Day 3: Monday, June 4, 2001
Exploring the Waimea area

Today we decided to go hike in Waimea Canyon on the west side of the island. It turned out that it rained for much of the day, so we wound up just exploring that part of the island instead.

imea Canyon

We headed out the Waimea Canyon under a heavily clouded sky. It was raining most of the way as we made our way across the island, which was surprising. As we approached Waimea, it was overcast but not raining. As we drove through the town of Waimea, we missed Waimea Canyon Drive (Rt 550).

Waimea River

We found later that it's just at the end of the town but there are no special signs. In fact, I think it was right after a green sign indicating mileage to the next town so we were misled by that. The map showed that there's a second road that goes up to the Canyon, so once we realized we'd gone too far, we decided to take that one. As we climbed, we rose into the clouds and into the rain again. We thought about turning back, but decided instead to abandon our plans for hiking but to check out the overlook at the top. As we drove, we noticed a bunch of cars at a trailhead, with some people coming up from the trail. Shortly after that was the overlook from the main vista point. It was misty but not raining so we got out and checked it out. It really is a dramatic canyon. The soil is a deep sienna red and the trees are a bright green, so the contrast is quite stunning. The Canyon has many folds, creating layers of green and red. It doesn't compare to the Grand Canyon, but it still has a dramatic feel to it. Some of it was in cloud, but it was clear enough to get the sense of it.

rama of Waimea Canyon

llen taking picture of Waimea Canyon

We decided to continue on to the end of the road to see what there was to see. We stopped at another viewpoint from a more northern part of the canyon. Another nice view. And of course there were more colorful chickens hanging out in the parking lot, ready for any tourists' crumbs. Later we found out that the chickens had been tossed around the island in Hurricane Iniki in 1992, so now they pretty much ran free. We were amused.

After a while, the road gets rougher and you start to pass things like a NASA station and other official installations. After a few more miles, the road ends in another parking lot leading to a lookout that faces north, overlooking the Na Pali coast at the western end. Much of it was in clouds, but you could see it was probably very pretty if you could see it. :-) We drove back along that way along the canyon and finally made our way back down, this time taking the road we'd missed on the way up. It's a much more dramatic road, so it's worth finding it on the way up.

lani's Farmer's Market, Waimea

When we got to Waimea we stopped at Pualani's Farmer's Market, a fruitstand and sandwich shop we'd noticed on the way there. I got a banana mango smoothie for $3 and Walendo got a pork sandwich. Mine was delicious, he said his was okay. It was made on homemade bread that I thought was yummy. We bought some mangoes so I could have some for breakfasts or snacks later. Yum. I love mangoes.

We decided to drive all the way to the west end of the lower road before heading back. Russ & Judy had said there was a nice beach there, and the map showed Barking Sands beach at Polihale State Park, so we went for it. First we went literally to the end of the paved road, which takes you to a gate in front of a military ammunition site. There's a sign saying "Restricted Magazines." We figured you're not allowed to read Playboy or Hustler behind those gates. Reasoning that this was not the beach in question, we turned around and then headed up a dirt road. It quickly became a very bumpy, rutted road, muddy in places. It wasn't clear exactly what would be at the end of this road, but we saw several cars ahead of us, which was strange given the condition of the road. It was very similar to Ormsby, and you don't see three cars up ahead of you on Ormsby. So we figured we'd keep going, on a quest to find out why we were going to the end of the road. We went probably about 5 miles or so, maneuvering our way around big ruts and muddy spots, kind of fun actually.

>Map of Kauai (click for larger image)

Finally, when we got there, we saw about a dozen cars parked at the end of the road. We parked and walked up the path, which opened up onto a beautiful beach that stretched out into the distance. Unfortunately, it had just started to drizzle again. There were a few groups of people playing in the water or hanging out, but it was pretty uncrowded. If it had been nicer weather, it would have been a nice place to hang out for a while. We could see why people made the effort to go. We sat for a bit to check out the scene, and then headed back. On the way back, it was raining harder and the road was wetter, and a few cars were going extremely slowly. Having had a lot of experience with roads like this, we passed them and made good progress.

So now that we'd checked out the end of both the high and low roads on the west end of the island, it was time to explore some of the other towns along the way back to the east of the island. The map showed the next real town as Hanapepe (which is fun to say), so we headed there. There was a turnoff to the left that leads to the downtown, but it was pretty small, maybe two blocks with stores sparsely laid out. Most of the stores were closed. Walendo figured it must be because of Father's Day, undeterred by the fact that it was not Father's Day. It wasn't even Sunday. We thought there must be more, so we explored a little more and wound up in the residential area of the town. Kauai has a reddish soil throughout the island, but it gets especially dark (burnt sienna color) on the west end. Many of the houses had dark red stains along the ribs of the siding. Probably it's tough to keep the houses clean. I'd probably paint my house a reddish color if I lived in that area.

Having explored all there was to see, we continued on the main road going east. We passed by a few more towns without realizing we were there. Then we followed signs to Koloa, which is off the main road, south on the way to Poipu. Koloa had more of a downtown. Still only a few blocks, it's lined with stores along a boardwalk. So we got out and strolled through the town. Still, it was drizzling, so maybe it was more of a determined walk. We stopped in a tchatchke shop and I bought a sarong with a nice pattern, figuring it'd give the fabric to my mom. Walendo also found some dried mango, so I bought it, but it turned out to be way too sweet, yuck. We meandered through some of the other stores but didn't buy anything. We did notice a pizza place called Pizzetta's that looked good and figured we'd try to make it back there for dinner sometime.

That was all the exploring for the day. We made it back to Wailua, first stopping at Safeway to pick up some coffee and juices. Actually, Walendo bought them while I wandered through the stores in that shopping center, noting a natural foods store that had mangoes, so at least there's a place nearby to get them. I also went into an ABC store, just because Dipti told me I had to. Nothing much of interest, though. When we got back to the condo, I took a nap. I had been feeling sleepy all day, so it was nice to conk out. Walendo did some noodling on the computer. I guess that's what vacation is for.

mura Saimin, Lihui

That night we decided to go to a local noodle restaurant called Hamura Saimin. Russ had recommended it, and said they'd found out about it from someone who'd lived in Kauai. It turned out to be an interesting experience. It's a real dive, located on a back street in Lihue, and yet there are cars parked all around it. We walked in to see two long counters snaking along the entire eating area, most of them occupied by people who looked native. There were a few open stools, but the counter in front of them wasn't cleared, so we weren't sure if we should sit down. There wasn't anyone around to help us - the two servers seemed fully occupied. Finally we asked a couple that was leaving and they said just to sit down, so we did. The menu was posted on a sign above the cook. A few minutes later, one server came by and took our order while clearing the counter. Walendo ordered the Special, and she asked if he wanted medium or extra large. He said extra large and I said medium. He also ordered two chicken sticks. When our soups arrived, Walendo's had a lot of stuff in it and mine had only some. Apparently, I'd ordered the Medium, not the Special in medium size. Oh well. Walendo let me have a couple of his extra goodies.

While we were waiting for our food, we watched the cook go about his business. He looked to be about 80 years old or so, and he was fully absorbed in his task, filling each bowl with noodles, then soup, then cubes of pork, chopped scallion, sometimes won ton-looking things, and then some sort of fish thing with bright pink in it. Walendo really liked the soup, I found it a little too salty for my tastes. Both of us were fairly ill at ease in the restaurant, not sure if we were following the protocol, but Walendo seemed like he was coping pretty well. Later he said he feel completely out of place. He fooled me. We decided to pass on the pie, even though Russ had recommended it. He would later chastise us in email when we told him we'd gone but hadn't had the pie. I think his words were "Didn't I $!#@'ing tell you to get the *(#@!$ pie?" which made us laugh.

I needed my chocolate fix for the night, so we stopped at a few places to find chocolate on dark chocolate Haagen Dazs bars. Luckily, they had them at Safeway. Walendo got some cookies. Back at the condo, we watched a little TV and went to bed.

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