Day 8 (August 26, 2022): An amazing Kauai experience to end our time in Hawaii

We were up at 7AM on our last day in Hawaii.  After another breakfast on our patio, the day held three major planning elements prior to catching our first of four flights back to Nova Scotia this evening.

First, we wanted to walk the beach that runs in front of the hotel and do a final swim in the hotel pool.  

Second, and the thing that made us most giddy, was a flight over the island to see a variety of things up close that we weren’t able to access by car. 

Third, we wanted to drive up the eastern and northern coasts as far as Haneli.

Fortunately, we were able to do all three things before heading to Lihue Airport at 5PM to return our rental car and check-in for our Southwest Airlines flight to Honolulu at 6:45PM.  That flight was on time, and we had two hours before our Westjet flight to Vancouver started to board.  Westjet ended up leaving 20 minutes early! 

Our morning walk on Kitchens Beach:

The overnight activity of the sand crabs 







The last dip. 😞

Our Wings Over Kauai flight tour:

About to board Wings Over Kauai’s Aussie-made AirVan for our 75-minute tour of the island. That goofy hand sign that the photographer at Wings Over Kauai made us do is the Hawaiian “hang ten” sign.

All six passengers were weighed to ensure a balanced weight distribution. The heaviest passenger got the co-pilot’s seat. Guess who won that distinction?  Yep, you got it: ME!  The one time this pandemic weight gain has paid off. 

South coast of Kauai. 

Oddly enough, the area in the picture above that is shaded by the clouds is completely covered in coffee trees.  There are 4 million coffee trees on Kauai, and many of them are owned but he Robinson family, which owns 51,000 acres on Kauai (20% of the island).

 



Waimea Canyon.

Approaching the Na Pali Coast. 

Na Pali Coast. 

Na Pali Coast

Hanelea Forest Reserve

Waimea Falls.

The rest of the day, including the drive from Lihue to Hanelei:

As mentioned in a post a few days ago, SPAM is still very popular in Hawaii, 85 years after its creation in 1937.  We stopped in to check out the local Costco store and saw this entire flat of SPAM!  Popular, indeed!

Kealia Beach, 11 miles north of our resort, along the east coast. 

Are they Canada Geese?  No:  they are nene.  (Pronounced nay-nay.). Nene have become endangered, so Hawaii is taking measures to ensure their numbers rebound.

Kilauea Lighthouse on the north shore. 

Wai Oli Hui’ia Church in Haneli — what a setting and backdrop for a church to have!

The view of the mountains of the Halelea Forest Reserve from the manicured north shore resort community of Princeville.

A taro crop in Haneli, with the spectacular mountains of the Hanelea Forest Reserve in the background.  The vast majority of Hawaii’s taro crop is grown in this area.  Taro is a starchy root vegetable

Our last look at Kauai.  So sad to say good-bye. Totally smitten with this island, we will return!