Aloha everyone!

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Phew, 3 days of hiking the Na Pali Coast and we’re back in our cozy guest house, eating pasta and watching reruns of the Daily Show (as you can see, life on the road is not much different than life in Redondo Beach). While we’re waiting for the laundry to dry, I’ll fill you in on the past 4 days.

Thursday 12-2
We left LA (it was really hard to say goodbye to Trent), where we proceeded to meet two Kauai locals who shared with us their life story and tips on where to get deals in Kauai. Not a bad start. We met Miranda in Kauai (a friend of mine from Woods Hole, now living in Oahu) and proceeded to the nicest guest house ever! This place is awesome - huge rooms, full kitchen and patio with washer & dryer, not to mention free outdoor gear whenever we need it!

Friday 12-3
We had a full day with Miranda to tour the North Shore of Kauai. We stopped in Kilauea at the National Wildlife Refuge, where we saw red footed boobies! And then took a mud slide trail down to Secret Beach, which we had all to ourselves, which was nice! Since it’s winter & rainy, the water and waves were too cold and turbulent to get in & swim around, so we enjoyed just walking along the beaches and watching the huge waves – which were hypnotizing. We drove through Princeville and around Hanalei Bay. This area looks so much like Costa Rica, especially the Limon area. Nick felt right at home ;o) We stopped at a taro plantation to take a peak and enjoy the mountainous view. Miranda had us try poi – a purple taro paste – which I can’t say was to either of our liking. The taro here is a lot starchier than the sweet taro ice cream & smoothies I’ve had before. Oh well. We then proceeded to Ke’e Beach (where we’ll start the Kalalau Trail tomorrow). The beaches here are stunning! I can’t wait for the water to be calmer so we can snorkel. We finished a day of touring by tromping our way thru Nick-high grass to get to Kipu Falls near Puhi. We were told there was a great rope swing to jump off of into the pool below the falls. But clearly this is not a winter-time activity – the falls were raging and way too turbulent to cross, let alone swim in. Still beautiful though. We ended our day shopping at Walmart (the horror!) to stock up on food for the hike & a frozen pizza for dinner :o)

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Photos

Kilauea Lighthouse
"You don't like lighthouses, you suck!"

Comments

[Winnie]

Poi
I've never liked straight poi myself -- it's a little sour and starchy like you said. But I love taro chips! Never eat or prepare it raw.. otherwise whatever touched it will itch like crazy.