Kauai - Day Two - For The Birds

Yay - we woke up around 8am, finally rested and ready to seriously start our Hawaiian Adventure!  After my first outdoor shower of the day, we head out for our first hike of the trip.  Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how much you enjoy hiking), staying on the Eastside offers a ton of great hikes really close by.  We decided to start with the Kuilau Ridge Trail.  Four miles round trip, tiny bit of elevation, really beautiful.  Great intro hike on Kauai. 

That afternoon we explored the North side of the island.  Jumped in the rental car, attempted not to hit any of the many chickens on the road and headed up North. 

**Side note:  There are a TON of chickens and roosters on this island. They are everywhere.  You can go on the longest, highest hike, and there, at the top of a mountain, you will find some chickens cruising around.  And the roosters like to ensure you are awake before 7am each day.  Hey, they don't want you to miss one second of your holiday.

After stopping at a few random beaches, we headed up to Kilauea and the Kilauea Lighthouse.  So beautiful.  Great ocean views, we saw a pod (a pod?  is it called a pod?) of spinner dolphins and our first humpback whale!  The Lighthouse area is also a bird sanctuary, and we went on a little walking tour with a nature guide and another couple.  Tim and I basically listened while the other couple asked many, many questions. 

Tourist woman: "What's the white bird that you see all around the island?  You know, they're everywhere."
Me (helpfully):  "Chickens?"
The other couple and the guide send me looks of disdain.  Tim cracks up.
The end of our bird tour.

In other bird news, egrets are also a big Kauai bird.  We call them lurkers.  They're always skulking around on the sides of trails.  Shady characters, I think

Back in the rental car and up to Hanalei.  Super cute little hippie town.  I think it would be a fun place to stay acutally.  Hanalei Beach is gorgeous.  After our long day of hiking and sightseeing, we were looking forward to maitais at one of Kauai's oldest dive bars, Tahiti Nui.  Unfortunately, when we entered the bar, the bartender gave us the dirtiest look, and left her post behind the bar to talk to some locals with her back to us.  After waiting for 5-7 minutes, we realized that she wasn't coming back until we had left.  Screw you, Tahiti Nui!  Instead we hit up a little place down the street called Kalypso.  Great bar, great happy hour, recommended.  Try the coconut shrimp.

After several maitais in Hanalei, a couple more back in Kapa'a at the old stand-by, the Olympic Cafe (happy hour goes til 7p), we were back at the ol' cottage.  Early to bed, early to rise.