First thing in the morning, we were up and out on the patio lanai and looking out to the north and the Pacific Ocean less than 100 feet away.
There, where the grass ends, the edge of this little island drops away precariously to the surf below. A low rhythmic rumbling drifts up to us from. Below are three little tide pools sitting mostly quietly by the edge of the sea. An occasional breaker disturbs their rest. It really is beautiful, and I’d like to go but can see no way of getting down there. *sigh*
We start the day by exploring this part of the island. And breakfast, of course. We ate at a small local diner in an open air mall (for lack of a better descriptor). The mall, like much of the island, is home to many feral chickens. There are chickens everywhere here, of various sizes and colors. And moms lead around their chicks. It really is adorable. The one thing I haven’t noticed is chicken roadkill. I wonder if this just isn’t a fequent occurrence, or if they get taken home for roadkill dinner.
Anyway, after breakfast we headed west, past beaches and mountains (the center of the island is marked by spectacular mountains, the remnants of a volcano that last erupted 400,000 years ago) and caves to where the road ended. Here there is a trail back to a waterfall. I am trying to goad D into the 8 mile (6 hour) hike to and from the falls, but as of yet no luck.
We returned to Hanalei for lunch and shopping before heading east. We stopped at the Kilauea lighthouse, which is the northermost point in the Hawaiian Islands. While there we were able to see some whale spouts, but not nearly enough. We stood there freezing in the cold northerly wind straining our eyes but never saw more than a brief spout (D saw more than me – he has an eye for these things).
We also noted that the surf was picking up, and the waves getting ever more violent, goaded on by the heavy winds beating the island. In this picture you can see some of the surf crashing against the cliffs.
Next stop – shave ice. D has been to Hawaii numerous times and never tried it. I have only been one other time, and have wanted to try it. Shave ice is like a big fluffy snowball with fruit flavors and ice cream underneath (if you like). It was fun. It would have been better if we were a bit warmer, though.
Last stop for the day was the Kilaua farmers market. This is nothing like the much larger farmers markets Butterblogger has visited elsewhere. There were probably 10 small tables with gorgeous fresh fruits and veg. I had to pick up some apple bananas while here. There is really nothing like them. And I also got a papaya, because papaya at home doesn’t taste anything like this.
After this we went to dinner. I really wanted fish, whereas D doesn’t like seafood of any sort. I found us a restaurant known for sushi, as well as other fish preparations, that offered D some acceptable options. And the sushi was absolutely amazing – possibly the best I have ever had. The Napali roll had snow crab (not krab), cucumber, avocado, and local ahi. I may be ruined for sushi after this.
From there the day was done and we went back to the condo and settled in for the night.
butterblogger 