We found Kauai to be much like we had heard: a sleepy, rural island with a lot of hippies and chickens. We drove (almost) the entire circuit of the island in two hours. We passed through Lihue, the main "city", which resembled a North Carolina town like Lewisville or Gastonia. We saw super-touristy Kapaa, higher end touristy Poipu, the fiercely independent enclave of Hanalei--far from everything, with a lot of "no trespassing signs", though tourists were still welcome in town. We stayed outside of Waimea, which was a small hippie town on the desert side of the island.
By outside, I mean thirteen miles outside, in the remote base of Pacific Missile Range Facility. It was beautiful. We were on the biggest beach I've seen in Hawaii, in a small outpost of eight cabins. There was a little area of the base where we were allowed to go and a good deal of "off limits," presumably where the missiles are. We could see Niihau, the "forbidden island," from the beach.
We spent the mornings on the beach and in the cabin, traveled around through lunch and early afternoon, and came back in the evening to play on the beach and cook dinner on the grill. The waves were normally too big for real swimming, but X enjoyed playing in the surf. While sitting on the beach, I saw several sea turtles, all sorts of crabs, and spinner dolphins, so named because they do Sea World-style tricks in the ocean.
It was a wonderful break, and I was sorry to leave.
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| Us in front of Waimea Canyon |
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| Giant leaves at Koke'e State Park |
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| Eating a Puka Dog |
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| This is the plane we flew over on. |
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| Shop in Waimea |
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| Our cabin |
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| Playing in the waves. You can see Niihau in the background. |
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| Seascape from the mountains. |
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| Waimea Canyon |
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| Big honeymoon spot, apparently |
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| Jumping tires at Koke'e State Park |
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| View from our porch |
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| Nene |
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| Na Pali coast |
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| Hidden beach on the Na Pali coast. We forgot to bring swimsuits!! |
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| This was in front of a cave. |
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| X playing some game which involves having a stick on his head. |
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| X in front of another cave |
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| Na Pali Coast State Park |
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| Running through the tree cave |
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| Na Pali Coast State Park |
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| Beach time |
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| Wailua Falls |
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| A spectacular playground we happened across |
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| Fern Grotto |
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| X and Bobby on the ferry to the grotto |
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| Glass beach |
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| Beach at sunset |
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| Beach at sunset |
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| Sunset |
