Sightseeing the North

Saturday, 22 July 2006

Woke up early again, ate breakfast, and decided to head north today to see the rest of the island. We stopped at some craft fairs along the way, but the highlights of the day were the Kilauea Lighthouse and the Lumaha'i Beach. The lighthouse is a beautiful scenic point dotted with birds and the bright blue-green ocean all around. I bought a t-shirt for my dad because he loves lighthouses and always used to take pictures of the lighthouse at Diamond Head on O'ahu. We stopped at various points along the rest of the drive, including some cute bakery and cafe, before reaching Lumaha'i Beach, where we had to hike down to this secluded area. Kids were jumping off the rocks into the rough ocean and the water was just so crisp and refreshing. The sand was a tricky though, as it was scalding hot, and many people didn't realize it at first. We would laugh as people would stand in the water and quickly navigate their run to the shade where their towel was. I could have stayed there all day.

We drove past the wet caves and dry caves and then headed back along the one lane road, across little bridges and past the taro fields of Hanalei. We ended up eating a late dinner at the Hukilau Lanai, which despite it's hokey touristy name, ended up being a beautiful restaurant with great seafood (fish, scallops, shrimp) and a view of the tropical flower garden and ocean. We watched a movie that night and went to sleep totally exhausted and drained from all the sun and food.