Trip Report - 4/22-27

OK the photos are finally up so I can post our trip report. :-) We did quite a bit of driving... Next time will probably focus more on a few favorite spots!

4/22 - Flew RDM-LAX-LIH, arriving around 8pm.

Got our rental from Budget via ';Hawaii Drive-O'; (www.wailuabay.com). We did a lot of price comparisons on rental cars - used Entertainment, Costco, rack, airline discounts. This agency was one of the few that could get us a Jeep *and* the price was about the same as an Economy car. I was a little worried that the confirmation did not specify car type but the agent reassured me and said to call if we were unsatisfied. SO... I was relieved when everything went smoothly and we rolled out in a 2dr soft-side. :-) As soon as we pulled out of the rental lot those sides came off but we left the top on.

DH rolled right past Foodland in Kapa%26#39;a and didn%26#39;t want to turn around so we went to Safeway to stock up. They are *expensive* ... stick with Foodland (even without Makai card) as they have better prices and deli. Continued on to our vacation house in Moloa%26#39;a Bay and crashed (it was about midnight ';our'; time by then, we were pooped!).

4/23 - We woke up early! DH and I had pretty much agreed to stick to Pacific time so we got up with the chickens (literally). It had rained all night long so the air was a little cool. Went for a morning walk on Moloa%26#39;a Beach.

Since it was raining off and on we decided to get the lay of the land. We headed out to the North Shore first. Stopped at the Kilauea Lighthouse, watched surfers in Hanalei Bay for a while, and still got to Ke%26#39;e Beach before the crowd... and even the lifeguards. :-) Did some swimming and watched the big waves crash against the Na Pali coast line till it started raining and headed out. Made someone very happy when they got to pull into our parking spot. Took our time heading back to Moloa%26#39;a Bay.

Ate lunch (sandwiches and fruit from Moloa%26#39;a Sunrise Fruit Stand) on the lanai back at the house. Watched some geckos fight to the death in the foliage. Decided to head out and hope the weather improved. Got shave ice from the Halo Halo stand in Kapa%26#39;a... they were out of ice cream so it was just OK. Walked around Kapa%26#39;a and looked in the shops and around the ';fair';.

Continued down the road, did the loop through the tree tunnel and came up through Koloa then to Lawai so we could look at the shell leis. Went to Kipu Falls during a break from the rain. The water was really muddy so we didn%26#39;t swim. The falls were beautiful and the sun was out, so we just relaxed there for a while and soaked it all in. Stopped at the quilt shop in Lihue and browsed.

Dinner was back in Kilauea at the pizza place in the mall. Then back to Moloa%26#39;a to chill out for the evening.

4/24 - Drove back out to Ke%26#39;e and hiked to Hanakapiai Falls (8 miles roundtrip). The first two miles out to Hanakapiai Beach aren%26#39;t too bad, mostly good trail. Until you have to cross the river! The two miles up to the falls were really muddy and it%26#39;s a very strenuous hike. Think river crossings and lots of rocks to climb up and down. Next time I%26#39;ll wear water shoes!

After the hike, went for a quick dip at Ke%26#39;e. Grabbed burgers from Duane%26#39;s and beer from Whalers to enjoy back at the house and crashed.

4/25 - Both of us wanted a big breakfast after the long hike. We went to Eggbert%26#39;s. I had banana pancakes that were pretty good. DH had eggs benedict and it was just OK. Good service and good coffee!

We had grabbed a paper to read at breakfast and saw that Polihale SP was reopening that day. We had planned to drive out to Waimea Canyon already so decided to go to Polihale first. (Originally thought we might do more hiking at Waimea but we were both really sore!)

Stopped at Hanapepe first to walk the swinging bridge and stretch our legs. Nothing else was open so we didn%26#39;t get to look in the galleries.

LOVED Polihale. It%26#39;s paradise. Long beaches, warm sand, blue ocean... I felt like I was in heaven. Walked and waded a bit on Polihale Beach, watched the surfers, then decided to try to find Queens Pond. Stayed there for a couple hours, swimming and sunning, till it got hot and we started to get hungry.

Ate lunch from Da Booze Shop in Waimea. Good ribs and cold beer. Got shave ice from Jo Jo%26#39;s (yum! they had ice cream!) and headed up the Canyon. Stopped at all the view points. Only drawback to going to Polihale first was that by the time we got to the top it was totally socked in with clouds. Got a couple of brief looks at Kalalau Beach when the clouds blew off but mostly we just saw white.

Headed back to Moloa%26#39;a, got some good shoyu poke and a salad from Foodland for dinner on the way. Went for a walk on Moloa%26#39;a Beach and found the geocache hidden there. Left a travelbug from the Oregon Coast in it.

4/26 - Our flight wasn%26#39;t scheduled to depart until 9:15pm so we had most of the day to enjoy!

Started out at Queens Bath. It was too rough to swim, with the waves washing over both the mouth of the pool AND the rocks on the ocean side. At low tide. Still it was a beautiful morning so we enjoyed the views and the sounds of the ocean for a while. Left when the crowd started to wander in (!!!).

Went to Tunnels Beach. This was probably the MOST crowded beach we visited during our stay. But... still lots of room for everyone, not like beaches in Mexico or Waikiki we have visited in the past. There were a lot of snorkelers (we didn%26#39;t bother with gear) and some surfers riding off the outer reef. Swimming through the snorkelers was a bit challenging at times as they are so busy trying to spot something they don%26#39;t pay attention to others so they run into everything including swimmers, other snorkelers, the beach... wow! Otherwise we really liked Tunnels and did a lot a swimming and lounging on da beach.

Had lunch in Hanalei (Polynesia Cafe - don%26#39;t recommend). I was hoping for Tropical Taco but they are closed on Sunday. Headed to the house and packed. (WAAH!!)

Went back towards Kapa%26#39;a. Stopped at the fair and bought Red Dirt Shirts for the poor kiddos we left at home. Went to the Coconut Marketplace and got out as fast as we could (what a tourist trap).

Had dinner at Duke%26#39;s Barefoot Bar, watched a cruise ship pull out and thanked the tug. (My cousin was a tug operator.) Cried that we didn%26#39;t want to leave. Returned the rental car. Caught DH browsing a book called ';So you want to live in Hawaii?'; at the airport. Gave over the last of our fruit to the friendly Ag inspectors at the gate (ate a couple of apple bananas standing there at the inspection point, waaah!). Flew LIH-LAX-RDM, arriving at home around noon on Monday.

It%26#39;s now Thursday, and I%26#39;m still on island time. It took all of 15 minutes to relax and fall out of the groove when we got to Kauai. I hope it sticks with me for a few more days at least. :-)

If you are still reading this and want to take a look at our vacation photos check out my Flickr: flickr.com/photos/鈥?/a> ... just be forewarned that I am something of a plant nerd so there%26#39;s a lot of photos of pretty flowers. Also got a great pedicure just before heading to Kauai so you%26#39;ll see many of my toes, but otherwise not too many pics of me!

Thanks to everyone on this board for their help and suggestions. I hope we can return soon!

Trip Report - 4/22-27

Nice report thank you and your pictures were very lovely and if you are a plant nerd the I am a dog nerd cause that little dog in the pictures was so cute that was the first thing I honed in on and I went AWWW how cute.

Marie

Trip Report - 4/22-27

%26lt;%26lt;the first thing I honed in on and I went AWWW how cute.

HAHAHA I am a doggie lover too - but the first thing I honed in on was the GREEN water at Kipu Falls - and people actually SWIM in that -- YUCK -- it%26#39;s just like I remembered it!

UNCMOM, the dog was great! The lady at the pizza place said her name is Olive. She is super sweet and belongs to the owner of the shopping center in Kilauea. There was another dog too, but Olive just sat there with us the whole time, hoping for a slice of pizza. (And yes, she got some sausage and some crust!)

The water at Kipu was nasty - the people leaving as we got there had been swimming and said it was fine. With all the wonderful clean beaches I wouldn%26#39;t swim at Kipu... does it really ALWAYS look like that?

%26lt;%26lt; With all the wonderful clean beaches I wouldn%26#39;t swim at Kipu... does it really ALWAYS look like that?%26gt;%26gt;

Well it has been years since we went on the Kipu Safari (Kayak, hike etc) but I will tell you it was that way then and people were splashing away (NOT ME) All I could think of was Lepto! NO NO NO - I will stay OUT. I have no desire to go back, there have been to many happenings there regarding safety!

Fiveforefun, Your pictures are gorgeous, you have a good eye! Looks like you had a wonderful time. I have been looking at some rentals at Moloa%26#39;a, so I%26#39;m curious where you stayed? Were you happy with the location of Moloa%26#39;a? Thanks, Denise

Denise, glad you enjoyed the photos. :-) I really enjoyed taking them!

I liked Moloa%26#39;a and would stay there again. It isn%26#39;t close to... well, anything. But that was OK with us. We found it to be relatively central to what we wanted to see, and away from lots of people. There are probably more chickens than people in Moloa%26#39;a. I guess somewhere like Kapa%26#39;a or Lihue would be the ';most'; central but we didn%26#39;t want to stay in town.

We weren%26#39;t on the beach but it was just a short (1-2 minute) walk to the sand. That was fine by us, we really just wanted a place to sleep, shower, and stash our stuff. :-)

Aloha from Kaua%26#39;i!

Wow, glad you had such a good time here - you were indeed lucky to be here when Polihale opened - it is an unforgettable place - so pristine and huge - and I was surprised to hear Queen%26#39;s Pond was formed this time of year - hooray - I%26#39;ll be out there next Sunday for sure in that case! Awesome place!

';Started out at Queens Bath. It was too rough to swim, with the waves washing over both the mouth of the pool AND the rocks on the ocean side.';

I%26#39;m not going to wag my finger at you - lol! But suffice it to say you were very lucky that you decided not to swim there!

Coconut Marketplace is trying very hard to survive in this economy - they have re-painted, re-roofed and have several new shops and restaurants soon opening up (plus we are hoping a new movie theatre)- they do have big plans for it, but the economy is so difficult right now to implement all of them. Our hula halau does the keiki hula show there on Wednesdays at 5:00 and also on Saturday - yesterday I was there to help make leis for the girls to sell and there were really a lot of visitors enjoying the live music and hula - I was happy to see the area coming alive a little. Don%26#39;t be too hard on it - it is a much needed area for Kaua%26#39;i and I do hope that it survives!

Da Booze Shop in Waimea has such ono food! I worked at a Outrigger race at Kalapaki a little while ago and they catered the food - it was absolutely fantastic - and they also had lots of selections for vegetarians, which kind of surprised me! A little known spot with great food - nice owners as well!

Mahalo for your trip report - you%26#39;ll have to come back soon!

Malama Pono,

Janet

Thanks for the report and sharing your pictures. Really like the pictures of Daphne the Cockatoo. She always makes us smile.

Thanks for the trip report......Always love to here what people do on their stay on Kauai..........The pics are great. I have to agree. Polihale is magnificent!!!

I third that--Polihale is paradise!! That beach makes you really feel like you are getting away from it all.