Text 23741, 91 rader
Skriven 2012-04-14 22:15:15 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
  Kommentar till text 23679 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: feb trip report 538
===========================
Hi Michael,

 ML> There were some rumbles of thunder one day, so we deemed this
 ML> the time to view the island's water features. And two of the
 ML> goodies are right outside Lihue, within half an hour of each
 ML> other, so that made for a nice quick outing.

 ML> Wailua Falls is one of the more spectacular falls on the
 ML> island - it was featured, I am told, as the background of the
 ML> idyllic landscape that opened the TV series Fantasy Island.

That's what we were told when we visited the island 9 years ago; guess
the spiel hasn't changed any. (G)


 ML> A double falls of 80 or 170 feet drop, depending on how you
 ML> measure, it's absolutely glorious. You reach it from a turnoff
 ML> just northwest of Lihue (west of the airport), whence you wend
 ML> your way a few miles inland, the road dead-ending at the falls.
 ML> There are trails behind, but being oldish and not having the
 ML> proper footgear we passed on them. The best views are from the
 ML> road anyway, said the fox to the grapes.

 ML> Opaeka'a Falls is right off the highway and thus is much more
 ML> known and visited. It appears to me to be of a similar size to
 ML> Wailua, but my eyesight isn't so spectacular, either. Anyhow,
 ML> when the tour buses take their captives to see a typical island
 ML> waterfall, this is it. Parking lot, handicapped ramps, rest
 ML> rooms, definitely an accessible treat (but still a treat). Also,
 ML> there is a fine view of the Wailua River from the other side of
 ML> the road, for those who care to brave the crosswalk.

 ML> There are some really interesting antiquities in the neighborhood,
 ML> but the weather was soggy enough that we decided to eschew them:
 ML> some ancient heiau and a "sacred place of refuge" conveniently
 ML> near the Aloha Beach hotel at the mouth of the river.

Did you go thru the tunnel of trees? I forget exactly where it is, but I
think it's in that general area. The northern part of the island was hit
pretty hard in spring of 2006 when a dam broke; does it look like the
area has recovered?

 ML> Northward to where (we thought) a little rain and mist might add
 ML> atmosphere to the atmosphere and water to the waterfalls.


 ML> The skies kept getting more lowery, and our hope of hiking down
 ML> the Haena beach to catch another view of the Na Pali cliffs
 ML> looked pretty dim. As the roads narrowed past Princeville
 ML> and Hanalei (linked in legend to Puff the Magic Dragon), the

That's the area where Bethany Hamilton had her arm bitten off by a shark
some years ago. She and a friend were out surfing in the early (grey)
morning making shark noises and one decided to make breakfast of the
arm. She went back to surfing after recovery and, as I understand, doing
well for herself.

 ML> weather worsened to the degree that shortly before Haena we
 ML> encountered what looked like a stream bursting its banks and the
 ML> less intrepid turning around. We decided to be less intrepid.

Better safe than sorry.


 ML> That supposedly most beautiful valley in the world that you
 ML> see from Princeville was completely engulfed in clouds and
 ML> worse, so we didn't get to see that. Instead, we took a quick
 ML> look around Princeville (not too wonderful in the rain and
 ML> anyhow not too interesting to me, late 20th and early 21st
 ML> century condo development, mostly) and repaired to C&J's, a
 ML> steakhouse in the local shopping mall, where numerous iterations
 ML> of the afternoon special, Kona Longboard, were consumed.

On the way to Waimea Canyon, we found a nice restaurant where we got
shrimp scampi. Not done the usual way but more of a cream sauce, still,
very good. Had Viet Namese food for supper that night. We stayed at a
hotel a bit north of Lihui, near the Coconut (Grove?) shopping center.
There was a good place in that center we ended up going to both mornings
we were there for breakfast. We still make, from time to time, a fruit
salsa loosly based on one we had there.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... OH NO!  Not ANOTHER learning experience!

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