Today we decided to take the bull by the horns and head out early into uncharted territory. That meant south along route 56 – which runs along the east side of Kaua’i – past the airport in Lihue, and the west along the south side of the island on route 50. Our destination: Waimea Canyon!
The day began with an interesting view out the window at sunrise, however: low tide. We hadn’t seen this before, but at low tide it appears as though reefs that are normally covered with water (and make for excellent snorkeling) emerge above the surface.
Sunrise this morning. If you look out in the water to the left of the palm, you can see the black tops of reefs. Usually these are not visible! Several people actually walked right out on the water this morning - all the way out to where the big waves were breaking. If you look closely on the grass, to the right of the palm, you can also see a wild mother hen who lives nearby - she appears like a black blob in this picture. She's actually sitting on 7 baby chicks!
But we had no time to dally today. We were in the car and gone by 8:10! Off to see Waimea!
Here's a close-up of Matt in the convertible today. Kaua'i, as I've mentioned, has very unpredictable weather. The top came up and down a bunch today as we drove in and out of rainy patches.
So south we went… and then west along the south side of the island on route 50. We went almost as far as you can go before stopping in Waimea (the town) for the “best coffee on the island” served up by a very enthusiastic lady. We took the occasion to enthusiastically use the rest room before heading up the mountain!
We've begun our ascent along a ridge that will take us to the top of Waimea canyon and beyond. Think of the road up Rocky Mountain National Park if you've ever had the "pleasure" of driving that one. We stopped here to take a shot south, back down the hill, and over the town of Waimea and the enthusiastic coffee lady. Out in the water you may be able to see Nihau - the privately-owned Hawaiian island.
A touch further up the road, we saw this water fall, running down through a patch of the famous Kaua'i "red dirt". The red dirt is popular here - it stains! In fact, they even have a popular T-shirt company where the shirts are all colored using Kaua'i red dirt (ends up looking curiously like UT burnt orange - Hook 'em!)
So some explanation is now required. In the above picture we’re part-way up route 550, which starts on the south-west corner of Kaua’i (roughly) and heads north rising above Waimea Canyon on the inland (east) side. 550 ends, 20 miles later, towering high above not only the northern-most part of the canyon to the east, but also something called the Na Pali coast to the west. The Na Pali coast is 22 miles of Kaua’i coastline along the northwest part of the island that is entirely inaccessible by car. So inaccessible, in fact, that if you’re in North Kaua’i and you want to drive to west Kaua’i you have to do what we did today and drive to the east coast, south to the south coast, west to the west coast, and THEN head north to get to wherever you want to go. The Na Pali coast, then, is most often viewed by boat or helicopter or, from above, from the northern-most tip of route 550. That’s where we are here:
Ooooo. Na Pali Coast. Gorgeous, peaceful, cool, quiet - apart from the chatter of the tourists. We saw tourists from India, Germany, Japan, and the US.
Glenda with Na Pali backdrop.
OK, time for more explanation. First, you’re right, we have not yet actually seen Waimea Canyon – which was the stated reason for the trip. We’re getting to it! We drove along it on the way up, but we decided to get to the tippy top first, see Na Pali, and then work our way back down. Second, at the top of 550 you’ve got Na Pali to the west and you’ve got Waimea Canyon to the east – actually to the south east. To the due east, from the top of 550, you’ve got Mount Wai’ale’ale which is the second wettest place on earth. That’s right, it rains on Mount Wai’ale’ale virtually all the time. Check it out!
See that dark cloud obscuring that mountain top? That's crazy rain falling on Mount Wai'ale'ale - the second wettest place on earth!
Matt and Glenda hiked around the top-o-550 zone a bit, and a nice couple took our picture together!
Matt with Na Pali in background.
Glenda with Na Pali in background!
Pretty orange day lilies grabbed Glenda's attention as we left the summit.
…and leave we did. We headed back down the ridge-top road known as 550 and eventually pulled over to get a good look at:
Waimea Canyon! It was really impressive, and very peaceful.
Perhaps it was the majesty of Waimea, or the ethereal splendor of Na Pali, but this next moment on the road south struck us with an unusual poignant existential force. Witnessing this scene stirred in me a question that I’m still trying to define. Is it Why? What? Where? Something is scratching at the surface, perhaps once we sleep on it, all will be revealed:
???
Whew, what a brain teaser!
Anyway, we made it back to Waimea and sought out what we’d heard was the best shave ice place in southern Kaua’i (its been well-established, I hope, that Wishing Well is the Holy Grail of shave ice in the north).
Jo Jo's! Hole in the wall ambience, surly je ne sais quois from the wait staff, what more could you hope for?
We ordered a "Tropical Rainbow", that's a trio of Lilikoi (Guava), Orange, and Mango ice over Mac-nut ice cream. Totally perf! (Or "solid!" as they say here when they mean "totally perf".)
We had a touch more juice in us after Waimea and Jo Jo’s, and we decided to stop in Hanapepe on our way home. Hanapepe is just west of dead center on the south side of the island which, I should say, is a good bit warmer and drier than up north where we’ve spent most of our time. Hanapepe is an old town and they are just now revitalizing. We toured some art galleries and then headed for the “swinging bridge”.
This is not the swinging bridge - but these flowers were gorgeous, and they are invisible out from under the tree! How unusual! We were heading to the swinging bridge (next photo) and we were totally surprised by these pretty flowers hiding under the canopy of this tree.
The Swinging Bridge! This was fun. Basically it swings a bit while you walk on it! Worth going up and back...once!
And that’s it! We were bushed. It was early afternoon, and our trip to see Waimea canyon and Na Pali from the top of 550 was a raging success! We made it home in the mid-afternoon after a round trip that probably took a bit over 6 hours. We’ll do at least one more big trip south, to see Po’ipu while we’re “on island”. On the whole, though, we’re really glad to be staying on the north side. Here’s Matt back in the condo this afternoon:
Still editing that book! I made it through chapter 9 today...
No plans for tomorrow have been proposed and agreed upon by the council here. So we’ll take a “wait and see” approach. I imagine some snorkeling, or possibly tennis, is on the horizon, though.
