K for Kauai

Kilauea lighthouse

Hanalei valley lookout

Kauai is one of the geologically oldest islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. Nearly two years ago, S decided to surprise me with a thanksgiving vacation in Hawaii, a honeymoon of sorts for us. While the week long trip saw us visiting Oahu and Kauai islands, today's post is all about Kauai. We flew in from Honolulu to Lihue airport and stayed in a resort that was right by the sea. The rental car we booked was a mustang convertible, perfect for the tropical Hawaiian weather. It felt like a dream driving through stretches of green on the island of Kauai rightly known as the Garden Isle. We drove to the Kilauea lighthouse that is part of Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. Here one can find a variety of migratory seabirds such as albatrosses, red-tailed and white-tailed tropicbirds and the like.The ocean cliffs and tall grassy slopes of a dormant volcano provide a protective breeding ground for many Hawaiian seabirds.

Our next stop was the Hanalei valley lookout, apparently one of the most photographed lookouts in Hawaii.


The day after that we drove to the Grand Canyon of the Pacific or the Waimea canyon. This canyon owes its formation not just to erosion but also to a volcanic collapse that resulted in the formation of this island.

Waimea Canyon 

Evening sun during our drive back from Waimea Canyon

Everywhere we drove around in Kauai, the one sound that we could be sure to hear was that of roosters crowing out.

Roosters galore!!

 The scenic beauty of Kauai boasts of a lot of movie appearances, and Na Pali coastline has features in prominent movies such as Jurassic park,  King Kong and Pirates of the Caribbean movies. We also went on a rafting tour along the coastline of Kauai. During the tour, we spotted dolphins very frequently, managed a glimpse of a whale in the distance and even bumped into a turtle when we walked around a portion of the coast where we had docked for a lunch picnic.

Dolphins swimming alongside our raft 

Na Pali Coast

Turtle we met during our walk along Na Pali coast

Kauai is also home to one of the few coffee plantations as Hawaii is the only US state to grow coffee commercially, and we stopped by one of the plantations as we drove by the island

Kauaian Coffee plantation

A boat ride along the Wailua river, took us to a fern grotto, a cave which had ferns hanging from rocks and boulders. We were even treated to a hula show during the boat ride.

Wailua river flowing towards the Ocean

Fern Grotto

Before bidding farewell to Kauai, we took a quick dekko at the Wailua falls nearby. The drive to Alekoko or fishpond attributed to Menehune, a mythical tribe brought our Hawaiian holiday to a close and we were left savoring the sunset by the shining waters surrounded by lush green flora.

Wailua waterfalls

Menehune fishpond

This post is shared with April A-Z blogging challenge for alphabet K

Click on the photos to see enlarged images.