travel – The PolyBlog

Honeymoon recap 14 – Napali Coast, Hiking and Lihue

February 24 2024

Day 14 was our last day, which, for most vacationers, means a sad day. But not for us. We had saved a visit to the Napali Coast, aka the West Coast of the island, on a zodiac. I mentioned previously that the fourth side of the island was uninhabited, unspoiled. If you’ve seen any movie set on an island that is supposed to be lush and green and wild, it was likely set in the opening scenes by a visit towards the Napali Coast. Isla Nublar from Jurassic Park used the Napoli Coast for many of its scenes. As did many “monster” films like King Kong. Why? Well, look for yourself.

Here’s what it looks like when you’re in a Zodiac on a bright sunny day.

And a scene from a helicopter.

For OUR establishing shot, here we are on the Zodiac.

As you go along the coast, there are lots of views like the first one above. But if you go in closer, you see that there are some caves or overhangs where you can go “inside”. There are scenes from James Bond movies shot inside these caves, and they are pretty cool to see in person.

And then you come out, back into the sunshine, and forget what you’re seeing because your brain doesn’t want to comprehend the scale.

Way down at the left side of the picture below is the trail we were hiking. See how low it is compared to the REAL mountains closer to the middle? Mind-boggling.

There’s a small beach area which might look familiar from the Jurassic World movies, even if none of the compies are attacking little girls. But we did get to stop and go swimming/snorkelling off the zodiac. I would have preferred a shallower entry rather than just over you go, but snorkelers can’t be choosers! 🙂

While we were snorkelling, I was expecting to see lots of fish. Instead, I mainly followed a turtle around.

We only had a few hours for the tour, and that was probably a good thing. While we got to see wonderful things like the waterfall below and some dolphins around the Zodiac as we were driving around, we were a bit unprepared for sun care. We did have water proof sunblock, strong stuff, all good, right? We put it on as soon as we got on the boat. Every ounce of skin was covered, and we had hats, all good. Except we were wearing our shorts over our bathing suits. When we went swimming and then got back on the boat, we just stayed in our bathing gear. So the few inches between the hem of our shorts and the hem of our bathing suits were left exposed. Without sunblock. We both got sunburnt, with Andrea’s legs screaming for Aloe Vera later in the day. Still worth it. In the main gallery, I added a bunch of scanned postcards of the coast from our trip.

Now that alone would be enough for our last day on the island. Amazing, mind-blowing, incredible. Yet, every day that we were near the Canyon, we felt we had to go visit. We couldn’t resist, it just drew us up the road into the area…we wanted to go hiking again.

We got a little closer to the waterfalls and pond today.

And then it was time to return to Lihue and start packing to leave the next day.

It had been an amazing honeymoon, trip and vacation. We had seen incredible sites; knocked numerous “adventures” off my bucket list for submarines, volcanoes, helicopters, sea turtles, hiking up mountains; and enjoyed sunsets, food and each other’s company without the stress of planning for a wedding. It felt perfect.

We didn’t know yet that there was another surprise waiting for us. What started as a trip for 2 was ending as a trip for 3. Jacob was with us too, even if we hadn’t met or named him yet.

Honeymoon recap 13 – Wailua Falls

February 18 2024

For Day 13, whatever plans we had originally had now been reduced to the call of the canyon. In yesterday’s photos, there was one showing a long waterfall.

You can’t see it to the left, but there’s a box canyon that runs that way. At the edge, there is enough of a pull-off area to park your car and go hiking about 2 kilometres to get to the top of the falls. We like waterfalls, we were looking to hike…why not go for it?

We hiked across the side of the box canyon, picking out some goats on the opposite side of the wall, hard to see and the photos didn’t pick them up well enough. But you could see them with binoculars, just barely. We made our way to the edge of the waterfall area. What had looked like mostly just a small waterfall in the pic to a river that continued off the next cliff was actually a small pond area.

It was pretty well protected, and the hike wasn’t difficult, so it isn’t like we were off the beaten path. You can see metal railings at the bottom of the next photo which was mostly to stop idiots like us from getting too close to the edge of hills prone to erosion and landslides. If you missed the pond, it was a LONG way down.

We thought at first that we’d be able to work our way down and go for a swim. Or perhaps to get across the water area and climb up the next hill, which would have let us see a long vista down the valley/canyon.

But it was not to be. It was a great hike, far less strenuous than the one on the Northwest shore, and with great views. It was all we wanted to do for the day, visit the Canyon.

Later in the day, we stopped by a local artisan shop and looked at a lot of products made with local wood. I seem to recall buying a bowl, and a couple of carvings.

And then we went for a really nice dinner at a rooftop hotel restaurant across from our inn. We chatted with the serving staff, and as with earlier conversations, we were curious how people made it there if they weren’t local. The server for the night had followed his mom to the island, she was some sort of manager of some local franchised store (like Walmart or something, I forget now), and he was stopping out from school at the University of Oregon to hang out in Kauai. It seemed like a sweet gig.

This, of course, got us thinking about the age-old question — what would we do if we wanted to live here full-time? The canyon had totally captured our hearts and our imagination. And we hadn’t even made it to the West Coast of the island yet. We were still wondering if the next day might turn out to be the excursion of the trip.

Honeymoon recap 12 – Princeville, Lighthouse, Waimea Canyon and Lihue

February 18 2024

Day 12 started as a sad day. We had come to the northern part of the island, climbed a mountain, saw a couple of beautiful sunsets, even laid out at night and stared at the stars a bit. But we had to pack up, as we only had a couple of days in the North scheduled, so we took a bunch of pics and videos around the condo area, and started the trek to the southern part of the island and our last couple of days in Hawaii.

East of Princeville, near the north-east corner of the island, there is a lighthouse next to a bird sanctuary area called Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge.

We saw a lot of different birds, wandered around a bit, and then climbed back into the car for a gentle drive South to Lihue. The second time on the main road allowed us a bit of a chance to see more settlements, some golf courses, a few more villages going off to the inland area, etc.

We passed through Lihue, and in my mind, we stopped and checked into the hotel, but the other pictures suggest it was later in the day. We had learned from the guidebooks that there was an area called Waimea Valley, and it was pitched as the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific”. I was sure it was going to be more hype than reality, but some pretty vistas would be nice.

Whatever our minds were expecting, Waimea Canyon was way beyond that expectation. It was absolutely amazing. Stunning. No words seem strong enough. We were totally blown away. I was expecting the West Coast of the island to be spectacular in the coming days (we had an outing planned), but nothing had prepared me for the canyon. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

We drove up the canyon road that runs between the Coast and the canyon, and almost all of the photos are taken along the road. We went to a couple of lookouts to see the ocean to the west, but it was too foggy to see much in that direction. Instead, we parked and went for a small hike. We didn’t really have a plan, it was just that the hills were calling to us. We had to be out of the car, in the hills themselves.

Afterwards, we saw some postcards like the one below. And while most postcards look like the “perfect” shot, one that some professional photographer got at just the right light at just the right time and then airbrushed and tweaked within an inch of its life, the photos don’t do the actual landscape justice.

We hadn’t had a strong plan for the day, we just went up the road to see if there was much to see. Apparently, there was. We didn’t want to leave. Afterwards, we drove back to Lihue, checked into our hotel, and visited a beach to walk along the sand a bit.

As I said, it started as a bit of a sad day. We were starting our wind-down, leaving behind the Northern part of the island and heading south. We were excited to see the Western and Southern parts of the island, but we liked where we were too. The sunset at Ke’e Beach was amazing, we did the hike and loved the views. But that same day, we saw Waimea for the first time. Mind-blowing. Maybe even life-altering. In my entire life, I have never had a view of nature affect me as much as the views of Waimea Canyon. It was calling and we wanted to be part of it.

Honeymoon recap 11 – Kalalau Trail and Ke’e Beach

February 17 2024

For Day 11, we started with a fairly ambitious plan. Ke’e Beach is the start of what is called the Kalalau Trail, and it goes up and over part of the mountain range at the coast, and down to a secluded beach. We had hiking poles, hiking boots, and a plan. But to be honest, I was nervous. The guidebooks basically said this was for more advanced hikers and adventurers. There’s no support anywhere on this trail, nothing nearby. You’re hiking straight into wilderness in rocky terrain; if you get into trouble, it is on you to get yourself out. It reminded me a bit of the people who went hiking on top of lava rock to peer into vents…a really stupid way to get into way more trouble than you can handle.

The condo we were in had a small kitchen, and I seem to recall doing basic toast and stuff for breakfast. Then heading out, about 30-45m to the Beach. Just before the end of the road, there’s a giant rock face with a cave underneath that has been eroded away over the years. We didn’t have much in the way of light to really illuminate it, but you can see in the photo that you can go a fair distance into the cave.

I was a bit surprised that I didn’t feel more claustrophobic, given the lack of lighting.

We continued down the road, parked, and started up the Trail. We hadn’t decided how far we would go. In a sense, there are four segments to get to this other beach:

Up the North side of the trail face to the top;
Down the South side of the trail face to the secluded beach;
Back up the South side to the top; and,
Back down the North side.

I was committed to go to the top of the North trail face, and then to decide if I was going to have the strength, endurance, and agility to do #2 and #3 before going back down to the car. The hike up to the top was more strenuous than I expected. Although there’s something funny about that too, that I’ll come back to…the hike up was a bit twisty and turning, not large switchbacks, etc. Some parts barely qualify as a trail. It was more like at some point there had been a waterway running down it and some landslides, so you could climb up the rock gully. Often using large tree roots as handholds and foot spots. But pretty much the whole way up, we were constantly thinking, okay, where do we step, what’s the next foot placement, etc. We weren’t rock climbing or anything, but it required constant concentration to think, okay, how do we get up to the next spot. Scrambling over rocks, grabbing roots, and hauling my ass to the top of a small mountain area. But it’s an adventure, right? And the views were certainly worth it. As long as you watched that first step, as it was a long way down.

Andrea was doing way better than me; the photo of me was a relatively GOOD area of the trail.

But any trail that you can go along, look out over the ocean, and see relatively unspoiled areas with dolphins swimming around is a good trail.

Heck, even the views back down to Ke’e Beach were awesome.

For reference, the following postcard shows the beach we were trying to get down to, coming from the bottom of the picture.

But it was not to be. We got to the top, and every fibre of my soul wanted to keep going to H Beach. But my brain, body and heart said, “Are you nuts?”. I was spent just getting to the top of the first part. We were about 40% of the way there, I think. So down, back, and then down again still? I was worried about the descent we were already committed to doing. Andrea could have done it, and I was disappointed for her that she wouldn’t be able to go down. I suggested she go by herself and I’d wait, but that wasn’t a good idea either. So, we went back down.

Now, I said it was difficult, right? And we saw some more experienced hikers struggling, some older people too trucking along. We were about medium, I think, for ability. But on the climb up, there was this one stretch that was the river wash/waterfall gully, big huge rocks, signs of a previous rockslide, all of that. It was the worst stretch of the trail, and it was a LOT of work to get up it.

But I said there was a funny bit on the way there. We were about 2/3 of the way up the stretch, and some young teens came the other way, heading back to Ke’e Beach, having already been down to H Beach. Did I mention we had full sun gear, poles, and hiking boots? They RAN down our trail, hopping from rock to rock. In bare feet. In swimsuits. No shirts. Carrying surfboards. Barely even slowed down, except to go around us. Laughing and talking as they went. Soooo maybe it wasn’t as bad as I found it.

Nevertheless, we were done. We went back to Ke’e Beach, did a bit more exploring around the extended beach area, had a nice dinner, and then went back to Ke’e Beach to watch the sunset.

I don’t really have the words to describe that sunset experience. It was magical. I can remember almost every detail of two sunsets in my life, both shared with Andrea, one on a boat cruise while dating and this one on our honeymoon. They are tied for first place. The first was emotional, as I realized that I was in love with this woman. The second was part of our honeymoon, a celebration of our love and commitment, so of course it was emotional, too. But the sheer beauty of the place was incredible.

Honeymoon recap 10 – Opaekae Falls, Princeville, Ke’e Beach and Hanalei Pier

February 16 2024

Day 10 of our vacation, and as I mentioned yesterday, it was time to leave the Big Island (Hawaii) and head off to the second island of our honeymoon: Kauai. We flew through Honolulu, past the USS Arizona memorial in Pearl Harbor, and then on to Lihue.

The island’s settlements are laid out a bit like a backward C…the West side of the island is entirely wild (and we’ll discuss later!), while the South, East and North are settled. We had decided to go to the northern part of the island for a couple of days, but before we headed North, we decided to check out Opaekae Falls. It was listed in all the guidebooks as a great waterfall, and we love our waterfalls. Apparently, it shows up in a bunch of movies and TV shows too, although mostly older stuff. It was worth a visit, although I was disappointed we couldn’t get a better direct view of it and with more water volume.

We headed up the East Coast of the island afterwards, grabbed some food somewhere along the way, as I recall, maybe Subway (I don’t know why that is sticking in my head), and made it to Princeville. We were staying in an AirBNB-equivalent style rental which was my first time doing so. It was a condo next to a golf course, a nice, simple structure for the two of us for a couple of nights. Princeville is the local “town” although more of a village. The terrain was mixed, with hills starting to show in the background and some flat agriculture. Felt very different from Big Island, more lush.

I’m including a postcard of the beach we went to called Ke’e Beach which is basically the end of the road when you go to the North West corner of the island. We didn’t get great shots the first day, mostly we just drove around to get the lay of the land, although we saw this really cool tree root system at the beach.

Later, as the sun started to set, we went to Hanalei Pier, which is on a large bay that was made famous in the movie South Pacific. It was a nice place to watch some of the sunset.

As a small spoiler alert, we were also starting to see the mountains of the island, and the forms that would occupy our attention later in the visit.

It’s hard to get a sense of the majesty of the place. But this postcard of the area shows what we starting to realize was an amazing island.

A busy day but we saw Pearl Harbor (from a distance), a waterfall, the pier, a nice beach, and an interesting sunset. Not a bad day overall.

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Tag Archives: travel

Honeymoon recap 14 – Napali Coast, Hiking and Lihue

Honeymoon recap 13 – Wailua Falls

Honeymoon recap 12 – Princeville, Lighthouse, Waimea Canyon and Lihue

Honeymoon recap 11 – Kalalau Trail and Ke’e Beach

Honeymoon recap 10 – Opaekae Falls, Princeville, Ke’e Beach and Hanalei Pier