From Seattle, Washington to Kauai, Hawaii. On arrival in Lihui we will drive about an hour north to our home on the island, the Hanalei Colony Resort. We are planning some island hopping to Maui.
Our goals are to bask in the warmth and tropical breezes. To mix laziness with hiking, snorkeling and sight seeing.
| Planned Activities: | Finish up everything at home and drive to SeaTac. |
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| Today’s Highlights: | Our drive to the airport was eventful. Accident at Nisqually Bridge had traffic backed up for miles. We had an excellent dinner at Roaster's, requested a wake up call at 3:30 A.M. to catch 6:00 AM flight. |
| Planned Activities: | Our United Airlines flight leaves SeaTac at 6:00 p.m. We fly to LA and catch a flight to Kauai which is scheduled to arrive at 2:50. | ||
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| Today’s Highlights: | We arrived after a very long flight. It was gray and raining, looked like Olympia but it was about 20 degrees warmer. We made it to our hotel and crashed around 8:30. We had been up since 3:30 a.m. Kauai is two hours behind Washington. | ||
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| Planned Activities: | Relaxing on the beach and a three hour guided tour of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens in Kalaheo on the southern side of the Island. | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Today’s Highlights: | The garden tour got canceled. Sadly, at 5:00 a.m. this morning a dam broke above the town of Kilauea and washed away some houses and covered the main road with mud. They were looking for the people all day. Since there is only one main road around the Island we couldn't get more than 10 miles from our condo. So we went to Ke'e Beach State Park and climbed a cliff for a mile or so to see a gorgeous view of Napali coast (see pictures below). You can only get there by boat or foot. | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Planned Activities: | Relaxing on the beach and then Smith's Paradise Luau for entertainment and a feast. | ||||||
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| Today’s Highlights: | The road was closed again today and local officials promise that one lane will be open by the end of the day. We are avoiding getting anywhere near that part of the island. Tragically at least two families were killed in the land slide. Our Luau on the south end of the Island was cancelled because of the road closure. In spite of that we had a great time today. Went to the Allerton gardens and were amazed at the lushness of the vegetation. Had an excellent lunch at an outside restaurant with a flowing water fall and birds next to our table. We then relaxed on the beach and saw a Hawaiian net fishing in the surf. With two throws of his net had about 20 fish to take home to dinner. This is an amazingly beautiful place. | ||||||
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| Planned Activities: | Taking a walking tour of the Na 'Aina Kai Botanical Gardens in Kilauea. An amazing 200 acre garden founded by California retirees. Snorkeling at Tunnels Beach. Thursday Market and Shopping. |
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| Today’s Highlights: | Poor weather continues to affect our planned activities. Gardens were closed today. We decided to go to the Kilauea lighthouse and wildlife sanctuary. Nice visitor center where we shopped a bit. We then went to the town of Kapaa looking to get some snorkeling gear but the surf was just to rough and the shopkeeper warned us to stay off the water, it was a monsoon downpour and we decided to get back north for fear of the road closing and not being able to get back to the resort. Next plan of action was to go shopping in Princeville and Hanalei. Mission accomplished and lots of money spent :) The hightlight of the day was a two mile walk to Tunnels beach on the road and a return on the beach. Beautiful and stunning views of the Na Pali coast behind us and the blue surf in front. Collected some shells and coral. Now its off to the jacuzzi to soothe those sore muscles. | ||||||
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| Planned Activities: | A drive and hiking tour of Waimea Canyon. Treats at Old Koloa Lapperts ice cream and coffee. | ||||||||||
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| Today’s Highlights: | The morning brought tropical monsoons. We drove in to Princeville and had a wonderful lunch at the Princeville Resorts Cafe Hanalei, outragegous views of the bay and the NaPali shrouded in mist. The afternoon brough 80 degree weather and sunshine. We sunbathed, waded and finally did a little snorkeling at Kee Beach, as the pictures show we also had the company of a seal on the beach. We saw a grey whale breaching in the distance. | ||||||||||
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| Planned Activities: | Hike to Kalalau Lookout. | ||||||||||
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| Today’s Highlights: | Drove to the West side of the island today to Waimea canyon because it was a tropical deluge on the North side. The canyon is breathtakingly beautiful. It reminds Tony of being a kid in Ecuador and exploring the hills of Mt. Pichincha and it's nearby valleys. Lush, green, humid. On the way to Waimea we stopped at spouting horn, a lava tube at the oceans edge that shoots a compressed stream of water into the air periodically. We also took a quick walking tour of the Allerton gardens. We continue to be amazed by the beauty of the flowers and plants here. On the way back to the North shore of the Island we stopped in Lihue and watched a two hour Egyptian belly dancing show, lots of fun. It was a long day and we didn't make it back to our room until about 10:30PM. | ||||||||||
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| Planned Activities: | Attending the Sunday service at Soto Zen Temple Zen Shuji in Hanapepe. |
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| Today’s Highlights: | Spent the whole day relaxing and beach combing. Ahhhh... |
| Planned Activities: | On the Beach. | ||||||
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| Today’s Highlights: | A beautiful sunny day, temperatures in the low 80's. We went to Kee beach and snorkeled all morning. The snorkeling was amazing, swimming in the schools of fish. Beautiful. In the afternoon we drove to the Hawaiian trading depot and looked their amazing collection of Ni'ihau shell leis and other jewelry. We couldn't resist and ended up walking out with some trinkets. The late afternoon we headed to a Luau that lasted about 4.5 hours. Great show. A wonderful day. | ||||||
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| Planned Activities: | Breathing in the a few more tropical breezes and taking in a few more island views before boarding our 2:45 PM return flight to Seattle via San Francisco. | ||
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| Today’s Highlights: | Another sunny day. Beautiful sunrise as we pack to head to the airport. | ||
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