Hawaii  2008
Oahu, Maui, Big Island
Kauai

May 4th found us in Kauai at Nawiliwili. This was the most beautiful island we visited in the Hawaiian Islands. It was lush due to over 400 inches of rainfall in some locations. Bougainvilleas were growing wild in large numbers. The island is very small and sparsely populated. There are less than 100 miles of road. We went to the Waimea Canyon and the Spouting Horn on a tour bus. The canyon was lovely, but light showers kept streaming through it. I’d thought earlier about a helicopter tour of the island, but this wouldn’t have been a very good idea with all the rainy areas. It’s unlikely the chopper would have been able to see much of the famous Napali coast where heavily ridged cliffs plummet into the sea. In fact, I’m not sure that a helicopter ride would work well on the other islands either, as there is a significant build up of clouds each day. In future, I’d rent a car at each location. While it’s less stressful to go on tour and you get a lot of history and inside information from the guide, the tours are too slow a pace for me and are over priced. On Kauai, all the major car rental companies will pick you up at the cruise ship. We could have easily added on a trip to the east side of the island and covered all the roads on the island. In the afternoon, we walked to the beach at Nawiliwili. There were a couple of big hotels there and the lawn fronting the beach was immaculate. We noticed that in spots, the tide was only 2 feet below the beach front roads. Not sure how they don’t have trouble in bad weather.