We shopped for the basics of snacks and breakfast items, while the boys were excited to check out the inventory of fireworks. It's illegal to buy and light off fireworks in Denver, so the boys were overwhelmed with the choices at hand (even though those choices paled in comparison to the enormous Roman candles and other high flying fireworks I grew up with in the Midwest).
By the time we got back to the condo Sam was awake and ready to enjoy coffee on the lanai while easing into the day. I had sketched out a loose plan for the week, plotting new restaurants to try while we visited different areas of the island. Today's adventure was to kayak up the Wailua River and hike to Secret Falls after eating breakfast at Haole Girl Island Sweets bakery.
We packed up picnic items, sunscreen and the waterproof camera and drove south to Coconut Marketplace. The bakery is a little shop in the middle of the shopping center, but you can smell the sugar and butter before you see it!
We picked out ham and cheese croissants, mango almond croissants, vintage Hawaiian chocolate croissants and a macadamia nut sticky bun. Everything was so delicious, particularly the mango almond croissant - though the kids thought the chocolate was too bittersweet.
When we were finished we brushed the crumbs off our faces (and clothes, and table...) and continued on our journey.
On our first trip to the island Sam and I kayaked up the Wailua River from the river mouth. We were young(er) and more energetic but still it was a long journey - particularly when the upstream wind kicked up on our return downriver. But hiking to Secret Falls was a lot of fun and since the kids have been spending time in kayaks and rafts lately, I thought it would be a fun adventure for us all.
I researched a number of rental companies and decided that it would be easier if we started from Kamokila Hawaiian Village, a recreated early Hawaiian Village (duh) that also rented kayaks and canoes and is located halfway up the river. It would also give us a chance to see an attraction we had never visited before.
We did a quick drive by of Opaeka'a Falls on the way there - yep, they're still falling. The drive down to Kamokila is quite narrow and steep, so I can see why it's not on a lot of Must Visit lists. We made it down without too much drama and parked in the shade.
Ryan immediately made friends with the giant resident cat and Sam and I set about filling out waivers and slathering on sunscreen.
We didn't spend much time in the village other than to find the bathrooms but it looked interesting. Not so interesting that you would want to dedicate an entire day to it, but perhaps we should have taken a half hour to stroll through the other buildings. The staff didn't even push us to tour it other than pointing out the bathrooms - I think most of their business comes through renting watercraft.
After watching the safety video we made it down to the dock and picked out life jackets from the rather meager (and stinky) selection, then moved to the boats. The river level was low so they were only able to string the boats on one side of the lagoon, so we couldn't get two kayaks (the other kayak was three or four boats back and somehow that was inaccessible?).
The kids decided they both wanted to ride with Dad so I got a double kayak all to myself. I knew the village was closer to the trailhead to the hike but I didn't realize just how close - not 10 minutes after we launched, we turned into the kayak landing area. (Of course, that was still plenty of time for the kids to get on each other's - and Sam's - nerves).
We pulled our boats up alongside the 50 or so already beached and wandered around looking for the trailhead. We walked up river until the beach disappeared and we had to bushwhack into the tall grasses to find the trail. (Hint: the trailhead is back where we first landed, not farther up the beach...)
We made it to the line strung across to help with the river crossing. The water looked mild and slow-moving but once we got in the current was deceptively fast and strong so I was grateful for the line.
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| Kamokila gave us a dry bag for our stuff but it was not a backpack so Sam toted our gear all the way to the falls and back |
The hike was much like I remembered it from 15 years ago - muddy in spots and crisscrossed by tree roots. We passed a number of tour groups - I'm sure they got some interesting history and information about the area but I was glad we moved fast and light on our own.
The boys really enjoyed picking up hibiscus flowers, but soon realized there was a limit to how many they could carry. We decided to leave them in a lovely pile for others to enjoy en masse.
Finally, after 1.25 miles of scrambling we made it to the falls - which are obviously not-so-secret any longer. We picked our way over the large rocks surrounded the pool at the base of the falls and found an unoccupied fallen tree branch to rest on.
The water coming off the falls was cold but it felt nice after the muggy hike. The boys splashed around in the stream while Sam swam out to the base of the falls and I perched on a rock keeping an eye on everyone.
I had packed a picnic lunch but everyone was still pretty full from breakfast so we just nibbled on snacks and drank lots of water. Most of the tour groups packed up and left around the same time, so we had a few minutes of relative solitude (meaning there were only 50 people instead of 150) before we decided to make the return hike and paddle.
We followed the trail all the way back to the boats where the trailhead deposited us right next to our crafts. Jack decided he would ride with me, but as I had only gotten one paddle, he was just along for the ride.
We paddled farther upstream in search of the swimming hole, but it was not to be. I am not in good paddling shape, apparently, and Jack is really getting too big to not haul his own weight. We turned around and floated downriver towards Fern Grotto. Kayaks are not allowed to land at the boat dock, but there is a signed Kayak Landing Area slightly upriver so we hauled in and strolled through the jungle for a few minutes.
As expected, the kids were underwhelmed by Fern Grotto and everyone was starting to get hungry so we turned back towards Kamokila. As we neared the village we saw a number of kayaks heading upstream, both from Kamokila and on tour groups starting at the marina, so we were glad to be getting off the river when we did.
I realized that our location on the East side put us in close proximity to a favorite local restaurant, Hamura's Saimin, so once we returned the gear and rinsed off the mud, we headed into Lihue. The kids don't remember our last visit here in 2013 so it was neat to reintroduce them to the Special Saimin, with pork belly, ham, hard boiled egg, and fish cake. We also got teriyaki beef skewers and the lilikoi chiffon pie, which was just dreamy.
We had already been awake and going for a good long while at that point, so the boys asked to go back to the condo to play in the pool and Sam and I were happy to sit in the shade reading our books.
I am always thinking about our next meal in an attempt to head off any hangry situations (mine or the kids'). After we'd been in the pool for an hour or so I asked Sam what he wanted for dinner as my original plan was to go to happy hour at Lava Lava Beach Club. He claimed he was still full from lunch and would be happy to have a frozen pizza for dinner, but I was not so eager. I started looking at other nearby options for a later dinner.
Oasis on the Beach is the restaurant at Waipouli Beach Resort, right next door. It has never been on my radar due to the location, but I discovered that it gets rave reviews as one of the first restaurants on Kauai to really focus on local food, highlighting local farmers and fishermen. We've been leaving our kids at home alone for short periods this summer, so we decided that they would be happiest parked in front of the TV in the condo while we enjoyed a quiet adults-only meal at a nice restaurant.
Around 5:00 pm Sam opted to go for a run and I bribed the children to get out of the pool by telling them we could go back to Safeway to buy fireworks for tomorrow's festivities. Ryan had discovered a rolling grocery cart in the condo closet and was anxious to put it to use so we changed clothes and walked back across the street. We picked out fireworks and a frozen pizza - and learned that 5:30 is an awful time to be in any Safeway the day before a holiday weekend. But we were patient and made it through the long line, with the boys clamoring to tell the cashier all about the army men who were soon to meet their demise.
When we returned Sam was just finishing up his shower, so we went for a walk along the beach in front of the Waipouli Resort. We could see and hear Oasis on the Beach - it was pretty crowded and there was live music playing.
The children swore they were just going to explore the shoreline (as they were not wearing swimsuits), but within five minutes were soaked to the bone. They then proceeded to dig in the sand, thus becoming wet AND covered in sand.
Thank heavens Kailani has an outdoor shower right next to the path to the beach and we were able to rinse some of the sand off. We got the boys in PJs, settled them in front of the TV with pizza and, after showing them how to use a "real" telephone to call us if they needed anything, strolled back to the Waipouli and Oasis on the Beach.
We were quickly seated at an outside table - the live music had ended and the crowd thinned out so we had our server's full attention and never waited long for drinks or service. The special was fresh ahi tuna; I ordered a mai tai and Sam had the house-made ginger beer. It was a delicious meal and we enjoyed talking story with our server (an older guy who had lived in Colorado and went to the University of Denver for a while long ago) and listening to the waves crash on the shore.
Full and really tired, we made our way back to the condo, tucked the kids in and went to sleep, ready for another full day of adventure tomorrow.
