Aloha, Kauai
Years ago I was in Iceland, end of day two, and 55kms into the hike, the afternoon had shown little more than cold rain. I was cold, the cold you feel in your bones that makes you forget what warm feels like, the kind of cold that makes you worry you will never be warm again. The trail led to the edge of a shallow river that wove an argyle pattern across black, rounded, gravel. I probed the small islands of wet rock looking, in vain, for dry passage, but my companion and I knew the score. Boots and socks came off, and pants were rolled up. My feet dipped into the icy current while the cold mist rained from above. My bare feet were numb, but I could still feel the small rocks push out from under my feet with each heavy step. We reached the other side and I sat down to put my footwear back on when suddenly my entire body convulsed and I dry heaved several times. The stress, cold, hunger, and exhaustion had manifested. I took a moment, assessed the reality that there was no plug to pull, no easy way out. I was there, and the only way out was to keep walking. I put my gear on, stood up, and put one foot in front of the other, I had a dry sleeping bag and a soggy tent waiting for me at the end of the day… This trip, was nothing like that trip.
Truth be told, this wasn’t my trip. I was just invited along. My friends did most of the planning and I just gave a thumbs up to activities that sounded good to me. I didn’t pick the island (Kauai), I didn’t pick to accommodation (a lovely condo), and I didn’t pick the car (a Subaru SUV). As it turns out, that’s a great way to travel, everything was a fun surprise. Troy, Steph (Troy’s girlfriend), and Adrian flew in a few days before me. I flew home from a work camp Sunday night and flew to Hawaii Monday afternoon. The second I stepped off the plane I had flashbacks to Fiji. That humid south pacific smell, the heat at night, and the architecture that has big square holes instead of windows because it just doesn’t get cold out. I knew already I was going to like this place. I walked out of the gate and was met by Adrian with a big hug. He lives in Calgary and I dont see him often. Troy and Steph were waiting in the car, we got some fast food and they drove me through the darkness to our rental condo. They excitedly told me all about what they had found, seen, and done so far. It all sounded amazing, but I was exhausted and it was late, the bed felt a mile deep and I was out almost immediately.
The next morning I was up a little before my friends and sat quietly working on a puzzle while marveling at the green outside and listening to the roaming roosters crowing. I was later informed that the island of Kauai was littered with them, something about a hurricane releasing them from captivity. After breakfast I was promptly taken to a beach to wade in the ocean a bit and feel the “cold” freshwater stream nearby. If memory serves we visited three beaches that day and I got a driving tour of the island. Somewhere along the way I got to try my hand a body boarding, sadly, my lack of skill resulted in a broken board when it got between my tumbling body and the sand below. Another very notable highlight for the day was shaved ice. It was hot and we all wanted something cold. It appeared to just be a standard snowcone (ground/shaved ice with flavouring on it). I didnt read the menu too close and just kinda picked one. I was shocked at how much flavour there was and that there was ice-cream at the bottom 10/10 highly recommend.
Day two we had a pre-schedule activity. A boat tour and snorkeling. Again, not looking closely at the plan I expected a small boat and maybe a quick drive around with some snorkel at the end. I was dead wrong, this was a huge catamaran with a full crew, all of whom couldn’t pass by without asking if we needed anything. There were about 40 fellow passengers who all received this top rate service. Adrian and I sat ourselves at the front of the boat on the trampoline where we could take in the views as well as really feel the large waves bouncing the boat up and down and occasionally it threw some water onto passengers. Along with local sight seeing we also stopped to see both whales and spinner dolphins. The dolphins actually did some bow-riding with our boat, I didn’t realize dolphins swimming in front of the boat and jumping was a real thing, but apparently they actually do that. After the tour, we were dropped over a reef near the shoreline to do some snorkeling, it was ok, but to be honest the visibility wasn’t great. The boat ride was the real star of the show. After snorkeling was lunch and an open bar on the boat. I somehow got talked into a few beers and was feeling pretty good by the time we docked. We immediately went to yet another beach to work on our tans and wade around a little in the salt water, a pastime I could easily turn into a full-time hobby. As it was, coincidentally, Steph’s birthday that day, we decided to swing by Costco and get her a cake. It felt weird going to Costco in Hawaii, I get why its there but somehow it just felt… out of place.
The following morning, rains on the north end of the island caused flooding which cancelled our plans to go on a kayak trip. Instead, we drove to Hanalei, a small town with a lot of tourist shops. Though it rained on and off throughout the day we still had a great time. We tried another local delicacy “Pineapple Whip” which I think is just pineapple flavoured ice cream which is, not surprisingly, good. I was also able to pick up some post cards for my parents and my nephew. I was also treated to a nearby tourist attraction, a big cave near the beach. Maniniholo cave was hollowed out by the ocean even though it now, no longer reached that far. It was interesting to see just how big of a hole in the rocks water and time can make. That evening, we went to nearby hotel bar for what struck me as a rather expensive drink, then we went home and I made tacos for us. Afterwards, we decided we needed to get rid of all the liquor before we flew home the following day. It was nice. It was one of those nights where its just a few friends sitting around the table listening to music, telling stories, and we even snuck in a drinking game or two.
My last day on the island may have been my favorite. We cleaned up the apartment, packed our things, and checked out. From there we headed to an adventure tour company for our last activity. A tube float down an irrigation ditch in a decommissioned sugar cane plantation. I’m not sure what’s in the water in Hawaii, or maybe its in the sun, but everyone there is super friendly, especially customer service. Our guide loaded us in into bus seats on a covered flat deck truck and hauled us half an hour inland. He entertained us the entire way, telling jokes, local history, crowd work etc. We got to the top and a few more guides joined us, loaded us into the tubes, and sent us down river. It was a great feeling to just kick back, relax and float. There was some bumping, some spinning, and some speed, but it was all just the right amount. We passed through a few tunnels and sang along to music the guides were blaring from a waterproof speaker. The last mile or so was just a lazy float looking at trees. It was a great way to end our trip. Unfortunately, there was still business to attend to though. We had to get the rental car clean before returning it… and wouldn’t you know it, not a working vacuum on the island. I mean that literally, there was a lot of sand in that car and Troy drove us to every gas station and carwash on the island and all of them were out of order. Eventually we had to call it, he did his best to sweep and scoop the sand out by hand and apparently the owner was happy, but it was a hell of a job to get that thing clean with his bare hands.
All that was left now, was to wait at the airport for our plane. All week I had been looking for stamps for my postcards and finally found them in a convenience store in the airport, I bought and affixed them. I then asked security where the post box was, only to be told its on the other side of the security gate that I had just gone through… In classic Hawaiian fashion, the guard said he could deposit them for me after his shift. I was doubtful but, out of options, handed them to him. I am please to announce, he is a man of his word, my nephew received his card. We then found one of those old fashion coin press machines that squishes a penny into an oval with a design on it, I naturally got one with a chicken on it. We then got some food, a drink, and waited for the flight home that entailed an uneventful 8 hour layover in Vancouver. I was sad to see it end, but it was the perfect length of vacation, it hadn’t lasted long enough for me to have a bad or even boring day and left me wanting more. This was the closest I have ever come to a lay-on-the-beach-and-relax resort esque vacation and until now I didn’t see the appeal. Dirt-bag adventure travel will always have my heart, but I now have this nagging urge to go somewhere hot and and just take it easy. This was my first trip to Hawaii, but hopefully it wont be my last.
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