When you see Hanalei by moonlight you will be in Heaven by the sea.
Every breeze, every wave will whisper, “You are mine, don’t ever go away”.

Day two started nice and late (we didn’t leave the house until 11am) and since we were already pretty far up north we decided to visit Hanalei and continue until we hit the end of the road. Again, growing up I spent many a day on the Hanalei river (if that’s its name) fishing and crabbing. We also used to jump off the pier and swim and just cruise. Since I didn’t drive at the time, I never realized how far away Hanalei was from Lihue. All these places my uncle used to take to were freakin’ far away!

Some of the boys posing in front of the famous taro patches of Hanalei

The Hanalei Pier

We really wanted to jump off the pier but the water was very shallow (like chest deep) and then we saw this sign

So I just had to settle for contemplating my life from a pier

So after hanging out there for a while, we decided to see where the road would take us. Wouldn’t you know, the road took us to the wet and dry caves. Aside from the obvious wetness and dryness the caves are also very different. Well, never mind. The wetness and dryness are what really sets them apart. Other than that they’re very similar.

Can you guess which one this is?

I think Dural was pretending to be Captain Morgan

Now do you see why they call them the wet and dry caves?

Swimming here didn’t look too appealing either

And then we hit the end of the road and turned around to head back (I mean, what else are you going to do?)

One of my good friends, Tiffany, moved to Kauai three years ago so we decided to meet up for lunch in Kapaa. She suggested a place called House of Noodles (she had never eaten there, but apparently it looked good) and since we were all hungry we were all game.

I’m not sure what kind of restaurant this is (some Asian country I would guess)

This large phallic symbol hanging from the ceiling also added to the mystery

Their special saimin was good, but it was no Hamura’s

After lunch we walked around and looked for kulolo. I always thought that Kauai was known for their kulolo, but I swear either the locals are hiding it from the tourists or there is an extreme shortage of it. Everywhere we went we asked for kulolo and the reaction was of utter surprise. One person suggested we try out Pono Market. They have everything they assured us. If there was kulolo to be found it would be a the Pono Market.

This nondescript store really did seem to have everything

You can pick up a marriage license but unfortunately for us we couldn’t pick up any kulolo

Disheartened we left Kapaa and headed toward Wailua. I’ve been told the Wailua River is the only boat navigable river in our state. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but it is a pretty wide river.

That’s the boat that takes you to the Fern Grotto (which I still haven’t been to)

Since we still didn’t go swimming anywhere yet, we convinced Tiffany to take us to a nice river we could take a dip in. She knew just the place. Now on a side note, the weather had kind of been overcast and chilly so we knew going in that the water would be freezing.

Now earlier Dural had agreed to “take one for the team” in Hanalei by jumping off the pier first, but due to the shallowness of the water he kind of went back on his word (something that Clinton wouldn’t let him forget). So when it came time to brave the ice bath of the river, Dural wanted to make good on his claim.

It was real shallow here

Trying to judge the temperature without actually getting in

“Ah c’mon guys, don’t make me jump in!”

I don’t think the Russian judge was very impressed (he only scored it a 4.6)

Jasen went in with a little more flair

It only looks like they’re smiling (they’re really grimacing)

They somehow convinced me and Lon to jump in too

Tiffany and I before she had to go home to her family

After our refreshing dip in the water we cruised around a little bit more and then headed for dinner with my Uncle Alan and Aunty Audrey. This is the family that I stayed with when I used to go to Kauai. Since we were already out in the Kapaa/Wailua area they suggested we hit the Bull Shed. I had also never eaten there either, but I remember it because of its almost dirty sounding name. I think we used to giggle every time someone would mention it.

It’s shed. The Bull Shed

Lon and Dural splurged and had the steak and lobster plate

Me with my Aunty Audrey and Uncle Alan

After dinner we were all tuckered out from our busy day of exploring so we headed back to our beautiful home in Kalihiwai (remind me to tell you how we even got that awesome place) to turn in for the night.

Stay tuned for for a report on our last day of fun and adventure on the Garden Island.