Blogs from Hanalei, Kaua'i, Hawaii, United States, North America

November 2011 - This is actually our second trip to Hawaii. Why I didn’t blog the first trip is beyond me. The only thing I can think of is that we were too busy relaxing and enjoying the islands. Our last Hawaii trip was in May 2009 to Maui and the south shore of Kauai. Needless to say, we are in a very different place in our lives this time around - Landon John Broihier, at eight months old, joins us on his first official Broihier vacation. Secretly, part of our motivation in moving to Santa Monica, CA was to try to get to Hawaii more. That’s how much we liked it the first time around. The flight is definitely more manageable coming from LA (last time we flew from NYC). However, this time we looked ... read more

One year ago I came to Kauai’s North Shore alone...to heal. Something definitely happened. I swear this sacred part of the island infused me with a massive dose of spiritual medicine because I went home a much healthier person. I vowed to return every four months...the longest I could wait for another dose. This is my fourth journey... At the end of each of the last three visits, I accepted that this trip was the “climax” and from now on I would appreciate the peaceful plateau. When I arrived this time, my only expectations were to see a few new sights, hike to a waterfall, soak up the island sun, and reacquaint myself with the friends I had made four months ago. Kauai did it again...this week was far from a plateau. It was laden with ... read more

A day spent at Hanalei Pier....Lots of locals!... read more

Doesn't it sound hardcore? Well, it wasn't so bad... We're alive... and so is the four year old kid we also saw clambering over the cliffs, so no need to worry! The pictures speak for themselves, so we'll let them do most of the talking... To sum it up: it was 25 miles (40kms) of cliff-side hiking through dense jungle, over sheer, rocky cliffs, and to a semi-permanent "hippie-colony" where naked people let it alllll hang out - a great hike, spread over four days. We were a little worried about it - The Kalalau Trail along the Na Pali coast - seeing its 9/10 Sierra Club difficulty ratings, and words used to described it including: treacherous, challenging, grueling, "one mis-step could be your last" etc - but it was not nearly as worrisome as we ... read more

So here's a photo of the bookstore in Hanapepe and there was another author there. Her name was Anne Dimock and she wrote a book called "Humble Pie." By gosh, a famous book indeed. It's all about pies and one night she had tiny pies for the customers to sample. (All I could offer were invisible pieces of the ocean.) Anne's also a playwright, originally, so we had a lot to talk about and we made pie and playwright-type jokes in between signing our non-fiction books. When Anne isn't signing books, she's checking out huge outriggers as part of an outrigger team on the island. We both sold out of our books and then got leid by the bookstore owners which means -- fragrant plumera flowers all around our necks. Ed and Cynthia, the bookstore's mellow ... read more

This morning we board the bus a little earlier so we can get to the Kilauea Lighthouse National Wildlife Refuge before it opens to the public. Susan has arranged (connections )with the rangers there for our bus to enter before the park is open. When we arrive at the gate we see there are 3 cars lined up waiting to get in. We are 1/2 hour before opening time, and Susan says there will be a long line when we leave. Two Rangers greet us with their model of the Red Footed Booby. They explain the National Wildlife Refuge and Kilauea Lighthouse point to us. We got to go inside the lighthouse ( built in 1819), but not up into the lamp area because of construction there. Then they let us wander around the refuge on ... read more