The Tide’s Perspective

The next morning, we joined a Hidden Valley Falls Kayak Adventure. This involved paddling two miles down the Hule’ia Stream through the Hule’ia National Wildlife Refuge, which protects a plethora of endangered bird species. This river was also used for scenes in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. While the water in the Hule’ia Stream is calm, the banks are unforgivingly filled with dense jungle growth making proper navigation a must. After a rough, uncoordinated start, Jason and I managed to keep our vessel away from those wild edges. One couple in our group did not learn as quickly and had unwanted bank encounters every few minutes. And yes, much cursing was involved in their frequent run-ins. The group went ashore and hiked through that packed forest to reach a series of small waterfalls and a pond with a rope swing. The waterfalls weren’t impressive compared to others viewed on our trip, but Jason did enjoy the rope swing. Unfortunately, our time at the pond was quite limited, less than promised, so I didn’t even get a chance to take a dip. Still, a cool outing.

After kayaking, we weren’t done splashing. We headed to Po’ipu Beach for some snorkeling. Here’s my take on Po’ipu Beach. The sand turns into rocky shelves and stabby coral very quickly. Those obstacles make it difficult to enter the water with fins on and painful to enter it without something covering your feet. However, the fish observing starts as soon as you can stick your head in, and there is plenty of ocean life in these shallow waters.

What I love most about snorkeling is that second when your face submerges, and the sounds of the waves and people talking on the beach instantly evaporate. A whole world appears beneath you, a world you were oblivious to just moments before. In that still realm, activity abounds. It’s a lesson on what we miss routinely in our surroundings due to our limited awareness.

I came across at least 40 fish in the limited time we spent snorkeling, possibly much more. Am I a fish expert? No. Is there a good chance I didn’t know what I was looking at? Yes, but I think I correctly identified a substantial portion of what I saw. There were humuhumunukunukuapa’a, coronetfish, Hawaiian sergeant, spotted boxfish, enenue, lowfin chub, Hawaiian parrotfish, wana (long-spined) sea urchin, lined butterflyfish, goatfish, and Hawaiian cauliflower coral. I viewed many more species, but with my limited knowledge of tropical fish, I had no idea how to identify the rest of them.

The Pavement’s Perspective

The subsequent morning, we took a road trip up to the North Shore with Ha’ena State Park our primary destination. We didn’t let that main target deter us from many stops and detours. First among those detours was Wailua Falls. This 173-foot drop was all about power and volume. Our next stop on the other hand, ‘Opaeka’a Falls, was a willowy tress of a cascade. The contrast between the two outpourings was nearly as dramatic as their waterworks. Shopping, eating, and bathroom seeking consumed a bit more of our time until we ended up at the Kilauea Lighthouse, which represents the northernmost part of the main Hawaiian Islands and home to thousands of rare and endangered seabirds including red-footed boobies, wedge-tailed shearwaters, Laysan albatrosses, and Newell’s shearwaters. Afterward, it was back to more eating at Wishing Well Shave Ice and more gawking at the fabulous Hanalei Valley, one of Kauai’s many iconic vistas.

We also halted to investigate an opening in the vine-covered cliffsides near Ha’ena State Park known as the Manini-holo Dry Cave. This cave is 300 yards deep with an undulating floor. Light filters in, but the dips in the bottom bounced over by sunshine are impossible to see into making passage uncertain.

We had passes for the Ha’ena State Park shuttle but purposefully missed our pickup time. We didn’t want to be tied to a schedule on our last day on the island. Instead, we walked from Ha’ena Beach Park, where we found a parking spot, down to Ke’e Beach. While this was only a mile, the shoreline in this area drops fast and rocks abound through stretches, complicating the journey. We passed a resting endangered monk seal, which opened her eyes momentarily and vocalized a little at us. Of course, we did not approach her as we strive to be good citizens of this planet. We made it to Ke’e Beach just in time for the towering cliffs of the Na Pali Coast to blush under the attention of the setting sun.

The Ongoing Perspective

Our last morning on the islands, we attempted to complete the Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail again while waiting for our flight, tempting rain and wreckage. I wish I could say the third time was the charm, but it wasn’t. While we made it farther than our previous tries, we ran out of time to reach the mysterious Makauwahi Sinkhole or Waiopili Petroglyphs. However, a viewpoint overlooking Maha’ulepu Beach did make a scenic end to our final, unsuccessful shot.

With that fragmentary hike, our time on the Garden Isle came to an end. In our brief visit, we skimmed clouds, hiked into garish gullies, flitted along rims, floated on currents, sloshed through unshakeable mud, dipped in tides, and hovered over pools. In keeping with the great vacation paradox, we both slowed down to perceive our surroundings and sped up to perceive as much as possible. Our understanding of our world increased as did our acknowledgements of our limited insights. Vacation victory!