Day three of doing touristy things we decided to head up Waimea Canyon to verify a rumor that it was a great place to see. Were we in for a surprise!
Make the jump for more pics and story!
 |
| Find the helicopter. |
This place is often referred to as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. But when you are on a tropical island it is hard to believe that any canyon here could compare. We were quickly proven wrong.
The Waimea Canyon, at the highest point is 4000 feet in elevation and drops 3600 feet below the rim. It is a mile wide and ten miles long.
Making it even more spectacular are not only the sweeping views but the contrasting red and green canyon walls. All over is lush green and the naturally red dirt that makes up Kauai. Waterfalls and clouds accent the awe inspiring view. Looking out over one of the viewpoints it is easy to get vertigo, but the fear of falling is overpowered by the beauty. You just can't look away.
When people tell you this is the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, they aren't kidding. There are a couple of things to know about it though. It is always windy. This is a tropical island, so there is a good chance you will be rained on and some of the canyon will be obscured by clouds. Also, there is a lot of driving very close to a cliff. All combined, the drive can be a bit unnerving.
Just like everywhere else on the island, there is no shortage of interesting plants to be seen. When lookout out and around you really need to look down once in a while.
After spending the day up along the canyon rim, we headed back down to the ocean to take in a few more sights and a fancy dinner
The name escapes me now, but I think every island in the Hawaii Island chain has at least one vent in lava rock where the ocean sprays up through.
We chose to eat dinner at a restaurant named Gaylord's on "The Plantation". Debbie got her introduction to Poke. Although the general consensus is that the Poke here is not all that good and on the mushy side. All the rest of the food was top notch though.
In addition to lots of feral chickens, there are also a lot of feral cats. A good number of them have learned how to work the system by hanging out here tourists hang out.
This particular cat is feral, but also named April, and has been hanging around the restaurant for close to eight years. She's become a regular guest of the house. While a bit shy sometimes, she is very friendly.
The story with the chickens is that Hurricane Iniki caused a scattering of both farm chickens as well as fighting chickens. After that they intermixed and have thrived.
Note this guys spikes on his ankles. Not that he would let you get to close, but I would never get in an argument with a guy brandishing a knife.
More winter flowers!
This brings us to a close on day three. We have both pictures and videos this time.
Embedding of videos seems to be broke for me right now, so here is a link to the view from Waimea Canyon
View of Waimea Canyon
And the ocean spraying up through the vent in the rocks
Ocean spray through vent in lava rocks
And of course our photo Gallery of Day Three
Kauai Day Three
No comments:
Post a Comment