Last glorious day in Hawaii

We managed to squeeze a bunch in on our last day in Hawaii. Visited a coffee farm and learned all about the big operation. This one is a total contrast to the Kona coffee farming on the Big Island. As much as Kona is proud of their small, labor intensive, pick by hand method, the Kauai coffee is machine picked and totally mechanised and both promote their quality. Humm. . .Matter of preference I guess. Mass market or specialty coffee.

Lazed around for a while on another beautiful beach and enjoyed watching another Monk Seal. We have been fortunate enough to see at least one on each island. They are making a come-back in Hawaii. Then it was a lunch of fish and chips and one last Shave Ice for desert before we headed back to our "digs" to pack up and head to the airport. We are all flying the "red eye" back to the mainland so we will be dog tired by the time we get back to Iowa /Arizona.

Its been an amazing time and a great time together!

Glass Beach

We found this little obscure black sand beach on the south side of Kauai appropriately named Glass Beach. It is absolutely covered with sea glass. A local gave Will two explanations. First one--years ago the sailors use to throw their rum bottles over board in this bay and after years and years they end on on the beach as glorious beach glass. The second explanation is the landfill around the corner from the bay. I like the first explanation.

Na Pali Coast

Our grand finale for the week in Kauai was a late afternoon catamaran cruise along the rugged Na Pali Coast or west side of the island. There are no roads here, just tropical wilderness only accessible by sea. It was a highlight for sure! We left Port Allen about 2pm and sailed along the shore watching for spinner dolphins and humpback whales. Neither disappointed us. We honestly lost count of the whales, they were everywhere! And the dolphins were showing off big time. When we got to the rugged cliffs we were all hanging onto the rail (truly) and trying to snap a hundred pictures. We enjoyed a hot dinner as we headed back toward port. To top it off we were treated to a glorious Hawaian sunset.

East side sights

Stayed close to home and did some east side sights today like the Fern Grotto, Wailua Falls, the Demonstration Gardens at National Botonical Gardens. This is the island for garden lovers. For dinner tonight we treated ourselves to some really yummy macadamia-encrusted snapper (some had other equally tasty fresh fish dishes) at Duke's Canoe Club Restaurant at the Kalapake Beach Marriott. Table with a nice view of the Bay, besides.

Jungle Fowl

It is not unusual to see these colorful chickens on the Hawaiian islands but they are especially plentiful on Kauai. They are everywhere--but the funniest was a hen who brought her four (very young) chicks to the food court at Costco. How she got them safely across the busy parking lot I will never know. Seems she was teaching them to panhandle.

They are suppose to be descendants of the jungle fowl that the Polynesian settlers brought with them to the islands--called moa--but there are plenty of domestic chickens in the mix too.

Kuilau Ridge Trail and Luau

Had breakfast out this morning for something different. "Eggberts" had the best pancakes. We had some pretty loose plans for the day and ended up hiking a trail on a spur of the moment. Was a little bit overcast which made the trek very comfortable, as well as adding to the ambiance of hiking in a rain forest. We were hiking in the shadow of Mt Wai'ale'ale which is suppose to be the wettest spot on earth. Gets 428 inches of rain a year. Imagine.
We had to do a Luau while in Hawaii and tonight was it. Turned out to be a lot of fun, food was tasty and entertainment was very Hawaiian.

Kauai's north shore

President Obama's inauguration was on TV while we had our morning coffee, Hawaii time. We thought it was all pretty moving. Its all being followed here very closely as he is Hawaii's native son.
It was suppose to rain today. No doubt it did rain somewhere on Kauai but not where we were. The wind was blowing up a surf, however. We drove up to the north shore to visit Kilauea Lighthouse which is also a wildlife refuge. Saw bunches of Red-Footed Boobies--that is a sea bird in case you are wondering. See the red feet? Trust me, they are red. Plus it has a baby blue bill. Pretty interesting looking bird. Also got binocular looks at Laysan Albatross' nesting.
Along the way there was this postcard picture perfect view of Taro fields in the valley below.

Helene and a Hawaii Beach

Kauai

The guide book calls this one of the greatest views of the Pacific. It is the Pu'u o Kila lookout overlooking the Kalalau Valley at the end of the Waimea Canyon road.

New week, new island. We woke up refreshed and ready to see Kauai. Seemed like a nice day to drive to Waimea Canyon. Didn't take us long to realize that this island is much smaller than others we have just seen as driving distances are pretty easy. Our suite located in Kapaa turns out to be centrally located from most anything we might want to see here.

So fun to have Helene with us. She's a pretty cool sister.

Moved from Big Island to Kauai

Had to get the Massey's to the airport by 6am for their flight back to the mainland--its still dark at 6am! Since we were up early, we went to some old fishponds to do a little birding. Didn't see anything new but some cool Hawaiian birds. We misjudged the trail and ended up doing a good long hike along the ocean beach (we did get a great close up look at an endangered monk seal basking on the beach), and along a difficult rock trail across a lava field. Not one I'd put in the fun column. Did lunch at a Japanese restaurant and then headed for the airport ourselves for an early afternoon flight to Kauai.
Will's sister Helene got in about a half an hour after we did--great timing--and we found our accommodations just as it was getting dark. Everybody tired tonight but looking forward to checking out what Kauai has to offer tomorrow

Last day

Breakfast at the condo at Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. Not bad, huh. If you look closely at the picture you can see two early morning surfers catching some waves (just above the railing.)

It has been a super two weeks with Wayne and Judy. We're going to miss 'em. We have traveled together many times over the years, and this has been another great time with great friends. None better.

Kohala

Started the day with a leisurely breakfast at Bongo Ben's and then spent the rest of the day checking out the sights along the Kohala Coast all the way to the end of the road at a place called Pololu Valley Lookout. The photo looks deceptively calm because we are so high above the water. The seas are still very rough, and winds very strong because of storm passing through but the sun continues to work its magic.

Coffee farm

We toured a coffee farm and learned all about the unique Kona coffee that grows on a relatively small portion of the west side of the Big Island in the higher elevations above Kailua-Kona. Ask me what a peaberry coffee is!

Found a winding road up the mountain that took us into a lush cloud forest, visited some historic sites in the area, and just soaked in the beauty of Hawaii.

Watching the Surfers from our Lanai

The Surfs up!! Word is out that the ocean waves are bigger than normal right now as a weather pattern is passing through the islands producing unusually large swells. We were able to watch some of this from the comfort of our lanai (that's Hawaiian for deck.) Watching the waves crashing to shore was entertainment enough, but watching the young and the brave surfing was something else.

More of Kilauea

I was so impressed by our day spent exploring Kilauea Volcano and surrounding areas that I had to post some more pictures. Walking on various old and new lava flows, and then watching the volcano actually spewing a monstrous plume--which meant molten lava was moving was so awesome. Acres of land is being added to this island at this very moment.

I took a sort of double exposure of the guys walking through a lava tube! thats what happens with a flash in the dark.

Volcano National Park

We packed a lunch, put some cokes on ice in a cooler and headed for the long drive to Volcano National Park on the other side of the island. Volcanoes are a major attraction on the Big Island and we were anxious to see it. A new vent opened up just this past fall and we were hopeful to see some action. However, the winds were blowing the noxious gases toward the current viewing area so that the road was closed and we could not get close enough to see any moving lava. But we did get amazing views of the plume when the lava flowed into the ocean from (I'm guessing) 5 miles away. Even at that distance it was a WOW moment. We had lots of chances to walk on huge lava fields, view relatively recent craters, and walk through a lava tube. The park is a constant contrast of barren lava fields and rain forests.

We moved to the Big Island

We said good by the Loren and Rosella as they left to go home to Florida while Wayne and Judy and Will and I took the short flight to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. Settled into the Banyan Tree Condos right over the surf--complete with real surfers out in the water. After a few false starts we found a really good local Chinese restaurant for dinner, picked up some groceries from Safeway and planned our week here.

Kapalua Beach

This has to be the picture of the week! Its a Japanese White Eye, a common bird on the island but certainly new to me and I got 'im having lunch on some unnamed fruit tree beside Kapalua Beach. We snorkled and sunned here today. Sunset magazine rated this as best beach, so story goes. It was nice but seem to be a lot of nice beaches on Maui.

Iao Valley

The Iao Valley looks exactly like you want Hawaii to look. Lush and green.

The day began with heavy rain but started to clear up by the time we got out of church. Had a leisurly Sunday breakfast at "Lulu's" and then drove out to Iao Valley. Spent a couple of hours oogling unknown tropical flowers at Maui Plantation Gardens.

Road to Hana

Today we decided to do the famous Road to Hanna. Sometimes, its not what lies at the end of a journey that's as worthwhile as the journey itself. That's the Road to Hanna. Too many one lane bridges to count, waterfalls, pools, ocean views, a black sand beach, a lava tube, taro fields, pineapple farms, bamboo forests, blooming tropical flowers, old Hawaiian villages. . .