Kaua`i

Returning from paradise is not easy, but I am happy I had the chance to travel there. Browned and in some spots burned, my spirit is filled to the brim with all the sunshine I soaked up on the island of Kauai. Last week I spent my mid-winter break traveling the entire of island of Kauai, having scary, crazy and wonderful adventures.

The 6-hour flight from San Francisco was awesome. A guy was in my row, but ended up switching his seat, so I got the entire 3 seat row to lay myself down on and nap. About a half hour after take off, I realized why he had switched rows. Every minute or so there was a little kid kicking my chair, this continued through the duration of the flight. There was also screaming and whining sporadically coming from the same kids. At least I like kids and was patient, but I believe after the first hour, the parents just gave up trying to control their kids. Strollers, car seats, screaming babies and kicking children are all the joys that come with flying with children! Boy, I'm glad to be traveling light.

Landing in Kauai`i was like landing on a large lily pad. It was completely green and lush, with crystal blue waters surrounding it. Li hue has a small, cute airport that plays soft, flowing Hawaiian. Walking out of the air conditioned airport terminal into the golden sunshine was lovely. I waited for a bus for about 45 minutes just basking in the sun.

Quickly, I learned that the bus I got on was an airport shuttle that went in circles a few times before it went to the beach, where I was headed. I believe this was because it was a holiday, which also explains, why that bus stopped running at 4pm.

My first meal, well actually it was a snack, were taro fries. They were like purple potato chips, sweet, served with some sort of mayonnaise dipping sauce. I dipped them in ketchup. I had these after strolling on the touristy Kalapaki beach park in Li hue. Before this I had hiked on a road to try to find the Niumalu county park, a neglected campground where locals were hanging out. Since the scenery there was kind of trashy and it was far from the beach, I decided to hike back into town and try another beach park a bit further outside of Li hue.

After walking a mile up hill towards the airport and east on the side of the main road in the sun with my backpack, which I guesstimate was about 30lbs, I started to hold my thumb out. This was my first serious hitch hiking experience. I had hitched a one mile ride on the Big Island a few years ago. It was still light out, around 5pm and I figured that it would be safe.

After trying for less than 10 minutes, a biker on a Harley pulled over for me. I was a little scared on riding on the back of a motorcycle, and asked him if he had a helmet. That was a dumb question. Bikers in leather jackets with biker patches riding Harley's on Hawaii don't wear helmets! Duh! I sat behind him, pack on my back, sunglasses on. He asked wear I was headed, I told him Hanamaulu Beach Park to camp. He said that it was not a safe place for me to camp alone; too many drunk locals. He offered to bring me to Anini Beach park, which was on the other side of the island, the north shore, near Princeville. Between stopping at lights and trying to yell louder than the wind he told me about some of the sights we passed on the way. He had moved to the island 24 years ago from the south side of Chicago! We talked about Chicago, the island and travelling. Anini beach park was out of his way, but he said that it was good riding practice for the Route 66 trip he would be doing this summer. Half way there he stopped at the grocery store so that I could get food for camping. It was an amazing way to get a tour of the island, with the warm wind hitting me and being outside on the windy hilly roads. Luckily he didn't go faster than 50mph, I was nervous enough going that fast. I think he enjoyed giving a bike tour of the island.

Pulling up at Anini County Beach Park on Harley was definitely pretty bad ass. It was a beautiful campground park right on the beach. I walked towards the beach, saw two girls at a picnic table making dinner. I introduced myself and decided to pitch my tent near theirs, door facing the sand and water. I had it up early enough to enjoy the sunset over the cold calm waters. Lindsey and Suzanne were out on Kauai for 10 days of backpacking, they had just spent 8 weeks living on the Big Island, they were camping pros. Since I was travelling alone, I stuck close to them, so as to make it seem as if we were travelling together. A couple a few sites down from us decided to have a bonfire that evening. Tons of the locals, and camping transient folks joined the party. A dude brought his ukulele and entertained us with songs we knew, many of us were singing. In between songs tales were told about the conditions and adventures of the Na Pali coast trail. The more I heard about it, the more mysterious it became to me. Hearing about the rugged terrain and lack of food or civilization, made me decide that I did not want to do it alone. The two girls I met invited me to come along with them. I opted out when I heard they wanted to spend 4 nights out there camping. My vacation was about relaxation and quality sun time. After all, I live in Seattle.

Because all of the county campgrounds in Kauai close one day of the week for maintenance(and so people don't establish permanent residency), Anini was closed the next day at 10am. I ended up getting a ride with the couple from San Francisco. They were headed north towards Hanalei, so I joined them. It was sunny and we had aspirations for renting surf boards at the Hanalei Beach. After arriving there, I pitched my tent at Black Pot campground, which was right next to the pier in Hanalei. The weather turned a bit windy and by that time it was about 1pm, so I decided to lounge on the beach in Hanalei and paint with my watercolors. In the afternoon I took a walk into the cute Hanalei town to check things out. The houses along the way were charming. Hanalei had the north shore surf town feeling, with a little California feeling to it. For an hour or so while it rained a bit, I sat at a lovely outdoor but covered coffee shop painting.

Just before sunset I decided to take a stroll along the beach, taking photos of the pier, the mountains and found objects on the sand. It was windy, chilly and beautiful. It reminded me of the Oregon coast in the summer, a little more tropical though. Falling asleep shortly after sunset in my tent hearing the waves was so peaceful. Unfortunately I was not prepared for the cold nights that followed the hot days, and had to wear all the clothes I had. I had decided against bringing my down sleeping bag, next time I will definitely bring it. Despite that, camping was nice and cost next to nothing at the county parks.

When the next morning turned out to be cloudy, overcast and a bit chilly, I decided to pack up my things and head to the west side of the island. I also had a kind of creepy dude giving me weird stalker vibes, which I wanted to get away from. Taking the bus from Hanalei to Li hue took at least an hour if not two, but it was a great way to see the country side and observe the locals on the bus. I stopped at the dept of state parks in Li hue to obtain a state parks camping permit for Polihale State Park. It was $5 per night. Waiting at the bus stop in Li hue for a bus to Kekaha, i was bothered by a drunken Hawaiian man. He asked me if I was alone (which was obvious), where I was going, if I was hitching rides and then preceded to give me advice on who to hitch rides from. "Only take rides from people in the convertibles", so basically only from tourists. After about 15 minutes of pestering me, I finally was blunt with him saying "I am fine, I don't need any help" in my firmest and direct voice. He backed off for a few minutes than said "You are a brave girl for travelling alone". This was true.

The bus ride to Kekaha a town on the western side of the island was not as long as that from Hanalei. I walked a few blocks to a nice beach after getting off the bus. The water was calm enough to swim in, but enough breaks for there to be surfers to watch. On the beach I met a couple from Munich Germany. I approached them to possibly get a ride to Polihale, the bus didn't make it out that far. Unfortunately they knew less about the island than I did and did not offer me a ride. Walking down the row of cars parked at the beach, I approached a 4x4 jeep that had three women in it. After asking them where Polihale was, they offered me a ride there. The entrance was about 3-4 miles from Kekaha. A dirt road full of potholes greeted us at the entrance to the park road. It was a 4.8 mile long dirt road to the campground on the coast. The gals drove me about 1 mile before they decided that the road was too bumpy for their rental jeep. I was grateful to be on the way before the daylight ended.

Hiking on the road was beautiful, peaceful and scenic for the first few miles. There was cornfields to my right with mountains in the background. To my right there was forest and shrubbery. On the other side of those trees was the beach and ocean, I could hear the waves crashing in the distance. While walking on the road, several cars passed me by, not offering rides or even stopping to say hello. I started to notice dead, smashed toads on the road. The skeleton was visible on the wafer thin one that I picked up to examine. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take home wildlife from Hawaii.

I would've pressed it in a book and used it in my diorama. On my 4 mile walk, I saw at least 4 dozen or so of these toads.

Polihale State Park campground ended up being this desolate empty, kind of run down beach park that you could imagine in a horror movie. There was no one else camping there when I arrived.

A couple with a baby in a mini-van offered me a ride back to the main town, sensing that I was a
bit nervous about staying out there alone.

I ended up walking along the beach, just after dusk, ran into a couple from Toronto. They encouraged me to camp on the bluff between trees, because of floods and storms. There had already been storm and 25-30foot wave advisories for the west coast of Kauai. No swimming was in my agenda at this beach with high tidal waves. In the raging wind I pitched my tent between trees. It was not completely protected from the winds. All night the tent shook as the winds howled and the waves crashed. It was a chilly night on the beach.

I waited till sunrise to emerge from my tent and unwrap myself from all of the clothes I had piled on myself. The beach was still empty. The sun was poking through the mountains and clouds, as I walked toward the outdoor shower. Even though the shower was ice cold, it felt great to finally take one, and because it was outside, I had a scenic view of the mountains/ocean depending on the direction I was facing. As the clouds quickly covered up the sunshine and the winds began to shift, I decided that I would forfeit my second night of camping at Polihale and go to a sunnier, warmer place. Relaxation and sun was something I did not have much of up till this point.

While hiking out on the same road I hiked in on, the first car that approached me stopped. Two women in their late 20's asked if I needed a lift. Gladly I accepted. I was thrilled to find out that they were heading toward Waimea Canyon, the one place I knew I would need a ride to get to, because no bus runs up there. One of them was a med student at Yale, the other was doing her residency at a hospital in San Francisco. Both of them were laid back and spontaneous. They had spent the night sleeping in their rental car hidden at the Polihale Campground. We decided to get coffee, stop at the grocery store, eat some shrimp and then head to the beach. We got coffee and these wonderful sweet taro bread rolls at this pretty fancy resteraunt where the Waimea Brewery is. This brewery is the only one on the island. Becuase I love micro brews, I bought a growler of red ale. The bottle has a surfer and a map of the island on it!

After getting supplies in town we parked along the road and did a short trek through some tall grasses to Pakala Beach, near Waimea. It was mostly empty, a couple was way off in the distance. The sun was strong and warm. I was ecstatic to be soaking it up. Sun gives me instantaneous smiles!

Around 4ish we headed up to Waimea Canyon and started taking tons of photos at the different lookout points. The landscape was so beautiful it seemed painted and fake. Many of these pictures with me in the foreground and the canyon behind me seem as if they were taken with a backdrop, because of the peculiar lighting. Below are some of the photos we took.

Sounds coming from the canyon were minimal, but I could see that was so much vegetation below. I even saw a farm down in the canyon, with no road going to or from it. They must get to it by helicopter. It still puzzles me, becuase there was a huge tractor next to the barn.

After spending some time at the first scenic pull out, we got back in the car and continued up the windy road, being a passenger in that car was making me dizzy and kind of nautious. At least it wasn't a long drive. Soon we were at the Kalalawa lookout. On the way there were two dudes who were hitching a ride to some trail head. They were backpacking for three weeks, with only a small backpack each, no tents and carried no water. They lived off the land, hunting small game animals with a slingshot and drinking water from streams and rivers. The guy who was giving the tour was gorgeous and very tanned and rugged. From the Kalalawa lookout, we saw what was left of the cloudy sunset and looked down into the valley.

That evening we stayed at the Kokee Lodge at the Kokee State park which is up at a high elevation, so it was quite chilly. It was a rustic cabin that slept six. Included was a stove, fridge, running water and a hot shower. There was no heating, only a woodburning stove which didn't really heat the place. It was great for roasting marshmellows though. Sleeping in a bed was great though.

The next morning we cleaned up and packed up, then returned the key to the lodge and checked out the hiking trail maps. We also observed all the chickens and roosters in the park.

We decided to do a trail that went down into the canyon, the Kukui trail. It was about 4-5 miles round trip. We didn't go all the way down becuase they had to catch a flight later that evening and wanted to be able to hit the beach beforehand. Going down was more difficult that climbing back up out of it, becuase of all the pressure on the knees from the steep, rocky and sandy declines. Much of the hike consisted of switchbacks. It was very dry and hot. The sun felt wonderful. We could hear goats, but unfortunately could not see them, becuase they were hidden in the bushes or trees. Echoes of birds could also be heard. The dirt was so red and the rock formations so beautiful. I believe this was my first time in a cayon. The light kept changing and the shadows almost seemed as if they were other rock formations. The trees we thought were baby palm trees, were actually palm trees that were native to Kauai. This kind of palm tree exists only on Kauai.

After finishing our hike we went down to Waimea, where a local festival was being set up. Treating ourselves to shave ice at Jo-Jo's seemed like a great idea. I ordered this amazing creation: macadamia nut ice cream, covered in freshly shredded coconut, covered with shave ice, topped off with a coconut syrup. Yum yum, it reminded me of the Mexican coconut ice cream bars that I used to get in Chicago from the street carts.

Shortly after arriving in Poipoo, we found a fish store and bought five different kinds of ahi. All I can say is that I can not get enough raw fish. It was so delicious, some with sesame seeds, some soaked in soy sauch, some with wasabi and seaweed. My mouth is watering thinking about it.

Ellen and Merritt did some snorkeling. I enjoyed lounging on the beach at Poipoo and doing my water color postcard painting. Before they headed to the airport, they dropped me at the bus stop in Lihue, just in time to catch the 500 north towards Hanalei. It was a fast departure, but I feel as if we will see each other again sometime.

I had booked a night at the hostel in Kapaa. It was less than an hour bus ride to Kapaa, which is a cutesy beach town on the east coast. I wanted to stay somewhere inexpensive and closer to the Na Pali coast trail. The hostel was $23 per night, this included bedding, a kitchen, internet and a wacky hostel manager. The place was kind of run down, but there were hot showers and super comfortable bunk beds and it was right in town. That night I went to bed pretty early.

The next morning I woke up early, got coffee and these amazing pineapple passion fruit scones from the bakery in town and then caught the bus towards Hanalei. Becuase it was saturday the bus only ran every 2 hours, which meant if I missed the morning one, my chances of doing the Na Pali coast were slim. Arriving in Hanalei the second time, I noticed that it was pretty crowded becuase of the local farmers market, which was amazing. The vegetables were so big and lush and cheap! I bought an avocado and some rabutan, this fleshy fruit with a prickly red outside. I think it's also called lychee. It was so sweet. Becuase the bus line doesn't go all the way to Haena, I had to hitch two rides to the Kalalawa trailhead. While checking the map at the begining, I met three women who asked if I was hiking alone. They invited me to hike with them, and seemed really friendly so I took up the offer. Two of them lived on the island, and the other was visiting from Alaska. They knew each other from living in Alaska and doing yoga together.

Even though we only did the first 2 miles to the beach, the hike was strenuous. Luckily it was dry, so all the rocks were not slippery. Sometimes the trail can be completely slippery. Most of the trail consisted of huge rocks. The views of the coastline were breathtaking, not to mention the whales we could see in the distance spouting water. We could also see the island of Nihau clearly from the trail. I saw so many plants I had never seen before. It was crazy too see desiduous, coniferous and tropical trees growing all in one place. On every cliffside I would come to I could look out at the crystal blue ocean waters.

We hit a cold stream before arriving at Hanakapi`ai Beach, which was more like a pile of huge rocks than a sandy beach, in fact there was no sand at all. Most people were congregated near the stream picknicking and taking rests in the shade. Vicki, one of the women I hiked with had brought this delicious salad for our picknick, with cheese and crackers, a gourmet snack for the hike, I thought. As it started to drizzle, we decided to head back. It took us over 2 1/2 hours to hike in, becuase of constant stopping to take photos and gawk at the views. The hike back was a bit quicker.

On our way back at one point I heard a noise which sounded like a scream from a baby. A guy approached carrying a small animal in his arms. Why would anyone bring their small dog on this trail and carry it the entire way?! That's what I was thinking. It turned out to be a very young wild goat that he had rescued. He told that he had found it alone near the trail and waited awhile for it's mother to return, she never did so he decided to resue it. It made the cutest little goat sound. It was definately dehydrated and licked the sweat off of his skin. Vicki gave him the name and number of a friend who owns and cares for goats on the island. He went ahead of us to try to get it to another goat for milk. I have heard that he is a billy goat and doing fine now. That hike was he descent from wild to domesticated life.

After finishing the hike, they bought coconuts from a guy who was chopping them with a huge knife in the back of his pick up truck. We drank the milk than ate the insides.

We then spent an hour or so at the Haena beach, until the lifegaurd called everyone in from the water because of high dangerous tide waters. Margaret gave me a ride back to Kapaa, she was heading towards Wailua.

Hungry as ever, that evening I ate this amazing ahi burrito at the Mermaid cafe in Kapaa and checked out this small artwalk the art galleries were hosting. I enjoyed walking around the town and checking out the scenes.

On Sunday, I slept in, had a lazy morning and decided to rent a bicycle and cruise down this bike path that was along the coast going to different beaches near Kapaa. The bike rental was $10 all day, I had to return it by 5pm. I got a yellow beach cruiser with coaster breaks and a front basket! It was so fun to put all my stuff in the basket and go cruising along the water. The trail did not go very far north or south. I went to the north end of it and then turned around to head back. I stayed at Kealia beach until about 1pm, laying in the sun, probably getting burned. It was a great beach to watch experienced surfers, and then later on body boarders. There were these boys who couldn't have been much older than 10 doing some amazing stuff. I enjoyed watching the kids on the beach building a massive sand castle. I painted and spent the rest of the day bumming it on the beaches. A perfect way to spend the last day of my trip. Aloha.