HI: Kauai

We made two wonderful trips to the island of Kauai. The first, we joined a camping trip with our friends Matt and Nichole.  Matt works for Absher, but not on the Hawaii job. Nichole actually went to high school in Kailua! But, she prefers visiting other islands for her vacations. 

Polihale Beach

I think this was also the only time we were allowed to light fires on a beach in Hawaii. We packed all our camping gear to island hop, and even prepped our camping meals. (We don't pack light for camping!)

We rented Jeeps, and we felt soooo cool driving around on tough roads. Polihale is at the far West end of the island, and the beach is at the end of a long dirt road. 

We visited Waimea canyon. Matt and Nichole do trail-running as a hobby. (We were content with trail-strolling.)

We loved the bridge in the small town of Hanapepe. (The movie Lilo and Stitch is based here.)

Stephen's goal was to travel the whole island. Kauai can't be circumnavigated by car: the northen pali (cliffs) prevent any roads! But, we could drive most of the way. 

The NorthEast side of Kauai has beautiful caves.

Maniniholo Cave

Haena Beach

Stephen had a bonus work trip (or two?) to Kauai. While we lived in Hawaii, the company was constantly bidding on new projects in an attempt to establish a base on the islands. One bid was a military project up in the mountains on Kauai. (It included some anti-missile defense, which was an interesting topic after the 2018 fake missile scare.) Stephen and Steve flew out to get a tour and collect info for the bidding process. (We didn't win the bid, but it would have been a fun project!)

Our second trip to the island, our friends David and Kristin came along. David works for Absher, and we brought him out to the Islands halfway through the project. 

The first thing we did was the most cheesy, most touristy option: a helicopter ride. And it was the BEST. 

The islands are all different ages: Big Island is the youngest, with an active volcano and changing topography. It hasn't gotten tall yet. Older Oahu is more mountainous- the ancient volcanos are now dormant, and slowly crumbling. Then Kauai is even older, so the mountains have had more time to erode. They become steeper and steeper.

Driving around the island often leads to unplanned adventures... here we are at a crumbling Russian Fort. They were friends with the island's chief around 1715, and promised assistance keeping the island free from Kamehameha, who was in the process of uniting all the islands under his rule. But, the Czar didn't back up those promised, and Kamehameha supporters soon took over the fort.  

For this trip, we rented a family vacation home from a local church member. Their home was near an empty beach! Though we did have to wade to get to the beach. 

Kalauea Point

Tour at Kolua Rum Company

free samples

We looked up a waterfall hike. It turned out to be treacherous!

But, we finally made it down, and we were motivated to jump into the cold water to at least wash off the mud.

Another off-trail hike... we'd shown David a South Park cartoon about Kauai. While driving on the road one day, we said, Isn't that the abandoned hotel from the cartoon?

Coco Palms Hotel

This formerly famous resort was built in the 50's, and was the scene for Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii." It was destroyed by hurricane in 1992.

The land is ancient royal property, and Coco Palms has been in dispute for many years. We were lucky to see it after a renovation project had cleaned out all the glass and asbestos. But... it can never be a hotel again. The steel and concrete have been compromised by years of exposure to the elements. The property has changed hands multiple times, but no one has moved forward with new construction. This article points out that the property, which doesn't have beachfront, can't ever be competitive as a resort again. 

A group of native Hawaiians claimed ancestral rights to the land for several years. While encountering disputes from the police and the law, they lived on the property, planted gardens, and conducted burials. There is still hope the property will be given back to the community, perhaps as a park and cultural center.