Road to Hanalei

Our final few days in Kauai were spent in Hanalei, on the north shore. 

We enjoyed a leisurely drive up the east coast. 

We stopped to admire the Wailua River, a site of early settlement on Kauai.

The Opaeka'a Falls are more than 150 feet high.

Word.

Arriving on the north shore, we visited Kilauea Point and National Wildlife Refuge and Lighthouse. The ocean crashing into the rocks was mesmerizing.

We then found Secrets Beach (it took us a bit, after all it is secret). There were warnings to greet us.

You can see the lighthouse on the point.

Rocks -dangerous but beautiful.

The dangerous lava pools.

These pictures don't convey how huge the waves were.

When we arrived in Hanalei, we enjoyed watching the surfers - a block from our cottage!

Kapa'a

Kapa'a is on the eastern side of the island. Our hotel was on the beach! Here's the view from our room.

The view from our lanai.

We saw the sunrise each day!

Can't have too many sunrises.

We hiked up Nounou Mountain, otherwise known as The Sleeping Giant. The hike had great views of Kapa'a and the eastern side of the island.

We think this is the nose of the sleeping giant, but we're not really sure.

This sign was more confusing than you might think. Let's just say we were reacquainted with the trail a few times.

In my completely unbiased opinion, this is a great picture.

Do not leave valuables in trunk.

On our last night in Kapa'a we saw a rainbow!

A double rainbow!

Can't have too many rainbows either.

Poipu

We stayed in Poipu, on the southern point of Kauai, for our first few days on the island. 

We spent the day at Shipwreck Beach.

Makawehi Point is popular for jumping.

Even daschunds surf in Hawai'i.

Brian intensely hydrated for our walk up to the point.

The view onto Shipwreck Beach.

The view from the top was outstanding.

That evening we watched the sunset from the Beach House Restaurant in Poipu.

It got mixed reviews.

The next morning we drove down an unpaved road that reminded us of our time in Costa Rica to reach Maha'ulepu Beach.

We came upon an endangered Hawai'ian Monk Seal.

There were posted signs to prevent people from going to close. A group of volunteers patrolled the area.

More respect for the word of the year.

We took a hike to see the Makauwahi Sinkhole.

The sinkhole!

The views were, once again, great!

We headed back out to the beach...

... and were on our way, through the "Tunnel of Trees" north to Kapa'a.