Yesterday was a nice relaxing day. We only went to get our underwater pictures developed (which didn’t turn out very well) and went boogie boarding at Anahola Bay. It was very nice and relaxing to do little today. We then went back to Scotty’s BBQ again because their food and view are both amazing. Prices aren’t too bad too! Here’s a couple of the very few pictures we took today.
Today was another great day in Paradise. We started off by driving to the other side of the island to get to Waimea Canyon. This is what they call the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific”. We have both been to the Grand Canyon before and neither of us thought this looked much like it. The Grand Canyon’s erosion patterns are very distinct creating cliffs resembling huge cracks, not valleys. After reading some Wikipedia on this, it is apparent why. Waimea’s canyons aren’t purely erosion, but also from collapse during fault movement. Don’t get me wrong, it is both beautiful and amazing, but not that similar to the Grand Canyon.
From here we went to the beach and ate lunch. We then passed through Ele’ele on our way back and stopped at the Kauai Coffee estate for the free tour. It was a short self-guided tour, but there was free coffee so I was pleased!
Our tour was followed by going to Spouting Horn/Whaler’s Cove beach where went snorkeling. It was better snorkeling here than anywhere we had previously gone including Kona on our Honeymoon. We had the underwater camera, so those pics will come when we get back and get them developed.
We had thought about renting kayaks again, or taking a kayak tour today but decided against it as the kayak would simply be a means of transportation to places we could already get to without spending money! Yeah, we’re cheap! We started off by hiking up “sleeping giant” which is a fairly famous trail near Kapa’a. It was really hot since we started off a littler later than expected in the day. We didn’t quite make it to the top, but saw almost all of the views you would from the top in one form or another.
We decided to turn around because of the heat, and our other plans for hiking. We then went to an unnamed falls (may be called Upper Ho’opi’i Falls) as well as down to Ho’opi’i Falls about a mile away. These were both beautiful waterfalls along the Kapa’a stream and were worth the EASY hikes!
After that we went to Anahola Bay to play in the water (and get some of our sweat off)! Then we went ‘home’ and cleaned up since we had our Luau tonight. This luau was a THOUSAND times better than the one we went to in Maui on our Honeymoon. We went to the “Smith’s Luau” which we both highly recommend. This luau was on beautiful grounds where you can walk around. Then they had the “Imu” ceremony where they actually get the pig out of the imu (underground oven) for dinner. There was a live band playing typical hawaiian music during dinner, and a show afterward at the theater. The show was another typical Luau scenario where it was a ‘history lesson’ of Luau, and the influence of many Asian cultures on Hawai’i. It was interesting, entertaining, well planned, and well rehearsed with only a couple small hiccups. With all the expensive things to do on the islands for minimal entertainment value, this one is exactly what we were looking for! Did I mention it had an open bar?
Today we took it easy. We went to breakfast then did some shopping (Christmas gifts, travel gifts, etc.). I enjoyed more Kona coffee and we went to the Kilauea lighthouse on the way back. We didn’t realize it is also a wildlife refuge and had lots of albatross. Many were nesting and many babies were here. Then we went back to the condo and went to Queen’s Bath again. There were TONS of sea turtles. We only took the underwater camera so we won’t find out if those pictures came out just yet! We snorkeled in Queen’s Bath and took the rest of a roll of film. It was lots of fun! The surf was much lighter today and wasn’t crashing up over the rocks nearly as often.
Dinner today was courtesy of the BBQ between buildings 5 & 6 again! Steak on our lanai overlooking Mount Waialeale. We could ALMOST see it tonight, which is the closest since we arrived due to all the clouds that constantly surround the peak. It isn’t the wettest place on Earth for no reason! We took some more pictures of the area and the mountains today as well!
Today we went on a kayaking trip up from Nawiliwili Bay by the Menehune Fish Pond. From there we hiked to ‘hidden valley falls’ which was fairly dry due to the Hawaiian drought. We then went to Kipu Falls, a locals place we found on our Honeymoon in January. We then went to Polihale State Park which is far away on the west side of the island. We went on some dirt roads that people must have been afraid of because we found the most amazing beach. Beautiful blue water, white sand, and miles of it. There were a total of 6 people on the beach including us!!! We saw a rainbow above the start of the Na Pali cliffs and the end of Waimea Canyon. We stayed here for sunset and it was simply amazing. On the way home we stopped at a little local place in Waimea for some BBQ Pork and BBQ Chicken sandwiches which were delicious!
