This morning we were highly entertained by a pod of Whales that were in a bit of a feeding frenzy and were going nuts breaching and spouting together in a close net circle. They had this behavior for about 20 minutes this morning. We continued watching them off of our balcony for the morning before we left for our day.
We headed through Lihue and then towards Kalapaki Beach. We we came across a little store right before the beach called Hawaiian Styles. They had their own Hawaiian designs and were surprisingly a very reasonably priced store which is my kind of store. I purchased a lava bracelet and a cute turquoise waterproof beach bag. We walked on to the beach, Kalapaki Beach is a lovely wide, long beach which is great for stand up paddle boarding (SUP) and beginner surfing.
The countryside as we continued along our merry way is always stunning.
We continued on towards Wailua Falls which were a stunning double set of falls which were extremely high at 85 feet and definitely worth the short drive.
There were a couple less turtles this time but on the other side of the beach was a beautiful 4 year old female Monk Seal. These seals are also protected from stupid people. There are now only a reported 35 Monk Seals in the Kauai area. They are one of the most endangered animals in the world. There were two other Monk Seals on the sand bar that was created by the lava rock but they were harder to see.
It was a nice way to end the day to see such a pretty seal. The males are not as delightful to watch. The sun was setting and it was another pretty sunset.
The next day was moving day from the south of the island to the north where we would be staying in the Princeville area of Kauai. The Westin Princeville would be our new home for 7 nights. We lucked out with our view again from our balcony view.
We drove the hour or so to get up there and checked in but our room was not ready yet, so we drove down to the town of Hanalie which can be as quick as a 5 minute drive or 25 minute drive which depends on how backed up traffic is at the single lane bridge.
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| The lookout point overlooking Hanalie Bay |
Hanalie is a beach town punctuated by tourists and little beach bars. It has a very laid back vibe and it has the most incredible and scenic beach anywhere on the planet. It is definitely one of my favorite beaches in the world. The second last visit to Hanalie Bay roughly 18 years ago I was walking on the beach and Matthew McConaughey jogged past me not once but twice. He looked pretty good but he is short. We saved the beach for another day. We stopped for lunch instead and grabbed a very good Taco Salad for lunch at Federico's Shack and stopped at the extremely scenic Overlook as we were leaving Hanalie.
The Princeville area is gorgeous and lush and tropical and the scenes of the mountains are like they are out of a movieset and they don't look real.
We got checked in and I think because I am an owner we got a unit with a stupendous view of the ocean and the mountains and the pool. This view did not get old and we were spotting the occasional whale spout and breach as well. Princeville is up on a cliff and you can make your way down a very steep incline to the beach which is lovely. We did this our first morning while Darren and Daxtin slept. It was an extremely good workout on the way back up but it was all worth the trip for the walk along a very deserted beach.
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| Trudging up the steep hill back up to the Westin. |
We ended up going to the quiet pool for the afternoon to relax.
The next day brought some rain and to remain stunningly gorgeous the island of Kauai has to rain a lot and it does. We ended up driving into Hanalie Bay and walking the beach. The photos in the sun are much more stunning of the bay.
We walked around the town and looked into the shops. We stopped for an Acai Bowl at Aloha Juice Bar for lunch. The prices here are enough to make you cry and then you have to do the horrific exchange to Canadian.. The Acai Bowl hit the spot though.
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| The ancient Taro Fields that have been farmed for thousands of years. |
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| Another rain is coming. |
We drove to Annini Beach and the boys went for a swim. It was a lovely quiet beach.
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| It was still a very misty day. |
When we got to the hotel we took the outdoor beach access steps
down to the beach and the views were glorious of Hanalie Bay. These rich people had a very nice place to stay.
We found washrooms and made our way into the hotel to take the elevator back up instead of the 9 flights of stairs up. The hotel was very pretty and we found an outdoor viewing area to take some even better photos of Hanalie Bay.
We tried to get a hold of Darren to come and pick us up because it was an extremely long walk here and we did not want to walk all the way back. Of course his phone was not working so we trudged back to the Westin. That was a 2 hour walk round trip in the hot sun but worth it.
We changed into our swimming gear and headed back to Hanalei Beach for an afternoon in the waves. In the winter the waves are big and in the summer months there are no waves at all. Frisbee in the waves was challenging but fun.
After Lydgate we packed up and did a Costco run and headed back home for a rest and a drink. Later we popped out of the timeshare for our last chance to see the resting Green Turtles as we we were moving to the North end of the Island and staying in Princeville. 
It was a nice way to end the day to see such a pretty seal. The males are not as delightful to watch. The sun was setting and it was another pretty sunset.
We drove to Annini Beach and the boys went for a swim. It was a lovely quiet beach.
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