We spent today exploring the south and west side of the Kauai island. Traffic was less heavy than I anticipated. Once past the Lihue area, there was no traffic jam at all. Along the way, we stopped at numerous small towns to check them out, mainly for places to eat our brunch. To our dismay, most of the stores were still closed and only a few opened at 10a. We found a very colorful Mexican takeout place at Hanapepe and ordered some fish dish and shrimp taco (Kauai west side is known for its farm raised shrimps). It's wasn't as good as advertised. Shrimp was good but fish was way overdone.
We drove inland from Waimea up the canyon drive. It was absolutely amazing to see a grand canyon in the middle of Pacific ocean. The west side of Kauai had totally different climate than the north and east. As with all Hawaiian islands, the high mountains would strip the cloud and rains from the east so the west side is a dessert. Over the eons, the Waimea river eroded the high desert land into a beautiful grand canyon. The iron content in the rock had made the canyon so colorful that our jaws just dropped!
Leaving the canyon, we continued to drive to the summit which actually overlooks the Napali Coast on the northwest side of the island. Too bad the clouds started to roll in at the Kalalau summit or else the view of the Kalalau valley and the Napali Coast would be even more stunning. Even so, the glimpse of the coast and the sheer drop of the mountain down to the valley below is sublime. There was a boat cruised by along the beach, a helicopter doing its fly by tour thing below us, birds soaring the sky below us... just amazing view. We actually planned to come back tomorrow to try again before leaving but weather didn't cooperate. Oh well, something to look forward to if we come back.
Driving back, a rare traffic jam made us decide to visit the Kauai coffee farm instead. We learnt how coffee are grown and harvested and roasted info different kinds. Yi had a field days trying out all kinds of coffee samples.
Next stop is the blowhole at the south shore. It was just high tide (I timed it right) and it didn't disappoint. There are actually several blowholes. The ground below the surf must be all hollowed out as one gigantic hole had already collapsed and many others made loud hissing sound every time a wave rolled in.
After dinner nearby, we strolled on the Poipu beach to take in the wave action. To our bemusement, part of the beach was roped off to protect two monk seals from their nap! They were totally oblivious to the human commotion around them and just snoring away. So funny!
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