- Kaua'i
- South
Shore
- We arrived at Kaua'a's main city,
Lihue, via the Kaua'i airport with the
entire day available for exploration.
Since we already had hotel reservations on
the East shore for three nights, we were
ready to head out for some fun. We drove
south on 'the' highway of the island. Our
guide indicated a number of nice beaches
and small towns along the South
shore.
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- Our first stop was a somewhat remote
beach called Maha'ulepu.
The rough gravel road leading to the beach
seems to have scared off most of the sun
worshipers from this area. We spent some
time enjoying the surf and examining the
tide pools.
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 - Larry at
Maha'ulepu
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 - Spouting
Horn
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- Our next destination turned out to be
a little disappointing. At Spouting
Horn Beach Park, tourist buses were
lined up to see the blowhole. Although it
was a blowhole, it was viewed from behind
a fence up on a hill. The larger blowhole
had been destroyed by area farmers years
ago because it blew salt into their
fields. We saw more impressive surf and
blowholes near Hana on Maui, so we were
underwhelmed by this one. The tourist
buses and souvenir stands didn't help
matters.
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The highlight of this area was something
that most people miss. We enjoy Mexican food and found
a great little place for lunch. Called Taqueria
Nortenos, it served huge pork, bean, and rice
burritos. They also had big, fresh avocados that we
split and ate with chips. Yummy!
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- For dessert we stopped at Jo-Jo's for some shaved
ice. Annette got berry-berry and Larry selected the
tropical mix. Each included macadamia nut ice cream in
the bottom of the cup. Yummy, again!
- We next stopped to visit the ruin of Fort
Elizabeth, a Russian fort built in 1816.
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- As we headed for the end of the road, we were in
for an adventure. Past the Pacific Missile Range
Facility, we found ourselves on a gravel road among
corn and sugar cane fields. The road got worse as we
neared the ocean. At one point we almost got stuck in
the sand as we headed for the Polihale
State Park, the end of the road, and the start (or
end) of the Na Pali hiking trail (11 miles, accessible
only via the coastal trail) which connects back with
the highway on the other side. Our guidebook indicated
that AAA is unavailable here, and that some people
find it cheaper to abandon their car rather than get
it towed. No wonder the Hawaii state parks seem to be
filled with junked cars!
- Anyway, we found our way fine and
discovered a beautiful beach with huge
sand dunes. With showers and toilets
available, we may camp here someday and
spend some time hiking the coastal trail.
We met some interesting people walking,
fishing, and camping on the beach.
Although the beach is great, we took care
near the ocean. Huge waves rolled in from
various directions causing fun crashes and
water surges.
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 - Annette at Polihale
State Park
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 - Sunrise from our hotel
room
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- At sunset we worked our way back to
the East shore and our hotel room at the
Kaua'i
Coconut Beach Hotel. We got a good
rate off the Internet on an ocean view
room on the fourth floor. Each evening we
were serenaded with traditional Hawaiian
music by a two-piece band with a hula
dancer. They played in the courtyard below
our room. The view on the left shows the
sunrise from our room.
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Created by Annette
Lamb and
Larry
Johnson,
12/00
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