May 3, First Full Day in Lihue (lee-HOO-ay)

Patrise woke up early this morning, in preparation for an important conference call her law firm was having on an important engagement. As events unfolded, the meeting had been moved to tomorrow. I woke up refreshed, about 8am or so. We each had a bowl of cereal. After breakfast, we began washing a load of clothes. Then, Patrise headed for the pool and to dip a toe in the Pacific Ocean. While she was away, I read a bit more about the different regions of Kaua’I and the various sights they offered. When Patrise returned, I went to do the same. I dipped a bit more than a toe in the ocean, but followed the same sequence, nevertheless.

After I returned, we made plans for the day. Patrise wanted us to have lunch at a local restaurant. I wanted us to go to Spouting Horn State Park, a forty-minute drive away. Then, I wanted us to go to Koke’e State Park, to see the Waimea Canyon. We thought doing the two state parks on the same day might be a bit much, so we decided we’d go to Spouting Horn after lunch, then return to the unit. Having agreed, we set off for the day. We tried two different local restaurants, but both were closed: one closed on Wednesdays and the other seemingly closed permanently.

The third time was a charm. We wound up at the Waipouli Restaurant, a small, hole-in-the-wall type diner. We ordered fish sandwiches, shared some fries, and Sierra Mist (me) and water (Patrise). The fish sandwiches were really exceptional. The restaurant had been voted Best of Kaua’i in 2020, and it had been in operation since 1977. The small hole-in-the-wall restaurants really to make for the best local dining, and the Waipouli reinforced that rule of thumb.

(Lunch at Waipouli restaurant.)

We left the restaurant, then heading out for the southern portion of the island to reach Spouting Horn State Park. We followed HI-56S to HI-50 then to HI-550, eventually making it to the park. It was a very scenic drive and we saw so many areas full of vegetation of all sorts: flowering plants of various colors, trees, shrubs and bushes, grasses and sedges. It was easy to see why the nickname for Kaua’i is “the Garden Isle”. As we made our way further south, though, the vegetation and landscape changed significantly, reflecting the fact that the southern portion of the island is relatively arid, experiencing only 35 inches of rain a year. Ironically, Kaua’I’s second highest mountain, Mt. Wai’ale’ale, experiences the highest level of rainfall of anywhere on earth. Its annual average precipitation is 450 inches per year; it’s highest recorded rainfall so far was 683 inches in 1982. The mountain’s name translates as “rippling water” or “overflowing water”. So apropos! As you drive the highways on the southern perimeter, you can see that peak. Thus, from the driest parts of the island, you can easily see the wettest portion of the island. Strange and fascinating, but true.

(Our trail journey for the day began in Lihue (red star on the right), to Spouting Horn (blue star on bottom center), to Koke'e and Waimea Canyon region (yellow star upper left.)

(Wave action near Spouting Horn; Patrise walking to the lookout point; our ubiquitous rooster)

Spouting Horn State Park was small, but worth the visit. The Spouting Horn is actually a blowhole. I have heard about blowholes, but never actually seen one. A blowhole looks like a geyser, only it is not steam coming out of rock; rather, it is cool ocean water being forced into a hole in rocks and pressured up and out of the rock with the same appearance as a geyser. In this particular case, Spouting Horn also emits a loud, pronounced hissing sound every time it sprays water. Another beautiful natural phenomenon in God’s world. Here are some photos of Spouting Horn itself and the surrounding park area.

As we were planning to leave Spouting Horn State Park, Patrise suggested we go ahead and make the trip to Koke’e State Park and the Waimea Canyon on the west side of the island. Since we were closer to it than if we were back at your rental, and since we had plenty of daylight: she thought it would be better to continue on in that direction rather than to wait until tomorrow. I heartily agreed and we moved on to Koke’e (koh-KAY-ay).

On the way to Koke’e, the vegetation continued to be indicative of a more arid climate than the lands in the southeast and east. Also, the roads we were taking were ascending rapidly in elevation. We made several stops along the way for pictures. Eventually, we made it to the Waimea Canyon Lookout Point. The actual state park entrance was another seven miles away – at speeds of 15 to 25mph map and with extremely winding roads, this likely meant another 30-45 minutes. Therefore, we decided to turn around and make our way back toward the apartment, plus we wanted to stop by the Kaua’i Coffee Company (KCC) Visitor Center before it closed at 5pm. Here are some of the (too) many photos I took of the Waimea Canyon area and trails. (Apologies for the pictures from my Nikon. Apparently there was moisture on the lens, such that they all look as though you are viewing things through gauze. I obviously wasn't paying attention to my camera.)

We made it to the Kaua’i Coffee Company Visitor Center with 45 minutes to spare. We saw a film about coffee growing, harvesting, inspection, cleaning, roasting and tasting processes. We spent a lot of time in the store and purchased many souvenirs. (I was beginning to think that we might need to purchase another piece of luggage. Oh brother!) We left the KCC and continues making the way back to home base. However, we had one additional stop to make: a small souvenir shop that sells muumuus, traditional Hawaiian dresses. Patrise really wanted to get one or two for herself. We had spotted this shop, early in our trip, when we were headed to Spouting Horn. So we made that stop, purchased the two muumuus and some other small items, then headed back to the rental, with no more stops.

We relaxed for the rest of the evening and ate a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. We played a game of gin rummy, through which my wife thoroughly trounced me. (On her third play, she spread the Queen-Jack-ten-nine-eight-seven-six-and five of diamonds, leaving her with just two cards to play. I knew I was toast at that moment!) After cards, we prepared for bed and headed off to La La Land.