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

Aloha! We have had an amazing 10 days in Hawaii, so much to see and do, much more than I had expected! Our adventure started on the big island in a cute wooden cabin up at 1500m in volcano national park, this is the home of the remaining active volcanos on Hawaii. Following a drive up though jagged lava fields we spent our first evening watching sunset from the top of the road at about 10'000 feet up Mauna Loa, a 15,000 ft volcano, overlooking its craters and the pacific ocean with a picnic dinner. After sunset we donned our head torches for a walk through the scrub under the star filled sky to see the glow of bubbling lava from one of the active craters, a pretty amazing start to our Hawaiian adventure! We spent ... read more

Dec 17th, A trip to Kee Beach again for gazing the sunset. I just went to the beach and was admiring a beautiful sunset on a rainy evening. Noone else was there, which seemed strange to me. Because this was the day when Kalalau trail was closed for more than three weeks. When I got to Haena State Park a police car was standing there and preventing anyone to go on the Kalalau trail. I was allowed to go to the beach for the sunset. Later I found out that they were searching for a man who threw off a japanese tourist down the cliff on the Kalalau trail. She was badly injured, but survived as far as I heard. The suspect was not found during the three weeks on the trail. How evil can people ... read more

Spent our first full day in Hanalei hiking the 8 mile round trip trail to Hanakapi'ai Falls. I very unwisely selected my Columbia sandals for this hike, thinking they would work best for getting across the small rivers. Um - No. You need hiking boots for this trail. And Kevlar. And a helmet. And lots of sunscreen. And a helicopter. It's no stroll through the park. It's a kick-your-butt, bring-your-machete-and-ropes sort of trail with ants, tree roots, lots of rocks, slippery streams and a narrow path that teases you into following the wrong way. After working our way up and down those monsterous crevices of the Napali Coast mountains, we made it to a rocky beach occupied by lots of other hikers and nice feral kitties. It was a beautiful and wild cove, too dangerous to ... read more

On paper it was an innocuous, routine inter island flight but somehow I finished up one step away from the amplified snap of the rubber glove and being requested to, "walk this way sir". You can't blame the good ol U.S of goddamned A for being gun shy, particularly in and around airports, but a general warning readers: "don't wear pants with brass buttons on the pockets when attempting to board a plane ANYWHERE in this land". Kauai had better be worth it. Last time around Kauai was worth it, that being 32 years adrift, but I needed to be prudent to bathe in the nostalgia of Memory Lane and not drift down Melancholy Lane. Melancholy Lane? Back in those heady days Kauai was my favourite but the possibility of my version of "a paradise lost" ... read more

The awesome Garden Island!... read more