A friend inspired me to blog about a recent trip I went to to Kauai in Hawaii so here goes at my first attempt at a travel blog.

So first up getting to the airport was an adventure in itself. Plan was to be in the car at 2pm to give us plenty of time for a flight before 5pm.  For some reason we ended up waiting for a washing machine cycle to end before leaving which didn’t happen until 2:30 in the car a sudden realisation that our flight was a 4:20 rather that the 4:55 we had originally thought meaning after the washing machine delay meant less than 2 hours before take off.  I anyone knows LA traffic they will understand how much of a problem it is, getting from Burbank to LAX.  We had planned cheap parking near by but that added a potential 15 minutes to our journey time.  Decision was made to abandon that plan and with some performance driving from me we did actually make good time to the short term parking at LAX.  There was no time to debate the potential costs with this it was park here or not make the flight.  Quick check in and baggage drop, talk nicely to the lady at security to allow us through and we made the gate with a few minutes to spare.

7 or so hours later and we were in Kauai with a hire car secured.  Quick stop for essential supplies, aka tonic for G&T we brought the G with us 😉

Airbnb had provided our accommodation, great little 2 bed condo at Princeville on the North shore where next morning we got a nice sea view to wake up to.

Day one we had a photo tour booked via Kauai Photo Tours with breakfast at Kountry Kitchen.  This was a great start to the holiday/vacation as we got a great tour of some not so obvious sites and travelled a large part of the island so helped get our bearings.   The team were very friendly and knowledgeable.  Tooks loads of photos some of which are right here (next time I’ll remember a polarizing filter).  The breakfast at Kountry Kitchen was awesome; I definitely recommend their pancakes especially the one with Macadamia nuts – coconut syrup is a must!

One of the many roosters of Kauai enjoying the beach

Day two started with Kayaking; great fun and a valuable exercise in trust if you get a double kayak 😉  We went with Kayak Hanalei and enjoyed a lovely paddle up the river to the nature reserve.  Once we got into the rhythm it was great fun and nice and relaxing.  In the afternoon we checked out the Kīlauea Lighthouse and Wailua Falls  and re-visited a couple of the sites from the photo tour.  The lighthouse was actually closed which only meant we couldn’t go down to it and go inside.  It also meant that photos from the cliffs above were without humans wandering about – a bonus!.Wailua falls is pretty amazing next time I’d like to work out how you get to the bottom, it looks like a tricky climb down (and up) and we didn’t have the right footwear to try it.

Kīlauea Lighthouse, Kauai, Hawaii
Wailua Falls, Kauai, Hawaii

 

Day three was snorkeling and a boat tour we booked a ‘Na Pali Coast Kauai Snorkel and Sail’ via viator.com and was with ‘Holo Holo Charters’.  The snorkeling itself was not great but the rest of the trip was great fun and we enjoyed it immensely.  I don’t blame the company we went with at all, other providers used the same site and it seems that the conditions aren’t great in that area for good diving; it would fine for beginners.  Everything we needed was included in the tour we just needed cameras and clothes.  Note;  it is easy to get sunburned when you leave you top off for a few hours whilst messing around in boats.

Kauai, Hawaii
Kauai, Hawaii
Kauai, Hawaii

After the boat trip we drove around the south end of the island and toured the Waimea Canyon.  It’s very picturesque and similar to the grand canyon except in size.

Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii
Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii
Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii
Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii

The last day we again went south, this time  to Poipu and visited the Spouting Horn, a tidal rock formation that spouts water every time a wave lands in it.

Spouting Horn, Kauai, Hawaii
Spouting Horn, Kauai, Hawaii

Then we prepared for our flight home.  This was yet another adventure as somehow we were each on different flights for the first leg and due to a scheduling change I would not have made the connection in Honolulu.  After a lengthy phone call we were put onto a direct flight with our luggage taking the alternate route (hopefully) arriving about the same time as us – which it did.

This was my first (hopefully not last) trip to Hawaii and I can definitely recommend Kauai, I am informed that it’s not so over developed as the other island with less resorts so if you prefer exploring and enjoying finding beautiful little natural coves it’s the place for you.