The Garden Island

We arrived on Kauai very late Saturday night. We spent Sunday exploring the west side of the island. Our first stop was Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of the Pacific). The views here did not disappoint. The dirt here is RED which just makes the green foliage look greener. The canyon is spectacular...from looking at a map of the island, one wouldn't think there was enough space for such a huge canyon....apparently there is!

One thing we heard about Kauai, but didn't truly appreciate until we got here, was the wild chickens. I say "wild" because they aren't pets, but they are definitely not afraid of people. They are everywhere. In a 10 mile trip, the kids counted over a hundred chickens....oh, and roosters. Sounds cute right? Just imagine that same rooster outside your hotel room at 5am! So, while it's entertaining to seem them everywhere...it's not so entertaining to HEAR them. We have seen several chicks following their mommy hens. The record so far for # of babies with one mom is 9.

There is a section of Kauai that cannot be reached via vehicle. The Napali Coast, with it's green jagged mountain ranges (famous views) can only be reached by boat, helicopter, or 11 mile hike (one way). We have driven as far as is possible to either side of this Napali Coast, and seen a view of the mountains from the back.....we can't wait until our boat trip on Friday to see the whole thing. When we arrived at the outlook to see the mountains from the back....all we could see was clouds. It was like looking at the end of the world; we knew we were on a cliff overlooking something, but all we could see in front of us was white (see photo)!

After waiting a few minutes, the clouds cleared (just for a brief moment) to reveal this:

It was like watching someone wipe steam off a mirror....all of a sudden having a view of the Napali Coast below. Or, if you're a Brigadoon fan (like us)...just like how the magical town appears and disappears! Some people came to the cliff overlook and just left due to the fog, but patience was rewarded about every 5 minutes or so.
Next we drove down an unpaved (totally bumpy) road as far north and west as one can go on this island. We have a jeep on this island, so we are able to go places we couldn't with a car; thank heavens for 4-wheel drive. The beach was LONG, golden, and had pounding waves. It was so loud, hearing people talk was difficult. The pictures do not do the size of these waves justice, so just imagine that they're huge.

The sand here is different than that on the Oregon Coast or Florida. When we stepped on the sand, our feet would sink several inches....this makes walking strenuous. I'm sure we're all in better shape after all our hikes and sand "trekking" than we were before we came.

Here's the view of the end of the beach. That green mountain is the beginning of the Napali Coast.

During our drive back (down the bumpy trail) Dad stopped and picked sugar cane, that was growing wild along the road, the kids had a fun time chewing on it the rest of the drive.