King Kong's Profile and Hole In The Mountain
Well, Ron and Mindy were no longer around to take us places and show us things, and we had done all of the backcountry adventuring we could stand (and afford). We had four days left, and we spent them prowling around the island.
The guidebook divided the island into four sections - north, east, south and west - so we decided to follow their lead, and spend each of the remaining four days exploring one of the four sections. Today, we did The North Shore Prowl. The "north shore," as defined by the guidebook, runs from Kapa'a on the east side (about 3:00) around to the end of the highway at Ha'ena (about 11:00).
The first thing we did that day was to find the hotel where we had stayed on our honeymoon. I had been thinking about this the whole time we were there. We had stayed at the Sheraton Coconut Beach Hotel, but that wasn't listed in the guidebook, or in the phone book. But then Mindy said that she thought she had heard that it was now a Marriott. Well, we looked, and there was a Marriott in Coconut Beach. So we went there, and as soon as we walked into the lobby, I recognized it. So we stood there for a while, looking out at the waves crashing on the shore, thinking nostalgic, romantic thoughts about young lovers on their first trip together.
Just a little north of Kapa'a is a mountain formation called "King Kong's Profile," behind which is a notch in the mountain ridge called "Hole In The Mountain." And here they are...
King Kong's Profile and Hole In The Mountain
Seeing Mr. Kong takes a little imagination. He's looking to the left.
We took a side road (us Almys love side roads) that went up to the base of the ridge. On the way up, I took a picture of the road down...
Looking Back
... and a picture of some local wildlife.
Local Wildlife
The next stop was Kilauea Lighthouse. Kilauea is at about 1:00, and is the northernmost point on the island. Walking up to the lighthouse, we say a nene goose, the state bird of Hawaii.
Nene Goose
Um... North also took note of the bird...
Looking Longingly
Just off the shore is Moku'ae'ae Island, which is used as a bird sanctuary.
Moku'ae'ae Island
(One of the "other" 124 Hawaiian islands, no doubt.)
You can't go up to the top of the lighthouse, but you can step inside the front door. There's a spiral staircase, leading up to the top, protected by a locked gate. There's also a metal column in the center, which I assume houses the machinery to turn the light.
Inside The Lighthouse
Nearby was a small museum, containing, among other things, a 3-D model of Kaua'i. This gave Terry a chance to get an idea of the shape of the island. Here she is investigating Waimea Canyon.
Kaua'i Model
Moving onward, we came to the Hanalei Valley, dead center on the northern shore. Just before the road drops down a couple of switchbacks into the valley, there's an overlook looking over some taro fields.
Hanalei Valley Overlook
Those darn tourists just keep getting in the way of every picture... Here's a picture of the taro fields close up.
In Them Old Taro Fields Back Home...
Coming into Hanalei Valley, there was a...
One Lane Bridge
...one of many along the road. They basically depend on everyone's good sense and good manners to avoid collisions.
And here we are in beautiful downtown Hanalei, where we stopped for lunch.
Beautiful Downtown Hanalei
This is the Wai'oli Hui'ia Church in Hanalei - I just took the picture because I thought it looked interesting.
Wai'oli Hui'ia Church
A little further on, we passed Lumaha'i Beach, whose main claim to fame is that this is the place where Mitzi Gaynor washed that man right out of her hair in the movie South Pacific.
Lumaha'i Beach
A little farther on we came to...
Manini-holo Dry Cave
..which we wandered into. At the back of the cave is a small niche which I dubbed "The Breakfast Nook."
Terry In The Breakfast Nook
There are also some Wet Caves (i.e., filled with water), but we didn't go into them.
And finally we came to The End Of The Road. The Na Pali Coast stretches around the northwestern side of the island, from around 11:00 to 9:00. It's an extremely rugged section of coastline, and there's no road there. At the end of the road is Ke'e Beach, a small lagoon where Terry and I stopped and went swimming. Well, more like splashing - neither of us swim very well.
From Ke'e Beach, you can get a good view of Makana Peak, which was also featured in South Pacific - it was used as the island of Bali Ha'i.
We then drove back. On the way, we stopped at...
Banana Joe's Fruit Stand
...for some tropical fruit. We then had dinner in Hanale'i - right around the corner from where we had had lunch.
I mentioned earlier that I spent the entire trip trying to get a glimpse of Mt. Wai'ale'ale, the central peak of the island, but it was always covered by clouds. While driving back, I thought I saw it...
Mt. Wai'ale'ale....not
...but alas, it turned out to be some other mountain.
And that was it for that day. Tomorrow - the West Shore!