No – the title of this blog is not meant as a metaphor, that Kauai is so stunning that we are knocked out by it (which would be true by the way). No, we are literally knocked out. Not sure what it is, a nasty virus, the still strongly blowing trade winds, the toll of being on the road for several months now, are the combination of all of the above. But this week all four of us fell ill, a nasty cough, sour throat, tiredness and a headache. Luckily we were not all sick on the same days and neither were we so sick that we needed to stay in bed all day, but we have taken it calm this week to ensure that we recover quickly.
The flight from Oahu to Kauai was very relaxed. The flight itself was only some 30 minutes, but also the drop-off and pick-up of our rental cars went very smooth. So already around noon we arrived at Poipu beach where we had a picknick on the beach before we could check-in to our new holiday home close-by. Poipu beach is one of the most popular beaches on this island for families with young children. The beach is protected by a rock jetty that provides a safe shallow swimming pool for children and the pool is one of the best year-round Kauai snorkeling spots on the island.
Kauai is the fourth largest island of Hawaii and is also the oldest island of the range. Kauai is also known as the garden island as the island has lots of green and flowers. Most of the interior of the island is unaccessible and dominated by Mount Waialeale. This mountain is one of the wettest places in the world, with over 10 metres of rain per year. Luckily the coastal areas of Kauai get far less rain and much more sun and that is where all the action happens.
In our first week we only had one day of rain, but we did have many cloudy days and still strong tradewinds, so we did not go to the beach every day. But we did visit three different beaches on the South shore: Poipu several times for building sand castles, swimming with green sea turtles or to try snorkelling; Glass beach where we collected lots of nicely coloured sea glass; and Salt Pond beach, where locals still produce salt from sea water.
We drove-up to the Waimea Canyon one day. This canyon is also known as the Grand Canyon of the pacific. Waimea is a large canyon of approximately 16 km long and 900 m deep and was formed by a collapse of an erupting vulcano some 4 million years ago. On a sunny day the colours of this canyon are stunning and change every minute of the day. Green, red, brown, blue and more. But even when we visited the canyon on a cloudy & misty day, the views were still special and worthwhile a drive.
If you are in Hawaii you also need to experience a Luau, a traditional Hawaiian feast, with music, dance and food. So one afternoon we drove to an old sugar plantation to visit Luau Kalamaku. Upon arrival the girls received a flower lei and the boys a shell lei. Lucas doesn’t like gender stereotyping so he asked for and got both a shell and a lower lei. Pre-dinner we walked around the plantation, looked at the craft and art shops and drank our cocktail and juices. Dinner is buffet style and a mix of traditional and international dishes. During dinner we got entertained with some hula dancing. But the real show started after dinner and for about an hour we watched a theatrical show about the journey of a Polynesian way farer who left his friends and family to find new land and after he discovered Hawaii he got re-united with the love of his live and they gave birth to a new boy called Kalamaku (i.e. new island). Okay, the story is not that great, but the show was fantastic with lot’s of singing, dance, costumes and fire. We all loved it and the kids only noticed that it was very late and long past their bed-time when we walked back to our car.
Now we have just moved from the South shore to the North shore to experience the other half of Kauai, but sofa we like it here. It is really relaxed and the beaches are great. Also the forecast shows that the tradewinds stay, but will slow down in force, so likely more sunny days to come.
Don’t forget to check all the other new pictures we have uploaded.