After our usual leasurely start of the day, which this time included a stroll along the beach, we visited one of the beaches near the Coconut Beach Resort. Swimming at many of the Kauai beaches is not for the faint of heart: virtually all beaches have signs up warning against strong undercurrents and other potentially lifethreatening features. But with his personal life guard, even Rob dared to go into the water. Occasionally. Especially when the beaches were surrounded by jetties.
Having soaked up enough seewater, we started the drive to the north coasts, which was shorted than we thought. For the first time ever we had to put on sunscreen because we were in a car. Driving in a convertible was a fun experience, in particular in one with as much power as our Ford Mustang.
The views on our way to the north coast were becoming more and more spectacular, and the ones on the north coast were truly fantastic. Below you see one of inland views of Hanalei Valley.
Next stop was our hotel, the Hanalei Beach Resort. Cindy cunningly directed Rob along small winding roads, through golf courses and upscale residential areas, directly to the resort. The resort was fabulous. To give some examples, here are pictures of one of the pools, and the view from our room.
After our lunch at the resort, we started our tour of the beaches. We watched some festive looking birds at Hanalei Beach, crossed the wide beach of .... and enjoyed the sand, sun and surf. As we came closer to Kii Beach, the westernmost beach on Kauai's north cost that is accessible by car, the roads got narrower and narrower, with many one-way bridges. Kii Beach was spectacular, with steep cliffs, hundreds of feet high figuring as backdrop to an idyllic, white sand beach. MOVIE of surf, picture of C at Kii Beach.
We relaxed a little in our hotelroom, and decided to walk down to the beach to see the sunset. The path down to the beach was steep, and led through a dense patch of forest. Along the way we were accompanied by some of the non-indigenous local wildlife: chicken, or `kippers' according to one of us, which are also massively entertaining, to the same one of us.
A few moments later we installed ourselves on the available recliners, and readied ourselves for the shows. One show was the sunset itself, captivating as a result of the changing colors and the changing clouds (as you can see below). The other show was the people watching the sunset. Some started kissing or hugging, some were taking pictures, some were meditating (and were frequently disturbed by people asking for pictures), some started crying and needed their diapers changed.
At the end of this day we had a healthy salad and a rich desert in the hotel restaurant, after which we returned to our room and lounged on our spacious balcony.
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