kileau Lighthouse nature preserve. This place once was simply a lighthouse, but the Dept of Natural Resources now maintains it as a nature preserve for birds. The Nene are indigenous to Hawai'i. 

These holes are nests for Nene geese.  

Kileau lighthouse. It is still used as a lighthouse. We could see it from our condo. 

A view from the Kileau lighthouse. If you enlarge this picture, you'll see many white specks against the foliage. Those are all tropic birds getting out of the rain. 

A dashboard view of one of Kauai's one lane bridges. Seems to me I've driven across a few of these back in LaCenter, but here they are main means to cross streams and rivers on the northshore. The rule is you wait until cars from the other side have gone, then you go. If you are behind someone, you just follow them. Some people I guess freak out about these, but I didn't find them too difficult to comprehend. 

Frolicking in the Tropical Mist of Hanalei

A few miles to the north of our condo in Princeville is the small town of Hanalei. It's a gorgeous place, sitting between the stately backdrop of Kauai's wet mountains and some beautiful crescent beaches on Hanalei Bay.

Aside from being found on the island of Kauai, the town of Hanalei shows up in song lyrics to a childhood favorite I'm sure you've heard.

In the song, 'Puff the Magic Dragon', it goes..."Puff the magic dragon lives by the sea, and frolics in the autumn mist in a town called HANA-LEE". The author took poetic license by mispronouncing the town's name, but Hanalei is indeed the place where Puff the Magic Dragon frolicked in.

Mary and I kept a close eye out for any dragons and while what we did see was otherworldy in terms of beauty, we didn't sadly didn't witness any winged reptilians. Maybe next time..

Hanalei seems to be about as big as my hometown of LaCenter, with this shopping center being the center of things. Like the rest of Kauai, there were tons of tourists there, but the entire place didnt' seem touristy to me.  

A charming church we stopped near to get photos of the mountains. It was here I really began to feel like a tour guide. As soon as we pulled into the empty driveway, two rental cars followed us in to take pictures. This happened at nearly every place we visited on the island, except for Waimea Canyon. Mary and I would drive to some uninhabited viewpoint or interesting feature and we'd be followed by groups of retirees in rental cars. 

Another view of the mountains behind Hanalei. 

The mountains behind Hanalei. Nearly everywhere you look in the mountains, you'll see waterfalls after a rain storm. They magically spring from the mountaintops and unfurl like white ribbons. Here you can see one in the center mountain (click to enlarge) 

This is known as the "Dry Cave" (very flashy name, I know) located across the street from He'ana Beach. Mary is standing to give some scale. Next time we go, we'll do a little spelunking in it!  

The dry cave just behind He'ana Beach park. Since it was rainy, the beach wasn't much to look at, so I won't post any pictures of it. 

On our rainy Friday, we stopped at Limahuli Garden. Here, conservationists attempt to preserve the native Hawaiian flora. It is nestled in a small valley at the base of Bali Hai. Some interesting facts we learned: Mangoes are not native Hawaiian plants, neither are Guavas.  

A wild Joe sighting in the Limahuli Garden. I think this was near some rubble that is considered an archeological site. The orb above my head is a spirit that followed us around. Naw...it's just a rain drop. ;) 

The mountain known to us westerners as 'Bali Hai', as seen from the Limahuli Garden. In ancient times, Hawaiian men would climb to the top and throw burning branches off of it, where updrafts would sometimes carry the flaming objects nearly a mile over the ocean. This was done as a rite of manhood, and for other ceremonial reasons. 

The terraces at Limahuli Garden. These terraces were originally built by the early Hawai'ians over 700 years ago. Today, the garden uses them to grow Taro and other native plants. 

The Na Pali coastline, as seen from Ke'e beach. Ke'e beach is the end of the island highway, and the farthest you can drive on the northside of the island. The land is so rugged from this point that only hikers can get through. The deeper you go down the trails, the more experienced you need to be in hiking, as the trails get steeper and more dangerous. 

Mary at Ke'e beach. You can glimpse part of the Na Pali coast in the background 

A gorgeous blue sunset from our deck 

Sunset over Bali Hai and the Na Pali Coast. 

A little waterfall on the hike down to Queens Bath. 

The Queens Bath is this natural 'pool' of water along this very rocky, volcanic coastline. It fronts the rough ocean, and so, while beautiful and nice enough to swim in, it can also be exceedingly dangerous in rough seas. Mary and I decided to simply hike down to get a look at it, and were greeted with this cheery sign. (Click to enlarge, as with all the pics here) 

Queen's Bath. Supposedly a Hawai'ian Queen would come here. We didn't swim in it. 

The Hanalei Valley is very near to where we were staying. People farm Taro root here, which they export and use for the Hawai'ian staple food of poi. This valley is post-card ready! 

Mary and I spent the early part of this day at Lydgate Beach park, a protected beach where I showed Mary how to snorkel. These palms lined the road into the park. 

The Wailua River is the only navigable river in the state of Hawai'i. It's all muddy because of some recent rains in the mountains. 

Opeaka'a Falls (don't ask me how to pronounce it!)..spotted on the way up to Wailua Falls. It is very difficult to hike down to to the base of these falls as well. On the other side of the road is a wonderful view of the Wailua River. 

Wailua Falls is a 173 foot tall waterfall a few miles inland from the town of Kapa'a. The road to get to Wailua is supposed to be the most haunted in Hawai'i, but we only saw potholes, chicken and sugar cane. Supposedly, you can get down to the base of the falls, but the state govt really doesn't want you to, as it is very treacherous. They even cut ropes people tie to trees to help you get down the dangerous slope..(but won't that make it more dangerous?) In any case, the water this day was too muddy and nasty to warrant any attempts.  

Mary at Wailua Falls. 

Waimea Canyon, Niihau and the Hike

On the 17th, Mary and I hopped in the little Ford Focus and left our jungle like enviorns, driving through the arid south towards the heights of the mountains and Waimea Canyon. There was so many things to see.

On the way to Waimea Canyon, we had an encounter with the Forbidden Island. The island of Niihau, just off the west coast of Kauai, has a very interesting story. Back in the 1800s, the Sinclair family came from Scotland to Hawai'i to try to buy some land to settle on. After turning down an offer to buy lush and beautiful Waikiki, the family went ahead and bought the 46,000 acre island Niihau for 10,000 dollars. Little did they know that the island was normally a barren place, without any sources of freshwater. They happened to visit during a spell of wet weather. After they realized this, they bought up a huge amount of land on rainy west Kauai. The Robinson's, the descendants of this Sinclair family, now own Niihau and much land on west Kauai. Niihau today has no modern appliances or TV, and is the only place on Hawai'i where Hawai'ian is spoken as a first language. The 200 residents are very religious, and believe their community and way of life are under special protection from God. Technically, all beaches in Hawai'i are public beaches, but I was told if you land your boat on Niihau island, you'll be greeted by some big Hawaiians who will kindly ask you to leave. If you do not, they will kick you off. The Robinsons have this air of mystery about them, they own a sugar plantation on Kauai, but apparently are having trouble making money for taxes and to sustain the island's way of life. Each week (or month, I cannot remember) Some Niihau residents hop in World War 2 era landing craft to make the 17 mile journey to Kauai so they can go shopping at Wal-Mart or whereever. Besides the Robinson family's financial help, the residents of Niihau make these beautiful tiny shell necklaces, which marketing gurus call "necklaces from the Forbidden Island". It remains to be seen just how long Niihau will continue to be 'Forbidden'. 

Off in the distance, the "Forbidden Island" of Niihau emerges from the mist. Can you see it? Look in the center of the image. 

Waimea Canyon lookout. Our main destination for Sunday. It is located all the way around the island from where we were staying and took about an hour and a half or so to get to.  

Waimea Canyon 

Huh? You think this picture was posed? What makes you think that?? ;-) 

It's hard to communicate just how immense this canyon is with a few pictures. It isn't as big as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, but it is very impressive. Helicopters look like gnats against this landscape. 

A couple of wild goats living among the cliffs of Waimea.  

The rugged landscape of the Waimea Canyon 

When these two ruffians approached our car at the Waimea Canyon lookout, we decided it was best to get outta there..Yes, another pic of chickens gone wild on Kauai. 

The Kalalua Valley, during a passing moment of clarity (for the valley, not me!). During our drive along the Waimea Canyon, you can also stop at viewpoints that give you wonderous views of valleys along the Na Pali coastline. This valley, known as Kalalau, was the place where some of the first residents of Hawai'i lived. They disappeared at some point and no one knows where they went. (Tsunami, anyone?). From this viewpoint, the fog drifts effortlessly in and out, making clear photos like this one fairly rare. 

Living on the edge, above the Kalalau Valley. You can hike into the valley, but it is a long trek..longer than we had time for sadly. We'll save that one for next trip! 

Mary and I at the Pu' u o Kila lookout, overlooking the picturesque (and momentarily foggy) Kalalau valley.  

Hiking Hale Manu Valley, Northern Waimea Canyon

After spending most of the day sightseeing along Waimea Canyon, we decided to get our feet dirty by going on a relatively short hike to some waterfalls. We had visited a small museum just up the road in Kokee, and the proprieter highly recommended this hike for it's views and for the fact it's the only established trail leading directly to a waterfall. The sign you see here announces the start of the trail. A muddy, dirt road reaches about a mile in and from there the trail narrows to foot traffic only. Mary and I hiked the whole way.

All in all, it was about a 4 mile hike, but it sure felt longer than that! There were many switchbacks and steep sections, but the waterfalls and canyon views were well worth it! 

The first half of the trail was through a forest. We passed wild orchids, pale, spindley octopus trees and these odd trees with crescent-moon shaped leaves, which if you look carefully you can see covering the trail around us. Here, Mary and I have reached a fork in the trail, the upper trails leads a short distance to a look-out. The lower trail lead us to both of the waterfalls. 

Once we emerged from the forest, we were rewarded with this view. We continued hiking along the left side of the canyon. 

Mary faces her fear of heights and approaches the razor edge of the sheer canyon cliff. 

This is what you'd see if you fell off the canyon ledge.. The green foliage you see down below are full-sized trees. 

Mary cresting a rise in the terrain 

Shot taken as we hiked along the canyon edge. 

Stairs leading down a steep slope to both the little falls and the main attraction, Waipoo Falls. Notice the natural volcanic rock archway on the ridge to the upper left. 

I stand triumphant at the first little waterfall we come across.  

Signage informing us that we made it!  

After sucking down a gulp of gatorade, I climbed down some precariously placed boulders and stood before this placid little pond. The water rests here before rushing off the edge in two streams, only to come together on the rock shelf farther down.  

One side of the twin upper falls of Waipoo. They merge at the rock shelf below before plunging off the face of the cliff. The next picture gives you an idea of what the whole falls looks like from a distance. 

This is what Waipoo Falls looks like from a few miles away at the main lookout. Mary and I walked along the edge of the canyon, and I stood right where the twin falls cascade from the cliff's edge.