In April 2018, a massive rainstorm dropped more than 50 inches of rain on Kauai's North Shore in less than 48 hours. It was a devastating weather event that flooded Hanalei, Haena and Wainiha and destroyed roads and beach access all along the far North Shore.
Even before that, though, the beaches at the far end of the road had become overrun with tourists. In fact, the last time we visited the "end of the road" at Ke'e was 2013, and we almost couldn't even stop there because parking was so difficult. It became a hassle we didn't even want to deal with on later trips.
The county had already started putting plans in place to limit visitors to the area when the floods hit. Thanks to millions of dollars in federal emergency funds, they were able to put their plan into place and access to the North Shore reopened about a month before our trip.
I didn't originally have Ke'e on my itinerary for this trip as I wasn't sure when access would reopen (or how) but when they announced that you could buy parking passes for the beach two weeks out, I thought I would give it a shot. I was able to get a morning and an afternoon pass so we weren't limited in what time we got there or had to leave.
There is also a shuttle service, which in theory is a great idea - but parking costs $5/car and the shuttle to Ke'e costs $15/person, so parking it is. If they really wanted to limit the number of cars at Ke'e they should increase the cost of parking and make the shuttle cheaper, but what do I know?
It also worked out that the Hanalei Farmer's Market is on Saturday, so the plan was to drive up in time to grab breakfast when it opened at 9:30 and perhaps see Cynthia and Wayne again (after stopping at Kauai Juice Co. for a bottle of blood orange kombucha). Well, we discovered that we left two of our beach towels there on the 4th, so we had to swing by their cottage - oh darn. We parked there and Cynthia walked with us to the market, where we had delicious egg sandwiches on purple taro buns and filled our HydroFlask with mango lilikoi kombucha.
On the 4th I had met the local owner of the Pualani and Bikini Hanalei swimsuit shops, so Cynthia and I stopped in to the first shop on our way back to the cottage. The suits were all very cute, but I didn't find anything I just loved that fit my middle-aged mother-of-two body perfectly. We strolled back to the cottage to find the boys chatting away.
As much as I was enjoying the conversation, I was really looking forward getting to Ke'e so we bid our fond farewells and piled back in the car. The drive past Hanalei is so lovely, particularly if you obey the posted speed limits and really take your time. We drove past access points to Tunnels and the parking lot at Haena - neither of which require a parking permit and both of which were full to the brim at 11 am.
We finally arrived at Ke'e at 11:30 and showed our permits to the attendant. She did not ask for an ID or check the names of the occupants (which I had to give when I purchased the passes). The parking lot was about 2/3 full, but the county also reserves 30 of the 100 spaces for local residents with Hawaii IDs. The parking area has been completely redone, with paved curbs and handicap parking spaces (gravel on the rest of the lot) and elevated walkways that lead through taro fields to the beach. It was really lovely but the long walk with all our beach gear was HOT. I wished we had had our handy folding wagon we use at home to haul gear.
We strolled through the forest and found a spot on the beach - that turned out to be right next to a local family who had brought their waterproof speaker for the day... at least they were playing music I liked and it was loud enough to hear - I find it most annoying when someone is playing music on their tinny phone speaker and all I hear is noise. I still don't understand why people can't just enjoy the sounds of nature, but apparently that's my inner crotchety old lady talking.
The boys immediately ran off to explore the beach and tidepools (it was low tide) and we set up camp. I had gotten even more sunburned yesterday and was starting to feel really grumpy about it, but I also wanted to see how the fish had fared with the beach being closed for so long, so I dug out snorkel gear and headed for the water. The lagoon was like a giant swimming pool - strike that, a hot tub. It was completely flat and very warm.
Kauai won't win any awards for most beautiful coral, but it is still fun to snorkel with the fish, particularly the humuhumunukukuapua'a. I was soon joined by Ryan and Jack, who had never snorkeled in deeper water before but took to it like a fish - well, you know. Unfortunately we didn't see any turtles.
Sam came out and joined us for a while. An avid rafter, he claims he prefers to be on top of the water rather than in it, but even he couldn't resist the turquoise waters (which turn dark green when there's cloud cover).
There were so few people on the shore and in the water that I decided to count them - and came up with roughly 120 people. Either no one knows the North Shore is open or they couldn't get parking passes or didn't know how to use the shuttle - but I wasn't complaining. I did complain to Sam about the local couple who showed up with their unleashed dogs right when we started making lunch, however. I guess they thought the No Dogs signs didn't apply to them, and that I wanted a labradoodle sticking his face in my chicken wrap while I was trying to feed my children... I'm used to the roosters trying to steal our food, but not dogs.
On our first trip to Ke'e in 2004 Sam and I hiked the first two miles of the Kalalau Trail to Hanakapia'i beach. It was wall-to-wall people and smelled like rotten guava, so I left with less-than-positive memories of the experience. I wanted to take the kids this time to see how different it would be with far fewer people (but probably just as many guava), but it was pretty hot and muggy that day, so I figured they would be happiest just playing in the water.
Snorkeling adventures over, they grabbed the beach toys and returned to the tide pools. They caught two crabs and a bunch of baby "mudsuckers" (I'm pretty sure they have a different name, but that's what the kids called them).
My geocaching app alerted me that there was a cache in the trees on the eastern end of the beach, but it hadn't been found since May of 2018. I decided to check on it to see how it had fared in a year of neglect, and lo and behold - it was still there! Soaking wet, but still there. I sent the owner a note and tucked it back into its hidey hole.
We packed up and rolled out of there at 4:30 when there were less than 30 people still on the beach. We all agreed it had been a great day, though I had managed to get even more sunburned and was really starting to feel miserable.
We drove back to our condo, cleaned out the car and showered so we could walk up to the Kapa'a Art Walk. First we hunted for two geocaches - one that was supposed to be near the Wyland whale mural at Kauai Village Shopping Center, and one we did find at a popular Mexican joint. Right out in the open, you wouldn't suspect it was a geocache unless you were looking for it (or unless a loud family came in and found it without any of the subtle stealth you're supposed to use when geocaching...).
We picked up a mini cheese grater travelbug to bring back to Colorado with us and continued walking up to the festival.
I laughed when I realized that most of the vendors in the craft fair area were the same ones we had seen that morning in Hanalei, but the boys made a beeline for the one selling little sand filled animals. Ryan bought a turtle and Jack bought a bright pink lizard.
When we were hanging out in Hanalei on the 4th of July, Cynthia's daughter-in-law Christine introduced us to the particular Kauai delicacy of sliced Goteberg sausage topped with a ball of rice and furikake. We had never heard of such a thing (apparently you can only get this sausage in Hawaii, and only in a few specific shops) but we like sausage, and rice, and furikake, so we gave it a try. I think Ryan must have eaten three of them - the rice balanced out the salty greasiness of the sausage while the furikake added a savory punch.
So imagine my delight when we found a vendor selling them in Kapa'a - and she was quite surprised at the glee with which I grabbed a box. I wish I had picked up two or three boxes, as they were even good reheated for breakfast the next morning!
I was also excited to spot Mollysadas set up in front of Java Kai, selling - you guessed it - fresh malasadas. Many people come to Kauai to hike and enjoy the natural wonder of the island, but I come in search of Portuguese doughnuts. We had to wait in a long line to order and then another long line to get our treats, but it was so worth it. They were hot and perfectly dusted with cinnamon and sugar and oh, now I want malasadas... I will definitely look for these ladies again on our next visit!
Finally feeling the effects of the long day in the sun, Jack and I headed back to the condo along the bike path while Sam and Ryan checked out a few more vendors. We enjoyed watching the fishermen cast lighted lures into the ocean and laughed at the feral Siamese cats perched on cars in the Kapa'a Shores parking lot.
Tonight was our last night in the condo so we started packing up and did the first of many loads of laundry before heading to bed.
