Day 38 - Two attempts and still stranded

Wotae: 21.12.2016

Wɔ Nudɔdɔ na Nyadzɔdzɔgbalẽ

20.12.16

It is slowly getting brighter and the roosters begin to crow - it is morning once again. Now it's time to get up, boil water for tea, prepare muesli, and get moving slowly. Today we are heading north to the Napali Coast. With awe, we pack our backpacks with rain jackets. Because so far, it has started raining 80% of the time when we put on our hiking boots. According to the weather report, it shouldn't rain today. Well, the sky still shed a tear during breakfast.

We zoom off with Kasey. By the way, the name Kasey Jay comes from a) his license plate being KCJ and b) he somehow reminds us of Casey Patterson (American professional beach volleyball player). On average, he consumes 11.3L per 100km and has driven us 470 miles on Kauai.

To get to the northwestern end of the island and thus to the starting point of the hike, we have to pass a winding road with 7 single-lane bridges. The further we drive, the more tourists we meet, until we finally reach the end of the road. We put on our hiking boots and head to the starting point at Ke'e Beach.

Ke'e Beach (view towards Na Pali Coast)

Unfortunately, we are stopped there by 2 policemen. The 'Na Pali Coast Trail' is closed due to rock safety work :-( After a brief conversation with the friendly policeman, we turn around. As we walk along a small path, we discover a huge (for Hawaiian natives) sacred cave...

We look in the guidebook and see that about 10 miles from here, another hike begins. When we arrive at the starting point, we encounter numerous hikers covered in mud from head to toe. They also give us the tip to take a trekking pole, which is abundantly available at the beginning of the trail. We start walking and truly find a muddy path. After 5 minutes and already numerous mosquito bites, we turn back. Nothing again. Decision: Let's go swimming. Next stop, 'Hanalei Beach Park'.

And so we are stranded in a paradisiacal place and spend our day swimming, playing beach volleyball, and jogging ;-)

Finally, at 6:00 PM, we head back to the loft and slowly start packing. For the fifth time on our trip, we will go to the airport tomorrow for the flight to...

Photo of the day: KCJ 821 (Jeep Wrangler)