Unlike on O'ahu, here in Kauai we being forced to relax more because the pace of life just seems slower (even slower!) on this island. We spent the morning kicking around the hotel room and the hotel grounds. We did some blogging, we watched some TV, I went for a run along the beach.
Botanical Garden - Lana
Ruthie wanted to check out a botanical garden on the north western shore of the island, right where the road ends and the famous Amalfi cliffs along western coast line begins. It was like being in an episode of Lost crossed with the open scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Mountains and the jungle canopy above our heads and water rushing through the trees headed down from the top of the valley through the gardens and into the ocean.
We followed the path up one side of the valley, over the water, around, across and back down in 30 mins despite being told it was a 3 hour tour but then we didn't stop to inspect all of the 100 or so plants that were highlighted along the route. We had more to see and were getting hungry...!
On our way back east traveling along the northern shore we spotted a beautiful beach with some HUGE waves crashing down right on the shore. We stopped to investigate... needless to say, like pretty much all of the other beaches on the island, there were 'danger - you will die if you try' signs all over the place. Not wanting to prove them right, we decided NOT to go into the water but instead took a snaps and moved on... :o)
We stopped in Hanalei, where we had taken our surfing lessons the day before, to take a look around and check in on a beautiful old church by the side of the road. It backed onto palm trees surrounded by spectacular mountains - this would get me out of bed on a Sunday...
Still trying to find some food but getting distracted by all of the scenery, coming out of Hanalei and driving past the Princeville resort there is a place to pull in to take photos of yet another gorgeous view of the valleys and the mountains... naturally, we had to check it out...
Almost ready for lunch we checked out the lighthouse near Anahola on the eastern shore, another attraction on the route back around towards our hotel on the east coast... We couldn't get close unfortunately but iPhone cameras were zoomed to the MAX!
Getting even hungrier we stopped in a small market square, which is apparently hundreds of years old. We split a slice of coconut cake (YUM!), had a coffee and then trying to talk parrot for a while before giving up and going home...
Come the evening we decided to eat at the Hukilau Lanai at the resort next door to us. This place had some incredible food (and naturally, it was all washed down with some cocktails... :). There was one dish which we have since tried to recreate at home - Ahi Poke Nachos - seared ahi tuna, diced, served on a bed of wonton chips, soy sauce, wasabi cream and covered in tobiko (the large red fish eggs that come with sushi rolls). Sooooooo amazing.
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