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Published: February 11th 2007
FIRST DAY WELCOME
this one will always be special as it was a gorgeous full rainbow with the most of a double arch on our first day in Hanalei BayJanuary 12-19, 2007
After a lengthy delay in Honolulu, a short island-hopper flight delivered us to Kauai at twilight on Friday, Jan. 12. This smaller island is MUCH less developed. Nearly 2/3 of the island is inaccessible by car, and the jagged, steep mountains with their lush rain forests are unlike anything we have ever seen. We found a hidden-away seafood restaurant before driving to the north side of the island where we had booked a timeshare swap. During our dinner we heard the NOAA radio alarm, announcing the earthquake in Alaska and possible tsunami in Hawaii. That certainly changed the relaxed attitude we had, since we were headed exactly into the northern most tip of all the Hawaiian islands (and in the dark, no less.) Suffice to say, when we heard the warning had been lifted at 10.30 p.m., we were relieved! We stayed in Princeville, where the road goes down into the Hanalei Valley (land of the 8 one lane bridges) to a quaint little town and beautiful Hanalei Bay.
As is often the case with such trips, our time seemed both leisurely and hurried as we felt relaxed but wanted to fit a lot into our
VIEW
from our condo balcony - where the weather begins each day week. The best adventure of our stay was a wonderful boat ride (aboard a 40-foot catamaran) on which we saw manta rays, sea turtles, spinner dolphins, and numerous whales plus views of the island that were very special along the Na Pali coast. We went snorkeling, had a very nice lunch, and thoroughly enjoyed just being on the water. We also saw some amazing views of the island on a helicopter ride (a little bit cramped for Jennie’s liking), drove up along Waimea canyon “the Grand Canyon of Hawaii” (spectacular), attended a luau (great fun and good food!), visited several lovely beaches (including two that were prominent in the filming of South Pacific), imagined the filming of Jurassic Park every time we looked out our condo window and saw two gorgeous double rainbows. Kauai’s mountains are the rainiest spot on earth with roughly 650 inches per year, so there are fantastic waterfalls and the weather routinely brightens after (if not during) a shower. Although our condo had only a tiny kitchen, it was nice to cook for ourselves after all the traveling and restaurants, and we found a really nice local fish market to try some interesting new tastes.
KILAUEA LIGHT HOUSE
looms high on a point over a huge bird sanctuary which is home to red-footed boobies, albatross, and other ocean birds. Kauai has another interesting feature: the island has been overrun by feral chickens and roosters. Back two major hurricanes ago, the hen houses were destroyed and many not rebuilt by the second devastating storm. So the birds were not only set free but were literally blown all over the island. Rumor has it that some may have been fighting cocks. In any case, they wander everywhere and make lots of early morning crowing, unchecked because there are no mongoose (mongeese?) or other natural predators, and it's illegal for people to kill them. We did witness the decrease in daily chick marches - where one day there might be 6 following momma hen and the next day only 3. So some are disappearing at the "hands" of dogs, cats, etc.
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Dick
non-member comment
Nice
These pictures bring back a lot of memories. Seems like a long time since I visited these same places you two are doing now, I guess its at least 25 years, from the looks of things nothing has changed. The sad part is that Marilyn never made them with me. Someday maybe. Enjoy, Dick