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Published: November 4th 2007
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We are going to the garden island of Kauai on the Hawaii Superferry, or so we thought. Inagural voyages were on sale for $5 each way. What a deal. We were going to camp for 2 nights at Haena Beach on the north shore, past Hanalei. My friend, Dorothy, and I completed all the required hoop jumping for obtaining a permit to camp on Kauai. It seems there is nowhere, with the exception of the 2 national parks, to legally camp in Hawaii that is easy. It is free to camp on Kauai (for residents), but we had to send a pdf of our ID's and then fill out, sign and return (again pdf in email) the application and waiver. After receiving our permit, the Superferry was cancelled due to such overwhelming protests on the island, that the boat couldn't dock. This happened several days in a row and Maui went to court and had the judge put a temporary stop on the ferry from docking there. So here we were, with no ride. I found some cheap air tickets for a few weeks later and booked. We resent all our ID/waiver stuff and changed the dates. At the last minute,
Dorothy couldn't go until the next day, so I planned on going it alone the first day, then picking her up at the airport at 10 the next morning.
I arrived in the morning in Lihue, the biggest town on the island. After a stop at Walmart for a headlight battery, I headed to the north shore and Haena Beach. I passed through the little hippie town of Kapa'a and then through the surf town of Hanalei, both cute and full of haole's. It seems caucasians own the north end of Kauai.
After driving over too many one lane bridges to count, through lush forest, I arrive at my home for the next two nights, Haena Beach, at about 1630. There were several other campers already set up, no locals, of course, not here. I pitched my tent in a pretty good spot under a tree, near the sand. A nice guy offered to help me, since the wind was so strong. I should have gone in the water to snorkeling at Tunnels, the premier snorkeling spot on the island, right away, because after that evening, the surf was too big and I was too chicken to try
bodysurfing in the big, shorebreaking, waves, so I just walked down the beach to Haena Point. By the time I was half way back, the rain started. It continued to rain on and off for the next 2 days. It wasn't bad while I was alone, because I could go in my tent and read, listening to the surf and rain.
It rained heavily and the wind was very strong all night. At times, the corner of my tent would be so compressed, I thought it might collapse, but it held strong and stayed dry. It was barely drizzling when I left to pick up Dorothy the next morning. I stopped in Hanalei at a coffee shop. The staff was very nice, but the customers seemed like hippie snobs. Since it was so rainy, Dorothy and I decided to explore the island. Luckily, the rest of the island was mostly dry. We drove through the tiny town of Hanapepe and walked across their swinging bridge, then drove up to Waimea Canyon and walked up to the overlook. It was beautiful. After viewing the canyon, we decided to take a dirt road, in need of repair, to Camp Sloggett, a
Tunnels
THE snorkeling spot on Kauai YWCA camp in the hills. When we arrived, there was no one around and only two tents set up in the field. We looked around the camp. There was a nice day room, a big outside fire pit for group campfires, a bunkhouse and an office. It looked like a nice, peaceful place to stay if you want to do a lot of hiking.
We stopped in Hanalei for some dinner. I had a great penut tofu satay dish. Then it was back to camp. The weather was pretty good for most of the evening, but by the time we turned in for the night, it started raining and continued through out the night. While there was a break in the rain the next morning, I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and pack up. The tent was almost dry from the strong winds, so we broke it down and headed off to find a place to swim. Since arriving, I had yet to get in the water and I have been wearing my bathing suit the whole time. There are only outdoor showers there, so unless you are especially bold, you have to bathe
Tunnels
A surfer girl lost her arm to a tiger shark in those breaks. in your suit.
After stopping at numerous beaches, we stopped at Poipu Beach on the south side of the island. The beach was crowded and the swimming was not great, but it was the best we were going to get today. We stayed until about an hour before we had to be at the airport to catch our plane back to Honolulu. It felt good to finally get in the ocean. I think I want to go back to Kauai in the summertime.
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Dave B
Awesome Pic of Waimea Canyon
Great picture. I have to get to the spot where you took that picture. I am heading to Kauai tomorrow. I just went through your blog and am very impressed. I look forward to following you along on your travels. If I see you in Oahu I would love to hear about your trip. Your very talented!