Last month, Andrew and I visited Kauai, Hawaii for a week full of sun, sand, relaxing and adventures. Andrew’s mom and step-dad have visited Kauai many times and wanted to plan a trip together so they could share the island they love with us. Winters in Iowa can be bitter cold and long so it didn’t take much convincing for us to plan a trip during what is usually the worst month of winter here. We actually ended up having a pretty mild winter this year but I digress.
When Andrew and I visited Europe for our honeymoon, I overbooked us. By a lot. But how can you not? There’s so much history and architecture to take in and we don’t know when/if we’ll ever be able to get back there. We adjusted the plans as needed on that trip, but it wasn’t the most efficient/cost-effective way to go about things. Lessons were learned. With that being said, the approach to this trip was to go in with a couple of activities we absolutely wanted to do and then take each day as it came.
Our loose “to-do” list was:
- Beach day(s)
- Helicopter ride along the Na Pali coast
- Ziplining
Over the course of the week, we did two beach days and both were spent at Hanalei Bay which is an absolutely breathtaking area. You get to experience the beautiful ocean along with the wonderful mountains that Kauai has to offer. It’s the best of both worlds. What I loved most about this spot were the waterfalls you could see in the mountains. They changed each day based on how much rain the island was getting. It made for a fun game to try to spot all the new ones or the ones that disappeared.
The second day we booked a helicopter ride that took us all over the island. We were able to fly over Waimea Canyon and the Na Pali Coast. Throughout the course of the ride, our pilot, Isaiah, provided the history of the canyon and the coast. Waimea Canyon was formed when part of an ancient volcano collapsed millions of years ago. When the collapse happened, the volcano was still active and lava continued to flow into the depression formed by the collapse. Over the years, rain water from Mount Wai’ale’ale (the 8th wettest spot in the world) eroded one edge of the collapse and on the other side, the cliffs that were created by the lava flow turned red due to the exposed basalt. Hence the name “Waimea” meaning “reddish water” in Hawaiian. I’ve never seen a canyon before and there really aren’t any words to describe it other than “awe”. This is by no means an original thought, but it really does put things into perspective for you. We also spent one of our days hiking around the canyon to experience it from the ground.
The Na Pali Coast is equally breathtaking. This side of the island is uninhabited due to the ruggedness of the lava formations and its spiritual significance. You can only really experience it from helicopter or by boat.
The Honopu Cliffs along this coast are the resting place of many of Kauai’s ancient royalty. It was believed that a chief’s remains held a powerful life force; therefore, they could not fall into the wrong hands. To ensure this, warriors were chosen at birth to bury the chief’s remains in the cliffside. The warrior would choose the location himself and was the sole person responsible for executing the burial. This process would include either climbing the cliffs, or grappling down to the selected spot. Once the remains were buried, the warrior would either jump off or cut his rope so the secret of the location would die with him. It was amazing to see this part of the island that is so significant to Hawaiian culture.
On our last full day, we went ziplining. Andrew and I had only been ziplining one other time and it was a small course in northern Iowa. So we were excited to experience a different course with wildly different scenery. The course was up in the mountains so we got to enjoy some gorgeous views on the way up. We were even blessed with a rainbow at the top! In total we got to enjoy seven ziplines with the longest one being 940ish ft taking about 55 seconds to cross. I had an absolute blast! Andrew said this was his favorite activity (mine was the helicopter).
Outside of these main activities, we ate a lot of amazing food and got some much needed relaxation. If I HAD to pick my favorite meal, I’d say it was this poke bowl I got for lunch one day. I love sushi, but have never had a chance to try a poke bowl and I’m so glad I did! It was simple and fresh in all the right ways. I really love it when ingredients get a chance to stand on their own.
I hope you enjoyed this brief overview of Andrew and I’s trip to Kauai! We hope to return someday but this is a big world and there are so many places we want to visit so we’ll see what the future brings. As always, maholo for reading.
Monica Dailey 