Kauai aka Rainy, Chicken Island

Part Deux...

Secret Falls

On day one of our time in Kauai, we took the kayak that came with our cottage out along the Wailua river. You will all know how I love a bargain, and I particularly loved this one. Somehow, we managed to go on a whole excursion without meaning to. A guide passing us with a kayak group happened to mention some secret falls, so we decided to go and have a look. 'It's only a mile hike,' he said.

Hiking through mud up to my knees and then kayaking back led to a two-mile round trip hike plus a four-mile round trip kayaking excursion of 4.5 hours. As in the Waipio Valley on Big Island, where we followed some randoms to some 'secret falls' (that time unsuccessfully), we were taken in by our let's-just-have-a-quick-look attitude, which left a very hungry billychica. It was fun at least and we saved $100 because of our DIY approach.

Chickens

Oh my God. I am terrified of birds, but in particular, chickens. NOBODY told me about all the f$&%*"g wild chickens that roam the island. As you can imagine, this had serious ramifications on the second leg of our honeymoon. The best examples were when 1) I wouldn't get out of the car at one of the lookout points at the Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of the Pacific) because the car park was full of chickens 2) I went and finished my lunch in the car as I was being terrorised by one solitary, clucking hen. So gross. 3) I couldn't sleep on the beach, as I had to keep watch for invading chickens. The car was my best friend.

The Weather

As we were queueing to board the plane from Honolulu, the woman in front of us cheerfully told us that rain had been forecast for the next seven days in Kauai. 'It's even worse than usual because of the typhoon in Asia.' She informed me cheerily. Uck.

And it was true, it did rain every day. That's why Kauai is known as the Garden Island and is the lushest and greenest (you'll notice I developed a bit of an obsession with the green) island. But, it mainly rained in the evenings or very short bursts. Having said that, the weather truly obliterated our plans on the Saturday. Helicopter ride cancelled; rain down in the usually sunny beach area of Poipu; and cloud and rain covering the whole Waimea canyon, which never, ever gets rain. We got home at 4pm, opened some beers and watched DVDs for the rest of the day. Was surprisingly fun and relaxing. 

A Helicopter Ride

Our DIY kayaking trip funded our wholly extravagant but best activity of the whole trip. We took a 60-minute helicopter ride around Kauai. If you go and do just one thing, do this. I would go back to Kauai to do this again in a heartbeat - in spite of the chickens.

The island is the perfect size for this kind of tour and has the most amazing topography. Deep-set valleys; the gorgeous Na Pali cliffs on the Western Coast with it's undulating green terrain; the dirt-red of the Waimea Canyon; the multi-coloured taro fields of Hanelei and my favourite, the wettest place on Earth, Mount Wai'ale'ale. We took the doors-off trip, which meant that we felt the full force of the wind and rain whilst also being able to see everything. The helicopter spun round and round, and you could hardly breathe, as the wind was rushing at your face. The rain was lashing in through the doors and there were waterfalls everywhere. It was absolutely the most incredible thing I've seen in the longest time. It's like being on the best simulator ever!

The pilot said that he had only ever seen Mount Wai'ale'ale like that a handful of times before, as we had had such intense rainfall the day before. In just a couple of hours, the waterfalls can dry up if there is no rain. As we landed, the company announced that they were cancelling all the flights out for the rest of the day. I wonder whether ours was a particularly hairy journey, especially when the pilot had said that all the other pilots were talking about the weather when we were in the heart of Mount Wai'ale'ale.

The Honeymoon Effect

No other holiday will ever be the same. Once you've benefited from the honeymoon effect, that's it. You will never be treated so well on a trip ever again. I think I might just tell everyone I'm on honeymoon when I go away from now on. It's worth it for all the free upgrades and free booze. It's also a licence to do once-in-a-lifetime activities, which you would normally never let yourself do (which is why the Boy's current account read zero when we checked last night - no seriously). Everything feels so special. Normal holidays suck.