Kauai Edit

I spent several extremely enjoyable hours this week proofing an update of a Kauai tourist magazine for a company I’ve been writing for lately. It was a magazine I’d actually picked up before our Kauai trip last month. Reading about the island—many places we went, several we didn’t—reminded me what a fun weekend that was! Now I’ve got Kauai on the brain!

From start to finish, it seemed like we were surrounded by rainbows the entire time. Rainbows driving up to Hanalei, rainbows early in the morning before we set sail, rainbows over the catamaran when it was time to snorkel, rainbows over Waimea Canyon, rainbows over Kalalau Valley and the North Shore, rainbows dancing over the open ocean—I can see how people fall in love with Kauai.

Isaac and I really enjoyed the part of the Na Pali Coast cruise when it was time to head home and we zoomed over waves. Eloise enjoyed her last ever weekend with her paci. I liked the rainbows. Chris liked the boat (and driving all over). After sailing, we drove up to the Waimea Valley Lookout, which was impressive, and over to the Kalalau Valley Lookout, which was astonishing in its afternoon glory. This was the most beautiful moment of the entire beautiful weekend, as rainbows formed and vanished, duplicated and faded. Staggering, sheer green cliffs, blue ocean glimmering beyond, a minuscule helicopter buzzing in the valley below, waterfalls hanging like a silver necklace, clouds gusting over the valley edge, and of course the rainbows. Truly amazing. What else could you even put in this picture to make it more beautiful? Eloise ran up. Ok, that is a nice addition.

Chris and Isaac took a little walk from the Mount Wai’ale’ale Lookout (one of the wettest places on Earth, with rainfall 360 days of the year). Inexplicable, Eloise lost her mind. It turns out she thought they walked over the edge and weren’t coming back. When they did, in fact, return 15 minutes later, she hugged Isaac around his waist and would not let go. Sad and adorable!

“I am all done with muddy hikes. I am all done with dry hikes. I am all done with hikes.”

Eloise, age four

By the way, a mucky-looking river with a bit of a smell dumps into the water. This is Waimea River, where Captain James Cook first landed when he became the first European explorer to chart Hawaii, beginning the Period of Contact. We diligently paid homage to his nearby statue.

At the end of this very full, very beautiful day, we started looking for some dinner. It was only 4:15pm, but already nearly everything was closed! We watched the sunset behind Ni’ihau from the ruined walls of an old Russian fort, then kept driving in the sinking darkness. Chris had the idea to try Island Brewery back in Port Allen near the dock where we’d sailed for the Na Pali Coast that morning. We were tired, it was completely dark, by now we were all starving, and–by some miracle–the brewery was actually open. That was one of my favorite meals of the trip—seaside American pub food, and we all got exactly something we wanted (fish tacos for me, burger for Chris, mac n cheese for Isaac, chicken for Eloise). Plus Captain Cook IPA and a Na Pali Pale Ale. Just perfect.

The next day, we had a poolside breakfast along the Coconut Coast, waited out a rainstorm in the hot tub, saw a few gushing waterfalls (Wailua Falls—waterfall, rainbow, flowers—what else could you even add to this picture? A butterfly fluttered along. Ok, that is a nice addition), and headed to the airport for our flight back to Oahu. The sun set again as we climbed the H3 and passed through the mountains to get back to Kailua—our island, our Coconut Grove bungalow, our own little port in this beautiful Hawaiian paradise.

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