Day 5: Wednesday, June 6, 2001
Kayaking Hanalei River

Today we slept a little later, finally drifting onto Hawaiian time. This morning I had a local banana in my cereal that was quite yummy. I sat out on the lanai and watched a jogger slowly make his way from one end of the beach to another. Walendo checked his Ebay bid and he's still the only bidder. The auction closes at 1am tonight, so he's hopeful he'll get it.

Hailua River Kayak Shop

We'd decided to go kayaking again today, this time up at the Hanalei River. It was sunny for most of the drive there, but just as we approached the town, it started to rain. By the time we pulled into the driveway of the kayak shop it was genuinely pouring. We sat in the car watching the huge drops streak down the windshield. After about 15 minutes, it let up and we got out, determined to make a day of it. We got two singles again, again each $25 but these were more basic, no backrests or dry bags, just the sit-on-top kayak. We put in at a tiny inlet right behind the shop that let out to the river. You could go about a mile in either direction, so first we headed out toward the ocean. We were there in a short while, and we paddled out a bit on the ocean but then decided we'd rather stay on the river, so we headed back. As we turned around, it started to rain again.

Ellen kayaking on Hailua River (pre-rain)

By the time we got to the river, it was raining pretty hard, so we paddled over to the bank where there was a tree with big leaves overhanging the river. We huddled under it, watching the rain. Walendo pulled up some rocks from the bank and tried to hit certain overhanging leaves. He was much better at it than I was. After about 15 minutes, it was still raining and in fact it started getting ever harder. Pretty quickly we were in a downpour and the tree wasn't offering any protection anymore, so we figured we might as well make a dash for it back to the store. We paddled hard up the river, and then just as we started getting close, the rain started to let up. By the time we got to the inlet, it was just drizzling again. Always optimists, we decided not to stop but to keep going up the river.

Walendo with rickety bridge in background

This turned out to be a good thing, since it pretty much stopped raining after that and the sun even came out. We passed a few other kayakers and we laughed at our stupidity at not knowing enough to get out of the rain. (The big difference here is that it's warm, so you don't feel miserable if you get soaked.) As we paddled, we passed some flowers that had dropped into the river, so I picked some up to decorate my kayak. The river flows right by the road into Hanalei so you don't get that much of a feeling of being in a remote location, but still it was just fun to cruise along. After a short while, we noticed that the current was getting pretty strong and it took a fair amount of effort to make progress. Still, we continued on, wanting to make it to that bridge we'd seen on the first day. Slowly but steadily we went until finally we got there. We rested a bit and then decided to continue, curious to see what was on the other side.

Ellen in Hailua River inlet

There was a little inlet shortly after a bend so we stopped again and rested. We pushed out again and by this time the current was getting really strong and I finally got tired. After another short burst, I suggested we turn back. We knew the ride back would be great fun.

We decided not to paddle, but just to float with the current. We hooked our kayaks together and relaxed, enjoying the ride. Just as we went under the rickety bridge, a huge fire truck went over it, right above us, gulp. But we made it. At first we righted the kayaks as they drifted at one angle or another, but then we decided to see what happened if we didn't. Slowly the kayaks spun around so that we were floating down the river backwards, giggling away.

Relaxing our way down Hanalei River

A little while later we twisted around again front-ways, but not before passing some kayakers going backwards down the river. Continuing on head first, we passed by a woman on the shore who said hello and asked if we'd gotten caught it the storm. We laughed and said we had. In no time at all, we were back at the inlet, so we pulled in and beached the kayaks. It was certainly an adventure.

We walked around Hanalei a bit before heading back. I decided to get a smoothie at the health food store there. This one was $5 and it was the worst of all the ones I'd gotten, oh well. I stopped in an art store that had some clothes made of beautiful fabrics, some crafts made of koa wood, and some paintings. Nice to look at, but nothing really tempted me (for the price, anyway). Meanwhile, Walendo chatted outside with a slightly off hippie-type who grew marijuana in the hills and seemed quite pleased with his way of life. Having explored the town, we drove back, still a little moist from the rain.

Walendo eating Hamura Saimin Special

We took showers at the condo and then I napped while Walendo read on the lanai. When I joined him, there were two boys out on the beach who seemed to be learning to surf. They were having a lot of trouble trying to pick up the waves in time. We kept rooting for them. We decided to eat in again. This time, Walendo placed an order for the Hamura Saimin Special and we went to pick up. When we got back, I went to make a sandwich, but all the bread had turned moldy. We've had an ongoing disagreement about how bread should be stored - I prefer the fridge, he likes to leave it out. So it was a victory for me, of sorts. Walendo reluctantly agreed that at least in Hawaii, you should refrigerate bread. I went off to Safeway to buy another loaf, sigh.

After dinner, we did some laundry. The condo has a half-sized washer and dryer, which was convenient. Meantime, we watched "Duets," which we both liked. I had wanted to go horseback riding at some point and Walendo suggested that I do that tomorrow while he enjoyed a day of just relaxing. I had picked up a few flyers and I chose one by the Esprit de Corps Riding Academy, since it said they trotted and cantered, and it was located nearby Wailua. They had a website, so we dialed up to get more information. It said they provided boots, which was good, and they had two half-day rides, one at 8:30am and one at 1pm. I figured I'd call the next morning to see if I could get on the 1pm ride.

We went to bed with Walendo eager to find out if he'd win the book auction on Ebay. At about 2am I heard him plop back into bed. He'd gotten up to check, and indeed he'd gotten the book. He was very happy.

Previous   (Hiking Na Pali Coast)

Next   (Horseback riding)