Hey! We’re still here…
The island of Kauai hosted our final road trip of this epic adventure. On Monday we rented a car for the day using Trevor’s handy rental points. Kauai is basically round. The population is predominantly around the perimeter, while the middle is largely uninhabited. From Lihue, near the airport, you can drive east to the north shore of the island - a little over half way across. And, if we drove the whole road without stopping to see the sites, it would only take 1.5 hours.
We started our site seeing with the Wailua Heritage Trail along the Wailua River. We stopped to get a look at the Opaeka’a Falls, too. Kauai is so green and beautiful. Next stop was Na’Aina Kai Botanical Gardens. No tours on Mondays, but you could walk through the front garden and their shop for free. The flowers and grounds were gorgeous.
Kilauea Point Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuge was also closed on Mondays, but we could still enjoy the lookout. What a view! (Not going to lie, we were a little disappointed we couldn’t get in to see the refuge and the coast line.) As we were taking in the view though, we realized there were birds nesting in the ground. Baby seabirds all fuzzy and nestled in the red dirt. The refuge is home primarily to six coastal birds, but dozens of others seek shelter there as well. The lighthouse was built in 1912 and sits on top of the more than 500-foot ocean bluff. It is also the northernmost point in the Hawaiian Islands. From November – April this is also a great location for watching Humpback Whales migrate. If we ever have the opportunity to come back, we want to come back to this spot.
We stopped for lunch in the busy town of Hanalei and then got back on the road. Maniniholo Dry Cave at Haena Beach was another cool spot. A beautiful cave right across from the beach. It was great! And there was a Monk Seal sunning on the beach. This area was not as busy as the other beaches and was family friendly. We really like this spot, too.
We drove to the end of the road, literally, and then turned around and went back the way we came. On the way back to the south shore we stopped at Wailua Falls since we missed it on the way up. Once you are back to Lihue, you can drive west along the south shore toward the other side of the island. About half way across, you turn north and head toward Waimea Canyon State Park, or go to the other “end of the road” at Barking Sands Beach. As intriguing as the latter sounded, we chose to turn north and catch the Grand Canyon of Pacific at sunset.
Waimea Canyon was amazing. The canyon is 13 miles in length. Volcanic shifting, water and wind helped create the incredible horizontal layers in the canyon. The alternating colors show years of lava flow in the porous rock. People have been traveling to the canyon for more than 100 years, first using horseback, then cars.
We loved this spot, too. Are you seeing a pattern here? We have loved all of Hawaii, but we are really loving Kauai.
Your friend, B
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