Day two on Kauai was a bit of a slow day. We were still getting into the swing of things on the island. Not knowing a whole lot about what to see or where to go we decided that a self guided tour from a tourist map was a good idea.
All of the places we visited this day were also places where loads of tour buses showed up. Off and on we ran into crowds of people who had as much clue as us about what to see. Our advantage was that we went at our own pace and not somebody's chosen pace on a bus trying to pack as much into one day as possible.
One of the places we vistited, three different tour buses mearly stopped beside the road, told the passengers about it then continued on without letting them get out and look. Strange, but better for us.
Make the jump for more pics and story
Wailua Falls was our first stop. Tucked up at the end of a small rural road. That doesn't stop the buses though. There are a couple of trails that lead closer to the waterfall, but with warning signs saying "Danger: The ground may fall out from under you! Keep Out" we decided that perhaps we should not head down it.
The falls empty into a large pool when then drains into a canyon. For the intrepid there is a way to hike several miles up the canyon to see the base of the falls and perhaps swim in the pool but this is a rainforest, so a trek of this sort was outside our capabilities.
Flowers can be found everywhere. Something we are not used to. Even though we do have plenty of flowers in the Pacific Northwest, seeing them in the middle of winter is something that just doesn't happen at home. Here with temperatures staying in the high 70s and plenty of rain, flowers are always present.
Opaeka'a Falls is in a busy area. Just beyond the trees is a small town and the falls themselves are viewed from a parking lot just off the side of a busy highway. Lots of cars and lots of people. At no point were there less than 20 people here. Often more.
Yet with all the people taking pictures and listening to tour guides, the falls are still spectacular to see.
Just across the street from the Opaeka'a Falls viewpoint is a great view of the Wailua River Valley with a slow meandering river running through it. The river is slow enough for kayaks and paddle boards to easily work their way upstream. From what we were told, there is another waterfall that can be seen by traveling up the river this way. So maybe in a future trip, we will try this.
Pohaku Ho'ohanau also known as Royal Birthstones. Not the birthstone that represents what month you were born it, but rather, this is where the mothers gave birth to all the kings of Kauai. This is considered sacred ground to the people of Kauai.
On the grounds there is a very old Koa tree. We were respectful and obeyed the "Kapu" sign and did not go over the rock wall.
Having no other tourists around was nice and gave us the chance to contemplate how important this place was to the people who used it.
With that we came back to our hotel room to be greeted by a visitor who was cleverly camouflaged in the same colors as our room. With a little bit of planning and some chasing, maybe even a little bit of shouting by the girls, we kindly help him leave finding a new place for him to stay the night in the bushes outside our door.
We've got some more pictures of the day. Be sure to check them out. Debbie has taken some awesome pics and I just can't fit them all in the post.
Kauai Day Two Pictures
No comments:
Post a Comment