January 25, 2023 – Kauai, Hawaii

We went out early to see a gorgeous sunrise.  We entered a very small port called Nawiliwili (fun to say).  We could see mighty waves breaking on the rugged coastline.  It was fun entering the port because the pilot had to do a ’s’ turn to get to the dock.  

Aloha, they shouted as we disembarked.  We got on a bus and traveled to the other side of the island.  Another good guide that would tell us all kinds of information as we went along.  Kauai is known as the garden island and I can see why!  The trees are huge, the flowers and vegetation are lush and green.  In some places, he called them ‘tree tunnels’ because the canopy completely covered the roadway.  Bamboo towered over the bus.  The mountains surround the rainforests, basically blocking them off.  Because of this, about 97% of Kauai’s land is undeveloped.

Kauai use to have 70,000 acres of farmland which was dedicated to sugar cane that would grow 20 feet high.  They also grew pineapple, banana, papaya, coffee and tropical flowers.  Coffee plantations are now the major crop since hurricane’s destroyed the sugar cane.  We saw many hundreds of acres of coffee shrubs.

We drove up a mountain with many switchbacks.  We climbed higher and higher until we met the clouds.  We arrived at Waimea Canyon, known as the ‘Grand Canyon of the Pacific’.  It’s 3,567 feet deep, 12-mile long canyon.  The light constantly changing as the mist and clouds were blowing through it.  Off in a distance, you could see a magnificent waterfall.

Hollywood has filmed many times at the dramatic north shore of Kauai.  Filmmakers can’t resist its jagged cliffs, thundering waterfalls and panoramic ocean views.  If you’ve watched Blue Hawaii (Elvis), Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, South Pacific and Donovan’s Reef, you’ve seen part of Kauai.  

After visiting the canyon, we drove to the south shore and watched these fascinating rock formations (Spouting Horn blowhole).  We watched the blowhole spout a plume of sea water into the air.  It occurs whenever waves are forced under the lava shelf and up through an opening in the rocky coast which makes a loud, blowing sound.  Actually, like a dragon breathing (not that I’ve ever heard that but my imagination said dragon’s breath).

Close by was the botanical gardens.  Wish we had time to explore there because Bob and I both love gardens (guess we’ll have to come back).  We stopped for lunch at a pretty open air, tropical restaurant and had a nice lunch (took a picture of a gallon of milk. The price makes sense since there are no dairy cows on the island). Then we went next door to buy macadamia nuts for our friends at our dinner table.  Returned to the bus and traveled to the east side of the island.  We got on a boat and went down the Wailua River.  Accessible only by boat, we visited the area’s famous Fern Grotto, a natural lava cave.  At one time, access was only granted to Hawaiian royalty.  The natural acoustics of the grotto make it the perfect venue for musical performances.  We hiked from the boat, up a path to the Fern Grotto but you’re now unable to enter the cave due to damage from storms.  The walk up the hill was beautiful, lush vegetation.  The boat company has been owned by the same Hawaiian family for decades.  They played Hawaiian music, had some sing alongs and did some hula dances to entertain the passengers.

On our way back to the ship, our guide showed us the famous Coco Palms Resort, where Elvis filmed Blue Hawaii.  Unfortunately, the resort is closed.  Looked like it was falling down but was told someone is fixing it up.  He also mentioned how many famous people own houses on the island.  The only one he knew of that lives there full-time was Pierce Brosnan (he saw him at Costco’s last week…lol).  

Made it back to the ship for ‘all aboard’.  Shortly after, we pulled away from the dock and left the cute little port.  What a dramatic view of waves crashing as we left the island.  People came out to wave good-bye.  The sun was golden on the lighthouse as we passed by and soon the beautiful island of Kauai was disappearing.

What a lovely day we had and I would say, this was one of my favorite ports thus far.  The garden island is a place that I’d love to return and stay.

Aloha Kauai!