The Kauai Frontier

Welcome to the thrilling conclusion to my Kauai blogilogy (blog trilogy).  In our last episode, our heroes were admiring the Grand Canyon of the Pacific and watching a beautiful sunset over Barking Sands.  This installment will cover the eastern and northern sides of the island.

Let me start by explaining the terrain on this part of the island is vastly different than the south/west parts due to the climate.  But isn't it all a tropical island?  It's not that big, how can it have different climates? Believe me, the windward side is much greener and wetter.   Due to the weather patterns, this part of the island gets more rain than the other side.  This means it's a lot greener and more lush.  It also means there are plenty of waterfalls to ogle.

We began our journey travelling to Lihue from Barking Sands, then heading north from there.  It's a fairly short but scenic drive up the coast to the major resort area of Princeville.  Just past Princeville, there is a fantastic scenic overlook that looks out into the valley below and the mountains in the distance.

As we were exploring the north coast, it started raining on us.  We didn't get to stop at many of the places we wanted to either because it was raining or because we couldn't find parking.  The lighthouse below was one that I really wanted to stop and photograph.  It was raining so hard that I just hopped out of the car, snapped a few quick ones, then hopped back in.

After a night's stay on this side of the island, we took some time to explore some nearby waterfalls.  These falls are so easily accessible that you literally park the car, walk 100 feet and you have a fantastic view.  It was again raining on and off, so we didn't linger too long taking photos.  

The highlight of the trip by far was the helicopter ride we took on the last day of our vacation.  It was just under one hour long, and it took us to many places that are inaccessible by land.  We saw many waterfalls (including the infamous Jurassic Park waterfall). We floated along the fabled Na Pali coastline, which is as amazing as promised.  We even flew into the crater of the volcano that formed Kauai (now a lush green landscape with flowing waterfalls).  I was a little worried about the kiddos, but the baby slept the whole flight, and the toddler was amused to be in a helicopter in the first place.  Here are some highlights.

We only spent one night on this side of the island, and I wish we were able to spend at least one more.  While I really enjoyed my time on the south and west parts of Kauai, I feel I had ample time to see everything there is to see there.  We barely scratched the surface of the east/north coasts.  At some point in my life, I will return to attempt the 11-mile hike (each way) along the Na Pali coast.  It truly is amazing to see.

Now I will leave you with some sunrise photos and an image of a tiki torch for no apparent reason.  Enjoy and Mahalo for reading.