Hawaii - October 12, 2003

After the previous day's excursion, my in-laws needed a day of rest. Chu-Wan and I decided to take Michelle and head north along the Eastern coast, retracing some of the steps we took on our first day on Kauai.

Our first stop was the lighthouse at Kilhuea. It had been closed when we first arrived, but this time it was open. The area is a wildlife refuge, mostly for birds, and the rare Nenes were all over. Unless you like geese, there's not much else there, although the visitor center had a large relief map of the Hawaiian Islands. Looking at all the islands at once, and in comparative relief, it's easy to see the geologic progression of the island chain.

The Hawaiian Island chain comprises much more than what we usually associate with it, but much of what was (to the north west) is underwater, or will be soon. Meanwhile, new landmasses are forming to the southeast. This is because the chain represents a hot spot in the Earth's crust. The tectonic plates move across it, and volcanic islands form above it.

Of the commonly known islands, Kauai and Ni'ihau are the oldest and most weathered, while Hawaii is the youngest and tallest. Looking at the relief map and following the progression of islands explained it better and made it more obvious than a thousand words of explanation could ever do.

We continued on north until we reached the area where the really, really, stinkin' rich people live.

In the town of Hanalei, we stopped to eat lunch. Despite a wealth of shopping venues, we didn't see much in the way of restaurants. We eventually stopped at Bubba's Burger.

Bubba's is apparently a bit of an institution - one of those restaurants with attitude. Signs (with attitude) were everywhere. "We cheat tourists, drunks and attorneys" seemed the most common. The menu was standard hamburger stand fare, but lettuce or tomato would cost $0.75 extra. (Presumably this is because lettuce and tomato only come over from the mainland, are expensive and, from what I've read, are pretty nasty by the time they get to Hawaii anyway.)

While the food itself was passable, the scenery was quite nice. Bubba (if indeed someone named "Bubba" really exists) only hires his waitresses young and shapely. Which is quite pleasant as you try to read the mottos such as "We toast our own buns" across a young woman's ass.

In the interior of Kauai is the wettest spot on Earth, Wai'ale'ale crater, which receives an average of 440 inches (over 36 feet) of rain per year. While we were not going to be able to go there, the runoff heads mostly towards the east. As we traveled farther along the coast, looking inland we suddenly saw towering waterfalls, pouring off the sides of the mountains. It was breathtaking and we had to pull over to the side of the road to look at them, even though they were far in the distance. It wasn't just us, as other cars full of tourists were similarly distracted and had to pull over to look.

Unfortunately, my camera just didn't do them justice. A telephoto lens was essential.

Finally, we came to the end of the road, which sort of evaporates into a recreation area that was very busy. Finding a parking spot wasn't possible and so we turned around and headed back.

The road comes to an end here because you've reached the Na'Pali coast, a series of breathtaking cliffs that make building a road nearly impossible. The only way to see the coast is by helicopter or by boat.

That evening, the entire family went for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant called Ba Le. It was very good.

Over dinner, plans were made for the next day; our last full day on the island. Everyone wanted to see the Na'Pali Coast, including myself. A helicopter tours was ruled out - my mother-in-law will barely get in a plane, there's no chance she'd fly in a helicopter. The boat tours are on catamarans and while they say they are safe for young children, I was concerned not only for Michelle's safety but also for what she might do trapped on a small boat for several hours. In the end it was decided that Michelle and I would stay behind while the others took the boat.

On to Day 15 ==>

Kauai - Kilauea	Kauai - Kilauea Lighthouse	Kauai - Kilauea	Kauai - A Nene	Kauai - Anini Beach
Kauai - Kilauea	Kauai - Waterfalls cascading down	Waterfall from northern Kauai Kauai - Waterfalls cascading down	Kauai - Waterfalls cascading down	Kauai -
Kauai - Waterfalls	Kauai - Waterfalls