I returned to Kauai after an almost 20 year absence … Yet, I have a long, distinguished history with this island. My family visited for three consecutive years during my childhood to spend Christmas at a Hanelei beach house. My elder daughter may have been conceived here, and her name, Malia, was borrowed from my dad’s cat. And our return this week brought our entire extended family to Hanalei, on Kauai’s north shore.
The Kauai of my childhood was a magical place. We stayed on the wet side of the island, which was sparsely populated and was cut right out of a rainforest. I recall large spiders, red or yellow, to match the colors of the local plants. At night, toads, called Bufos, would appear and hop out on the roads. They would become blinded by the headlights, and the next day would display the ten or twelve that got run over. Mosquito coils were mandatory, to not get bitten up. And there was one local combination bar/market, and one nearby hotel which was our Sunday Brunch spot. And the house’s backyard gave way to a ten mile crescent-shaped beach with adequate waves for bodysurfing. The most people we ever saw on the beach could be counted with our fingers. Across the road, we looked up at mountains that were always ringed with clouds. I later learned that I was looking at the place on earth with the heaviest rainfall. Even to a ten year old, the waterfalls cascading down the mountain were a special sight.
Kauai has a distinctly different vibe from Hawaii’s other islands. While Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu were formed by active volcanoes that are still visible, and sometimes active, Kauai is geologically much older and its shape is largely the result of an ancient volcano that imploded a million years ago.
Kauai also has a large section of its coastline that is absent of any road system … The Na Pali Coast can only be seen by boat, helicopter, or by hiking a vast complex of trails which are not for the faint of heart. Our private charter was cancelled due to heavy seas. From our side of the island on the north shore, a trip around this untouched coastline brings the visitor to Waimea Canyon, lovingly referred to as The Grand Canyon of the Pacific.
The canyon is ten miles long and up to 3,000 feet deep. And if you have never seen the Grand Canyon, you could easily mistake Waimea for the Grand. Most visitors drive along the rim of the Canyon which has a series of lookouts and a few hikes. If one drives to the top, the road keeps going through state parkland to a lodge, which is usually occupied by native boar hunters. But the road keeps going to a wonderful surprise which I shall reveal in a later blog entry when I write more about our Canyon visit.
Kauai has a number of quaint, small towns with very distinctive personalities. Most are located on the southern side which is much drier. But my family felt my love for Hanalei on the northern shore. If a road was built around the Na Pali Coast, Hanalei would be the beginning of Kauai’s Road to Hana … Even now, the town begins with a drive across a one lane bridge
Which leads me to a couple observations… There seems to be fewer people of Native Hawaiian descent on Kauai. And this could be due to the expense of living here. Homes that look somewhat run down sell for millions if they are close to the ocean. Much of the island consists of estates of huge numbers of acres, which makes the rest of the inhabited space gobbled up by the rich who bought their vacation homes. This scarcity of space carries over to businesses … I have never seen so many trailer businesses … But to me, this adds to the atmosphere of the towns.
Here is my daughter buying homemade donuts from the Holey Grail in Hanalei. Most of these businesses have to scrounge for multiple ways of making enough money to stay open. The locals I met say that everyone in the towns knows everybody, and they all look out for one another.
I hope I have communicated that Kauai is a special place with special people. In my next writings, I will go into more detail about some of the activities we did during our week.
The Adventures of Barry Brink 