Day 6

D: Today was our last day in Kaua'i. We wanted to get an early start so we could get lots of swimming in. We were up, fed and out the door by 9am or so. Pretty good for us, since we've been more leisurely on this vacation.

We headed to Lydgate Park which we had checked out yesterday. We got there around 10am and headed to the water. There were a lot of people there, but it wasn't too crowded. There seemed to be a lot of older people and they seemed to be fond of cheap, brightly colored floats. L surveyed the water condition and gave the green light to get wet. We geared up and started swimming around.


This was the perfect area for her to brush up on her snorkeling. There was a man-made barrier that kept the waves out for the most part. This keep the water nice and calm. It was low tide so it was only about 4 feet deep at the most. We swam for about an hour or so and then had some sandwiches before heading out.

We drove to Kapa'a and stopped in to see the Hawaiian Blizzard Shave Ice man. He doesn't work weekends, so we were looking forward to today, since it was Monday. Well, sadly enough, he wasn't there. I remember reading something in our guide books about the "looseness" of his schedule. Even though we were disappointed it just added to the mystery that surrounds the shave ice man.

We got back on the road and headed towards the North Shore. The town of Hanalei was about 24 miles away, but the drive is pretty. Part of it takes you along the coast and part of it goes thru lush tropical forests.



We got to Hanalei and headed for the backup shave ice stand. This one was was called Shave Ice Paradise. We didn't have high hopes for this one, because it seemed like a tourist feeding ground. Being cautious, we got one and shared. It turned out to be ok. Better than Jo-Jo's (both of them), but no where near the level of perfection of Hawaiian Blizzard. Who'd thought there could be so much room for variation in the world of shave ice?

After downing the shave ice and a small salad from the nearby health food store, we made our way further up the coast to Tunnels Beach.

This beach was amazing. It's the beach you see in your mind when you think of a tropical beach. The water was clear with waves crashing in the distance. It's hard to capture the awe that we felt as we emerged from the small dirt road where we parked and stepped onto the sand.



It wasn't crowded at all. There were people here and there, but no one ever got in anyone's way. We found a spot to drop our beach gear and stood for a moment to observe the water. After analyzing the water patterns and spotting the safest spot to enter the water, we grabbed our fins and masks and were on our way.

Though this proved to be a more challenging area to snorkel, the payoff was worth it. There were lots of fish of all shapes, colors and sizes. The ocean floor was a mixture of rocks with open areas of white sands. As we snorkeled above all of this it felt like we were flying over an alien terrain. L did great again and seemed pretty comfortable as she swam around. There were a couple of moments where she got slightly nervous because water from a passing wave got in her snorkel, but she held up pretty well. I kept reminding myself that this was only the second day she'd gone snorkeling in her life. Not too mention she has little to no ocean experience at all. She's a trooper.

After a little while, I dropped L off at the shoreline and I headed out to do a little exploring further out. I'd overheard some guys mentioning that they'd seen some turtles. I wasn't sure where they saw them, but it was worth a shot. Before you get too excited, I didn't see any turtles. I did see a few more kinds of fish in some deeper waters and I saw where the sand shelf dropped off in the the black of the ocean depths. It was a little daunting to be floating right along the edge of it, but completely worth it. I kept checking on L as I was swimming around. She spent her time working on her technique in a smaller area near the shore. After a little more exploring I headed in.

I got the camera from the car and L and I took some photos and videos to try and capture just the slightest bit of the beauty that was around us. We got enough to ignite our memories down the road when we reflect back on this trip. One last look around and we packed up our stuff.

We drove about a mile down the road to a more public area where we washed off some of the salt water and sand. There was a large cave opening off to the side of the road. Like everyone else, we made our way over to it to check it out. It was a large opening about 20 feet wide and 10 feet high. the cave itself was a large circular "room" of sorts. It was about 100 feet deep and wide with maybe an 8-10 feet tall ceiling. We walked all the way to the back of the cave and looked around for a few moments. It was cool to think how much mountain was on top of us at that point.

After our few minutes in the cave we got back in the car and headed back to Hanalei. We shared an Ahi sandwich at the Polynesia Cafe. We'd gone there the other night, so we knew the food was reliable. Our other choices were pretty minimal in the quick bite to eat category. Pizza slices, chinese 2 or 3 item combos or Subway. After our little snack, we headed across the street to Java Kai for a cup of coffee and a muffin. It was a different crew working the coffee counter, but they were all still really friendly and helpful. We sat on the lanai and soaked in the fresh air while sipping coffee and nibbling on a pineapple muffin.

We were pretty much done with our goals for the day so we headed back. On the way we stopped at a couple of areas for a scenic view. One was a view of some farmland against the backdrop of some cloud covered green mountains.

Another was a beach along the highway that seemed popular with the local surfers. We watched them navigate thru the chaotic waters while they looked for the next wave. As we were leaving it seemed more and more locals were showing up with their boards.

The last stop before we got back to our room was at Mark's Place. It's a restaurant that'd we'd read about. We discovered that they had a location near where we were staying. They serve a mix of Hawaiian style foods which is what we wanted for our last meal on our last day. We got a combo plate that had brown rice, fried chicken, chow mein, macaroni salad and chicken adobo. The styrofoam to go container must've weighed 5 lbs., and for only 6 bucks it was a deal.

We got back to the room we had things to take care of. We packed up our stuff, got cleaned up and ate our Hawaiian take out food feast. It was a great way to round out a trip that'll definitely go down in the books as one of our favorites.

Last on the list....pancakes with a gecko.