For those who have never visited, Kauai is often considered the most beautiful of Hawaiian Islands. Nicknamed the ‘Garden Island” Kauai is watered almost daily with rain….Near the center of the island is the “wettest spot on earth” where they get over 450 inches of rain each year.
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| Pulling into Kauai |
We rented a car and made a quick trip to Kapaa town. Kapaa has a main drag full of restaurants, galleries, surf shops and shave ice stands. Shave ice aficionados, Ken and Barb, say it is the best they have had anywhere.
After a quick trip to the beach, we headed up to Kilauea lighthouse which is on the eastern side of Kauai. I have noticed that most of the natural attractions in Hawaii have started charging admission and parking…..looks like tough times have hit everywhere and, like most states, Hawaii is looking for other sources of revenue. Be prepared for these charges. By comparison, they still seem reasonable.
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| Kapaa Beach |
There is much to visit on Waimea but time did not permit us to go too far from port. Some attractions I would recommend to visitors are Waimea canyon and the Na Pali coast. Waimea canyon is Hawaii’s Grand Canyon and has some great hiking trails with stunning views. Like the other islands, Kauai has microclimates and it is not uncommon to have bright sunshine and 90 degrees in Waimea and have a rain storm and 60 degree temperatures at the top of the Canyon so be prepared with good shoes and rainwear.
The Na Pali coast is covered more completely in an earlier blog of ours. A great way to see it is by boat….we’ve done it and recommend it highly.
I realize that I have not mentioned much about Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii which we visited a couple of days ago. Kona is on the dry side of the island….although it was a little overcast and rainy in the hills. Kona’s climate lends itself well to the major export, coffee. Boutique coffee plantations are all up and down the Kona coast…..the coffee is wonderful but quite expensive. For my money, Kauai also has coffee plantations and I have been extremely happy with their coffee….it’s also much cheaper. As a shopping tip, run into Costco in Lihue, Kauai if you want real Kauai coffee at a bargain. This is where we pick it up when we are here. Kona is very tourist oriented and a party town. Two storey bars and restaurants spot the main drag along with every conceivable shop from the high end jewelry stores to the t-shirt shops. We took a tender (lifeboat) to the island since Kona is not a deep water harbor…this took some time but Carnival runs it very efficiently……it’s also quite funny watching people board the tenders!
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| Tender (which becomes a lifeboat if the ship sinks) |
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| Royal Kona Hotel....where we took the entire Billings clan in 2008 |
As a side note, let’s talk nutrition and health on a cruise ship. I think of this as I see a XXXXXXL (6XL) Hawaiian shirt on the rack in one of the stores we stopped by. This shirt is bigger than my first apartment……Cruise ships have great food and plenty of it. My suggestion is to plan your day to allow for some physical activity. If you are like most cruise passengers, you will eat more and exercise less…..not a good formula if you plan to stay fit. Most cruise lines also offer a “light menu” that is more nutritionally sound than the regular menu. I have had this on a few nights and recommend it.
Tomorrow, we visit Maui for an overnight stop. I have never been here….Pat visited in the late 70’s but we are sure that it has changed since then. I am thinking about taking the bicycle ride down the volcano….apparently, the ride is over 20 miles long and drops 10,000 feet in elevation. As my sister describes it, she pedaled about 10 strokes out of the parking lot at the top and that was it for 20+ miles. My dad tells me that he clocked a couple of riders hitting 60 miles an hour on the way down. That is roughly double the speed where I feel comfortable……I may pass on this one. Pat is encouraging me to give it a try……hmm…..wonder why?
Regards,
Pat and Chris
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