Hawaii - June 1 - South shore of Kauai, Waimea Canyon, Ultimate

We had seen Kauai's northern shore and it was awesome.  On June 1, it was time to check out the southern shore.  Along our way was the Feral Pig.  We'd been there once for lunch but not yet for breakfast.  Their beer-mosas were pretty okay and the breakfast tacos were something particularly special!

After that, we basically drove straight out to the end of the road - the Waimea Canyon.  They call this the "Grand Canyon" of Hawaii's islands, and it didn't disappoint.  I took scads of pictures.  Here's are two of them:

After looking around for a while, spotting some crazy-huge "frigate birds," and then subsequently rained and misted out, we set out to check out the rest of the south shore and look for some food before evening ultimate.

Food we found in Hanapepe - the Kauai Island Brewery.  The food was better than it really needs to be at a brew-pub.  The beer was pretty decent to.  From there we checked out the nearby harbor, went to the Kauai Cookie Company to get some supplies for the potluck dinner that had been called for after the ultimate game, and then made our way back east.

Port Allen 

The US's western-most independent book store?!?

The ultimate game was to be played at Lyndgate Park, not too far from our motel.  I'd found them online and emailed prior to the game.  It appeared that this was a special game - their once-a-month meetup between the south shore and the north shore folks.  That meant a bigger-than-usual turnout and a potluck following the game.

Okay by us.

Lyndgate Park is actually on the beach.  This beach in fact:

The game was great - we played until we couldn't see anymore, then took out a disc with some LED lights on it and then played some more.  After that, we ate and drank the evening away.  The folks were super-friendly and welcomed us to their game and party.

It doesn't really get any better than that.

Hawaii - May 31 - Northern Shore of Kauai

May 31 was our first full day on Kauai.  We were staying on the east shore.  The west shore is not accessible to cars.  So that left the north and the south.  On this day, we opted to head south.

Melch had found a farmer's market on the internet that sold local fruit as well as BBQ pig and chicken.  The rest of us liked the sound of that, and it was on the way, so we went.  It was amazing...

We got our food to go and pulled over to eat it at an overlook above the Hanalei Bay.  

After all of that time looking at the bay, we figured we'd hop in:

After goofing in the bay for a bit, we continued on westward along the northern coast.  Once you run out of road, you're at the head of the Kalalau trail.  The trail goes for a few hours to a beach and then a few hours more to a waterfall and then a few hours MORE to a campsite.  We had time only for the beach leg unfortunately, but even that was worth the trip!

Once we wrapped up our hike, we went back to Hanalei to eat at a place that was recommended by a coworker.  The meal was as good as the location.

Hawaii - May 30 - Oahu Departure and Kauai Arrival

At some point, our whirlwind tour of Oahu was going to have to end.  Too little time, too many islands to visit.

Melch signing the guestbook at our cool little vacation house

We got up way too early in the morning, turned in the rental, navigated the indignities of TSA goonery, and hopped on for the short flight from Honolulu, Oahu to Lihue, Kauai.

Unlike Oahu, where Melch and I had been many times and had many more activity ideas than we had time to program them, Kauai was going to be a new experience.  After picking up our rental, we followed the recommendation of the man at the counter and made our way down for some breakfast along the scenic Nawiliwili Bay.  We picked out a breakfast place with a second-story view of the bay and sat down for some Hawaiian-style breakfast.

With our stomaches thus filled, we were ready for our next activity - a visit to the Koloa Rum Company!  I'd heard about them while on Oahu and they were close to our breakfast spot so there was no doubt that we were going.

The rum company's tasting room is on a small plantation/park sort of thing where they have a bunch of other tourist activities too.

It was a toss-up between the spiced and the dark for me, but then again it always is...

Wonder why they call it the "Garden Island"

Thus fortified, we set out to tour some of the island's landmarks.  There was an ancient man-made fishing pool nearby:

Menehune Pool

And an even more-ancient, nature-made waterfall:

Wailua Falls

 And a whole mess of beaches:

Wailua Beach

And our very own lodging for the week:

Balcony View

We also checked out the humane society.  They had some pretty swank arrangements and a field trip program where visiting tourists can check a dog out for the day and take them on a trip.  That's just the sort of thing we might be interested in...

Finally we wrapped up the day with a bit more alcohol-fueled tourism.  Kauai Beer Company was on our way back to the motel, so we gave them a look-see-taste.

Not a bad day considering how little sleep we'd had and the usual struggles dealing with post-TSA travel.

Hawaii - May 29 - Diamond Head, Koko Head, Family Dinner

Thursday was our last day on Oahu so we had to squeeze in the must-dos for Drayas.  At the top of that list was Diamond Head.  

Diamond Head isn't a particularly long or challenging or even interesting hike, but it's a famous trek and for a good reason - the view at the top!

As it had been for the entirety of our stay on Oahu, the weather was very warm and humid.  Mid-90's by the time we started the hike, I'd guess.  We got some shave ice to cool us off as we started the ascent.

The hike went by pretty quickly and we stayed around on top to cool off in the breeze and scope out the views.

After some traditional Hawaiian lunch (Drayas got to taste poi for the first time!) and another stop off at Leonard's for some guava malasadas, we moved on to the second hike of the day - Koko Head.  The trail to the top of Koko Head is actually an abandoned tram track.  The rails are in various states of decomposition so footing is a challenge.  The hike is short but very steep, with 1046 steps to the top.

1046 to go...

Watch your step on the crazy bridge!

 Once again, the views were worth the effort.  Diamond Head overlooks Waikiki, Honolulu and the south coast.  Koko Head is a bit further east, overlooking Hawaii Kai, Hanauma Bay, and the coast out towards Makapu'u Pt.

Hanauma Bay, where we'd snorkeled a few days prior

Hawaii Kai

 Dinner was a last meet-up with Melch's relatives - at another Hawaiian plate-lunch place.  We wrapped the evening up with some outlet shopping at Crazy Shirts.

Hawaii - May 26 - Hanauma, Duk Kee, Leonard's, Waikiki

We had seen Hanauma from the parking lot and from the air, but we had never actually gone snorkeling down there.  Given that the place is famous for reef snorkeling, that was an oversight that Melch wanted to remedy ASAP.  So we made our way down the coast and rented ourselves some flippers.

Hanauma is pretty awesome even before you get your toes wet.  Like most of Hawaii, it's filled with white sand and palm trees.

The snorkeling was pretty awesome too.  The masks wouldn't seal over my copious hair, but I could still breath for a while before the water filled up and I had to surface.  I saw many different kinds of fish and a bunch of reef.  It my first experience snorkeling as an adult and while I did enjoy it, I think next time I'll seek out some nose plugs and regular old swim goggles rather than the combined mask that wasn't working too well for me.

After working up an appetite in the ocean, we headed to Kaimuki to eat at Duk Kee, one of Kerry's old favorites.  We even got some of his favorite dishes, like the abalone.

After that, it was on to Leonard's for their world-famous malasadas.  This is another must-do tradition for myself and Melch and of course another new thing for Drayas.  Sweetening (heh) the deal: the Flavor of the Month malasada was guava!  I love guava and had more than my share of guava malasadas over our stay.

Sufficiently fat and happy, we made our way down to Waikiki to hang watch the sunset and have a round on a rooftop bar.  Pretty good way to wrap up an eventful day before heading over the hill to sleep.  The bar we went to had a pretty decent duo playing live music.

The central theme of their songs seemed to be around happiness I suppose ;)