Kauai
November 13-27, 2004
November 13-Saturday
Left Brenham at 4:30 a.m. for an early flight out. We made it to the airport in good time. Short flight to LAX, only had about 15 minutes for a bathroom break and snack break...I bought a Snowman ornament. (My 2004 ornament)
Good flight from LAX to HNL. We had to wait a hour or so for our connecting flight to Kauai. Started raining when we landed in Oahu.. We made it to Kauai…picked up the rental car. Then onto the beach house. The roads were steep and curvy. Drove in the pitch black...no street lights. A little disappointed with the beach house. It's in a great location but had too many insects inside and a lizard or two.
November 14-Sunday
This morning up around 7:30 had our coffee on the back porch. Raining a little. Walked across the street to the beach. It is overcast and is suppose to rain most of the day. Today we drove around mostly. Went to Kapaa.. Looked around and did a little shopping. Next we went to the Kilauea Lighthouse. Very neat with great views. We stopped at the Secret Beach to get a view of Bali Hai (Where South Pacific was filmed). Next on the itinerary was Princeville. Princeville is very pretty. I would love to stay here on our next visit. Enjoyed Lappert’s ice cream. So delicious. We went to Ha'ena State Park next to check out the Kalalau Trail . It will be pretty tough, but I think we can do it. Hope for clear skies. (I now know is considered one of America’s Most Dangerous Hikes –Backpacker Magazine) We had dinner at the Beach house tonight. We went to walk on the beach before sunset. Saw a few surfers. Pretty neat. It is very pretty here.
November 15-Monday
Up around 7:30 No rain this morning but it is overcast. Went to Queen’s Bath (Princeville) shopped in Hanalei had lunch at Bubba’s Burgers. Lumahai Beach was next on the itinerary. Did a little shelling, spent the afternoon here. Stopped at Coconut Market for some shopping before headed back to the beach house for the evening. Dinner in. Cool this evening on the beach.
Cloudy/rain showers
November 16-Tuesday
Up at sunrise, a little too cloudy to really see it. Went to Kappa to kayak on the Waimea River. You kayak the river, and then hike (about 40 minutes) to a secret waterfall. So pretty had lunch here. One of the highlights of the trip.
After most of the day kayaking, we drove to Opaekaa Falls. Drove by Coco Palms Resort, where Blue Hawaii was filmed. Back to the room for a little rest. Went to Hanalei for dinner. Had Mexican food (best of the trip, but I failed to write the name of restaurant down) we had a table outside. In bed around 10 pm.
Pretty all day/sunny- only rained during dinner.
November 17- Wednesday
Up around 6am, suppose to rain for most of the day so deciding what to do. Maybe a drive to the South shore? Hope the weather clears before our hiking trip.
Ate at Tropical Tacos at Po’ipu. Decided to drive to the East side of the island. Stopped at Coco palms so I could have my photo opt. Then to Wailua Falls (Fantasy island Falls) Drove by Lyngate Park. In Po’ipu saw spouting horn and tree tunnel. Drove through old down Koloa, Hiked in Waimea Canyon (called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Then drove to Polihale Beach where some of South Pacific was filmed. Stayed for sunset. Stopped at Safeway on our way back to house.
Rained off and on all day
November 18-Thursday
Up at 5:30 am. Tried to make it to the Botanical Garden tour, missed it went onto Guava Plantation. Went to Anini Beach Park (Honeymoon in Vegas was filmed here) Decided to go to Moloaa Beach. Stayed for a while.. saw a Monk seal swimming here (6 days and 7 nights was filmed here)
Drove through the Radisson to look at the resort we would be staying at for the second half of the trip. Next was Ananhola Beach Park stayed here until it started raining? Decided to tour the Marriott hotel, very pretty. Ate at The Shack and then shopping at Gaylord’s. Walked around Old Town Koloa then back to Kapaa to do some laundry
No rain today- Yeah… (3 more nights in the lizard house.)
November 19- Friday
Up early again, ate breakfast on the beach. Walked a bit, watched the surfers. Went to Donkey Beach (suppose to be a nude beach, no, we didn’t see anyone nude..LOL) Went to Old Town Koloa for lunch had Italian.
Toured the Coffee Plantation then to The Kukuiolono Golf Course & Park in Kalaheo. It is very pretty.
Went back to Waimea Canyon ..Hiked the 4 miles trail to Waipoo water fall. A little scary at times but a nice hike. Came back to the beach to watch the sun set. Stopped by Wal-Mart in Lihue to get a few things before going back to the house. We saw Bethany Hamilton; she is the surfer that had her arm bitten off by a shark.
No rain
November 20-Saturday
Slept in… went to eat again at The Shack. Walked around and shopped a little at an open market. Back to the house, sat out at the beach. Made a quick trip to the store for last minute items for our hiking trip the next day. Back to the room to pack.
No rain
November 21-Sunday
Up at 5:30 am to hike the NaPali Coast. We left the luggage in the car for overnight (or so we thought)
The hiking was very hard and scary (for me at least) We were basically hiking the side of a mountain. The trail was very narrow and slippery. At one point you cross over the top of a waterfall that meets the ocean. Pretty long drop if you slip. We hiked in only about 6 miles. It is an 11 mile trail, The Kalalau trail. It took us around 7 hours just to do this. We were very tired.
After we returned to the car we went to Kee Beach then onto Kong Lung Center for pizza. Since we didn’t have a place to stay for the night (suppose to be camping overnight) we decided to see if we could check in the Radisson early. Got a room. The resort is very nice. Hula dancers and a torch lighting ceremony every night at sundown. Our room was upgraded to ocean view: :)
Looking through my travel diary and rewriting this trip review I wanted to mention the hike a little more. We had planned this hike for months. Tried to get the backpacks as light as possible and tried to get in exercise to be able to make the hike. I really thought we would make it all the way with no issues. In the end I have always said I wanted to try it again but after research and really looking at different videos and websites, I’m not sure this is a hike I NEED to finish. I felt very bad in the end because it was something Gary wanted to do and I felt like I had let him down. I was scared. So.. we may or may not try it again.. Maybe we can go next time in the summer time and kayak over. We went in the winter and the water was too rough to kayak.
Rain in the afternoon
November 22-Monday
Up much later today. A good night’s sleep, tired from the hike. We looked around the resort today and beach area. Went into town, Coconut Market Place, ate at Tropical Burger. Came back to the room, booked a luau for tonight and South Pacific Dinner/show for Wednesday night. I went to the beach for the afternoon and Gary stayed in the room. Luau was fun ( I say a onetime deal) we didn’t pay to eat just to watch the show. Relaxing day
November 23-Tuesday
This morning we were up to see the sunrise on the beach. Then to Eggberts for breakfast. Not much happening today, lying around enjoying doing nothing. Mexican food for lunch did a little shopping. Watched the torch lighting ceremony at the resort. So funny, Gary got picked to dance with the hula dancers…LOL
Rained a little in the morning
November 24-Wednesday
Lazy day today…stayed around the resort most of the day except for lunch in town at The Shack. Went to South Pacific Dinner Theater tonight. The food wasn’t that good but the show was (well, I enjoyed it) Happy..happy…happy.. Happy Talk…talk about things you like to do…….
November 25-Thursday
Happy Thanksgiving
Slept in… Another lazy day. Enjoying Kauai .. went into town to eat lunch at Eggberts. Dinner was in the hotel lounge.
November 26-Friday
Raining this morning, we went to the South Shore to have lunch and do some shopping. Went to the beach at the resort for a few hours. Watched the torch lighting ceremony for the last time. Packed up for flight the next morning at 4:30 to Oahu
November 27- Saturday
Full day in Oahu
Flew in from Kauai to Honolulu, rented a car for a bit of sightseeing.
Went to Waikiki Beach (a lot smaller than I imagined) looked at a few of the resorts on the beach. Ate at Hard Rock. Hiked up Diamond Head (best part) great views from the top. Went to Pearl Harbor/USS Arizona. Ate at Spaghetti factory before our flight out.
Had a great time. A really good trip!!! Kauai is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!! My favorite Hawaiian island so far!
