Day 13 “To the Ocean, White with Foam” After a morning breakfast on the lanai, which we never get tired of, we decided to head out and explore the south side of the island. We got out at about 10:30 and stopped by the only KFC on the island to get some grilled chicken for lunch later in the day. We also stopped by the local post office to mail a post card to Powdersville Middle School. Soon we were on our way to the town of Waimea to see the Waimea Canyon, billed as the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. We passed through three or four small towns that were once bustling with the huge sugar cane presence here on Kauai, but now were just selling t-shirts and shave ice. We went through the little town of Waimea, turned right, and started climbing up the mountains to view the canyon. Eleven miles later, we reached the scenic overlook. It was worth the trip. Beautiful scenery abounded everywhere. It truly is the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. We also got a chance to look down on many birds in flight that were way below us. It is interesting that Kauai has so many birds, and many more birds than any other island. Remember all the chickens? One of their natural predators on all the other islands is the mongoose, but Kauai does not have mongooses. That is how so many birds and chickens survive on Kauai. After we viewed the canyon, we decided to find a nice beach on which to eat our lunch. I had read that there is a beautiful beach at Pulihale State Park on the extreme western point of Kauai, so we set out for the west. Soon we reached the area of Barking Sands where the US military still operates a missile station. The paved road ended and we were then on a sand and gravel road for five miles. We went as far as we could and parked the car under a tree, took out our beach stuff, and walked over the hill. We were greeted by the most beautiful beach we had seen here on Kauai. It was so big that we still had a fifty yard walk before we got to the water. Even with Nancy’s flip flops and my crocs, the sand was so hot it burned our feet as soon as it touched us. We scurried across the deep sand and reached the water’s edge. We set up our beach mats, and had a wonderful lunch right there on the beach. We saw maybe eight or ten other people on the entire beach as far as we see. I figure we were about as far west in the United States as we could go except for the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and the tiny island of Niihau, which is closed to everyone except native Hawaiians who live there. It was like we were at the end of the world. Nothing was in front of us but the wide blue Pacific Ocean. I highly recommend this beach. We drove the 45 minutes back towards Lihue, but stopped off in Koloa for some shopping. Nancy bought some earrings and I got us a shave ice. We got back to the condo for a break before supper. I guess it really is the heat. We decided to go back to Kalipaki Joe’s, the sports bar, for supper. Nancy got a Volcano Burger with jalapenos and I got a Cuban Pastrami sandwich. Good food, cold drinks, and everyone was having a good time. Back at the condo, some evening coffee, a stroll along the oceanfront, and the day is over. Tomorrow is our last planned activity on Kauai. We will be visiting Kipu Ranch which is where many movies were filmed on Kauai, including the opening scenes of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. We will be riding ATV’s so it should be interesting. I will tell you how it goes. Until tomorrow… Aloha!
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 08:49:19 +0000
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