When I travel somewhere I love to immerse myself fully in the scenery of the place, be it man made or natural. The island of Kauai has an over abundance of spectacular scenery from the largest canyon in the Pacific to some of the most magnificent beaches on the planet. On my family's trip to the Garden Isle I tried to see as many of the natural wonders of the island that I could, and my camera's lack of memory space tells the pixel-side of my adventurous tale.
Our hotel was in Kapaa town, and just down the road from that picturesque little burg is the Wailua River. On our last day in Kauai we set out from our hotel on Kuhio Highway and took a turn onto State Highway 580. This little two lane road meanders along the river's side, and offers plentiful glorious views of one of Hawaii's only navigable rivers.
Part of the way up the road you'll come upon the turnout for Opaekaa Falls. The stop feels very touristy with tons of people in rental cars vying for a parking space, but the fight through the folks is totally worth it, for out in the canyon beyond is nothing but rain forest and the crowning water jewel of the view, the Falls themselves:
After spending a few minutes in the tourist "ooh and ahh" accented soundtrack that accompanies the roar of the falls, we started back down the road along the Wailua River. We did make a stop at one additional site of interest however, the Poli'Ahu Heiau. Heiau's are sacred Ancient Hawaiian temples of a sort, and it was really neat to watch my Native Hawaiian husband and our children wander around a piece of their ancestral history.
My favorite part of the entire day was while we were stopped at the Heiau. I walked over to a lookout of the river, and far down below in a pasture were two horses grazing contentedly. Growing up I was more horse than human, and I don't know what struck me in that moment, but I gave out a little whinny of a greeting. To my surprise the beautiful bay horse in the field a few hundred feet below picked up its head and started calling back to me, running towards us. My kids looked at me in amazement as the horse and I had what I think was a conversation. It was actually a pretty surreal moment, I blame the old magic of the Heiau!
Tonight I am sitting in my room at home in a fatigued and freezing state, and it is in moments like this that I find my mind wandering towards the paradise that is Kauai. If you ever have the chance to visit the Garden Isle, I would say jump on the opportunity, for the place sticks with you like leftover Spam sushi!
And always, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's pining for a fresh pineapple iPhone.
