Roadtrip Hawaii - Kauai 🌺

Naipablaak: 21.03.2018

As described in the first blog post about Hawaii, Hawaii consists of several islands. Many people told me and I also read a lot about it that each individual island is exciting and thrilling in its own way, and that you're really missing out if you only stay on the touristy, crowded, and modern island of Oahu. During my trips with Felix, we often talked about it and he really wanted to go to Kauai! So, I decided to join him. Why? Because everyone had raved about this island, and I will probably do the same in this post.

My research in advance already amazed me because the stories about the island are incredible!

The island was formed over six million years ago by a single volcano named Waialeale. It was the origin of all the other islands, making Kauai the oldest of the island groups. The island is aptly named the Garden Island, because the nature is simply breathtakingly diverse.

Welcome to KAUAI - The Garden Island! That's how you're greeted at the airport.

The reason for this is that the area around the named volcano is one of the rainiest areas in the world, creating perfect conditions for the beauty of nature to thrive and grow. The residents preserve their traditions and do not build buildings higher than the palm trees, and about 80% of the total area is part of the nature reserve. In addition, numerous movies have been filmed on this island, such as "Pirates of the Caribbean" or "Jurassic Park"...

Well, enough incentive to visit this island, right?! For me, it definitely was! (Source: visitusa.at/hawaii-kauai)

Images of the island!

As described in my Oahu post, the aloha feeling was even stronger on Kauai! Everything was much more traditional, you could see that many people were descended from the original natives, there were many stickers on the streets criticizing the US government for the annexation. There was also a festival that we visited, where only the locals played their songs and emphasized their roots over and over again. I liked that much better.

In line with the aloha feeling :)

The timing was also perfect. Felix had flown there 2 weeks before my arrival. I was able to stay with my family on Oahu until the 23rd, and since I felt so comfortable there, I naturally took advantage of that time! Felix had already booked his onward flight for February 27th, so I also booked a flight to California for that day. Since I knew what kind of adventure I was getting into, these 5 days were enough for me. The island is very small and there isn't much tourism, so the few hotels are incredibly expensive, and even for a hostel, with no closed rooms and beds that were partly still in the reception area, you pay $45 on Kauai!! I was still used to the $5 hostels in Bali.. that was a shock!

So, we wanted to explore this beautiful island, but we couldn't afford the accommodations no matter how hard we tried.. so what does that mean? Camping! HELP!! Pauli and camping? Quite the oxymoron.. but well.. it's only 5 days and 4 nights.. I can handle that and it will definitely be worth it!

Friday, 23.02.2018

To make the most of the day, I booked a very early flight and arrived in Kauai at 7:30 a.m. (The Hawaiian islands in the Pacific can only be reached by plane, as there are no ferries, but the flights are quite cheap, around €60-70). Felix had already rented a truck in advance and picked me up from the airport. What a luxury!! And then we picked up Paula. The story with her is quite funny. We've known each other for a long time, back from the children's musical, and later we danced together in the Jazz Dance Club Cottbus! She is currently doing a year abroad in Canada, Vancouver, and then goes on trips from there. As fate would have it, she was in Hawaii at the same time as me and even on Kauai at the same time! It was a huge coincidence. So, we teamed up and started our journey together on this Friday.

That's the three of us :)

The first destination: Queensbath!

In my research, I saw incredibly beautiful pictures of these natural pools and wanted to visit them! After a little hike through muddy puddles, we arrived there and it was worth it! See for yourself:

A snapshot along the way! My feet still all muddy. But oh well - you can still smile and be happy!

Felix and Paula are enthusiastic photographers and they took great pictures the whole time! In comparison, my phone's pictures are nothing.

So impressive!

I took a dip right away!

And one more, just because it was so beautiful!

In the evening, it was time to set up the tent for the first time! We bought some food beforehand (Nachos and guacamole!) and so we spent a great evening outdoors in nature, talking and laughing a lot.

And yes - I survived the night. It worked with my blanket. Felix and I slept in the tent and Paula in the car. The few hours of sleep at least gave us a little energy for the coming day.

Saturday, 24.02.2018

In the morning, I enjoyed my cold outdoor shower. Not. Because I froze and felt just as dirty as before. But well.

The plan was to do the very famous "Kalalau Trail" hike. We had prepared ourselves well because the hike takes 8 hours. One way! The plan was to camp at the turning point, a beach, and return the next day. But as fate would have it, the road was closed. The whole island basically has only one road that extends from the north to the west. Unfortunately, there were rockfalls that blocked the road in the north and thus blocked access to the hike. Since there was no other way to reach the start of the hike, we had to change plans on the spot. The disappointment was great, but hey, Kauai has so much to offer that it wasn't difficult to choose a new destination. We decided to drive to the west, where there was a huge mountain range with many viewpoints and a great hike to the westernmost point of the island.

So, we set off immediately to not waste any time, and after about 2 hours and driving around the island, we arrived at the canyon. On the way to the start of the hike, we stopped at incredible viewpoints again and again. Every time, I was amazed by so much nature and was grateful that Paula and Felix were able to capture it so well!

The first time, taken casually from the car.

In all its glory

Please zoom in a bit! It was so impressive!

Me and my 2 photographers..

Like paparazzi! :D but of course, I was happy about that. When will I take pictures in front of such a scenery again?!

We started the hike around 4 in the afternoon and after 2 hours, we reached a beautiful viewpoint. Once again, I was covered in mud from head to toe, and it was always difficult to suppress the laughter when Felix slipped and fell into the mud. I had a similar experience 1 or 2 times. But no big deal - we had great conversations and had nature all around us. The mud obstacle course quickly became secondary. Felix had done this hike once before and had big promises. I didn't know what to expect.. but oh my God! Felix was right!! I thought about a lot of things, but not this! We were the only people at this world-famous Napali Coast viewpoint and it was incredible to see what nature has created there. The mountains were huge and had super steep cliffs. The sun slowly disappeared behind the mountain, and in front of us was the sea. Just for fun, I screamed once and heard my echo about 3 times!! Everything was so huge and I suddenly felt so small. I had never seen anything like this in my life and I will definitely not forget it! Unfortunately, I don't have a proper picture of the view, it will only remain in my memory.

We three on the way back when it was already dark. We didn't let anything take away our good mood.

The canyon at night.. Felix is really talented with his camera!

I also took a few snapshots during our tours in the pick-up truck:

Felix had to drive and the girls could relax. Rightly so :D

A picture of Felix standing on top of the car. Luckily, the pick-up truck was already so rundown that we could do anything without fear of breaking something.

Pauli and Paula analyzing the photos

Pauli and Paula enjoying the view

Felix and I :)

Oh, I could upload thousands of pictures of it, it was so beautiful!

On the way back, it was even more exciting because it got dark and you could hardly see the mud. Eventually, I didn't care anymore and just walked right through it with my "hiking shoes".

We spent the night at another campground.. once again: setting up the tent and sleeping as much as possible, as we wanted to get up early to experience a lot.

Sunday, 25.02.2018

Unfortunately, sleeping a lot didn't work for me. Why? A chicken was sitting in a tree next to us and was clucking very loudly. Since it was 5 a.m. and still dark, I didn't realize it and couldn't throw anything at it - so what now?

I grabbed my sleeping pad and my blanket and lay down on the beach, so I could at least sleep for another 2 hours. Actually, it was quite nice with the sound of the ocean! But I definitely don't want to do that again haha.

Those damn chickens even market themselves!! I hope my position is clear.

"I love camping" - that could be the caption of this picture. After my half-night on the beach, Felix took this incredibly ugly picture of me. I was so exhausted, annoyed, and tired that I just smiled. Still funny somehow :D

Another snapshot of me collecting seashells. Help - how close was that chicken to me?!

At some point, Paula found me sleeping on the beach around half past seven and woke me up, and then we continued (By the way, I managed to escape the $5 camping fee :D). We searched for a café with power outlets and Wi-Fi for ages. When we finally found one, we spent half the day there because it was pouring rain. We rested and watched the rain, which felt good after so much excitement in the past days. We then decided that we still had to do something. Felix had a good idea. He had already met a few people in the days before, including Vivian Rose. He called her and we were allowed to join her for her first tea time on Kauai. Vivian Rose - that name says it all! She is a 75-year-old lady who spent 3 hours lovingly telling us about her life. It was really cute to watch this beautiful lady talk about old Broadway stories. Since she was a singer, she also sang a song every 10 minutes. It's crazy who you meet! Personally, I always find it exciting to let these new influences affect me, and it's also incredibly motivating to see how much joy of life one can still have at this age. We could all take a leaf out of her book and learn to enjoy life more!

Whether everything she told us is true can be doubted. Felix and I had to grin at each other from time to time while she talked about her daughter, who is a millionaire, or her numerous properties scattered throughout the USA. But you can't tell this woman anything else, she raved about everything so cutely.

The evening ended with us being allowed to take a shower at her place. How nice! Unfortunately, the shower was cold, but at least it wasn't outdoors. It's really amazing how much you can appreciate something like that. Something that is completely normal at home.

Monday, 26.02.2018

On Monday, we had to take Paula to the airport, as she had already booked her flight to Oahu in advance.

I never expected what else the day would bring, as it turned out to be one of the most exciting, craziest, and most incredible days of my entire trip!

First, we went to a beautiful waterfall that was incredible because it had rained so much in the past few days!

So much water!

On the way to the waterfall

Afterwards, we went to the campsite to set up the tent. We then decided to drive to a beach/cave called "Turtle Cove," and we never would have thought what awaited us there.

But first, a pit stop at Subway! Very important!!

First, we had to slide down muddy paths again.. and once again, we laughed heartily at each other whenever one of us fell.

On the way to Turtle Cove

Once we reached the bottom, we saw incredibly beautiful rocks surrounded by turquoise water, and we climbed along them until we came out of a small cave.

The entrance of the cave was already incredible! I'm the little pink dot.

Felix and I were the only people there, which made the place even more mystical. All of that alone was already impressive, but it gets even better! We went into the cave, and it got darker and darker until it was pitch black. But it kept going and going. About 40 meters. Until we saw light again. We had reached the other end of the cave. From the inside, it looked like a dream, or a movie. The light was hitting the turquoise water, which was washing ashore with gentle waves, above that the rocks of the cave, and then there was a giant turtle! The scene was incredible. We stood side by side, both with our mouths wide open, and my first question was whether he was seeing all of this too. His response: "Wow, this is cheesy!" We could hardly believe it!! We took a few beautiful pictures.

So incredible.. when you just focus on the background!

And gradually, we saw more and more turtles! It was unbelievable! Were there 5? 6? 7? I don't know.. I guess we saw around 10 giant turtles! And then we sat there peacefully, taking our pictures, and suddenly they came out of the water onto the shore! Very slowly and clumsily, they crawled out. But when you saw others swimming in the water, they floated gracefully. These are truly impressive creatures. Especially when you consider how old they can get!

One of the most beautiful pictures of my trip! I enjoyed this view and hope to never forget it.

The situation is so incredible.. when you just focus on the background!

And we saw more and more of the turtles! It was unbelievable! Were there 5? 6? 7? I don't know.. I guess we saw around 10 giant turtles! And then we sat there peacefully, taking our pictures, and suddenly they came out of the water onto the shore! Very slowly and clumsily, they crawled out. But when you saw others swimming in the water, they floated gracefully. These are truly impressive creatures. Especially when you consider how old they can get!

Suddenly, you don't see them behind the glass of a zoo anymore, but you sit on the beach in a cave on Hawaii 2 meters away from them. Doesn't that sound crazy?! We spent probably another good 2-3 hours there, taking it all in and taking pictures.