Day 5 - Wailua, Waimea, and a Few Things In Between
Check out the map if you want to see the location of the towns I'm talking about.
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Our first stop on our sightseeing tour was Wailua Falls. This fall was made
famous by Fantasy Island. We got there during a dry season so the falls
weren't quite as full as they normally are, but it was still impressive. A
guy selling beaded bracelets from the back of his pickup told us about a hike
down to the bottom which required the use of a rope. We chose to skip this.
He never did tell us how you were supposed to get back UP.
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Another picture of the falls with the pool below it. While this looks quite
scenic, this is just a pulloff that's been fenced off. Kind of messes with
the magic, but the man selling those bracelets kept telling us at least HE
was full of aloha.
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While the falls weren't quite as full as usual, they were still casting
numerous rainbows.
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About 1/8 of a mile before you get to Wailua Falls you come across a pull off.
There is a tiny waterfall back in some trees. A number of people kept
stopping and asking, "Is this Wailua Waterfall?" I can't imagine how many
people must turn around so close to where they were actually heading.
It is however, quite a pretty stop. Click the image for the medium sized
version of the pano, or click here
for the huge version of this panorama.
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Much further along, almost to Waimea, we stopped at Hanapepe Valley Overlook.
Yet another stop off the side of the highway, it was quite pretty. You can
see how much drier it is on the south shore compared to the
north shore.
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On the way up to Waimea Canyon, this is looking at the town of Waimea. Even
Kauia has not been able to escape tract housing.
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Further up towards Waimea Canyon, we started stopping wherever we saw a car
pulled off because obviously they must see SOMETHING. So we stopped here
behind another car. As we hopped out with our cameras, a woman popped up out
of the bushes pulling her skirt down, ran towards the car and they sped off.
Um, oops.
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Another pulloff on the way up to Waimea Canyon. There was this large area of
mostly red dirt with a few plants growing out of it and a stream running
through it all. We stopped here and played for quite some time.
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A closeup of the mini-waterfall. It was just so strange to see these large
mounds of DIRT with plants and streams. Kinda like scenery that hadn't
grown up yet.
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And here's the big brother waterfall. It appears it's working on a miniature
Waimea Canyon.
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A closeup of the previous waterfall. While I was taking this picture, Mischa
and Scott were trying to take pictures of each other in midair jumping from
one side of the stream to the other. In the words of OMC, "How Bizarre."
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This is the last one, I swear! But oooh, look, long exposure!
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Finally we made it to the first of many Waimea Canyon lookouts. Scott and
Mischa are off to the right of this panorama. Click the image for the
medium size pano or click here
for the huge version.
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This panorama was taken from the box that Mischa and Scott were standing
in for the previous panorama. Click the image for the medium size pano or
click here for the huge version of this panorama.
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A closeup of the canyon walls of Waimea Canyon. Waimea Canyon tells the story
of the lava flows from Mt. Waialeale.
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Taken from another viewpoint, this small tree just looked kind of cool.
Although I can justify it by saying it shows yet again how much less rain the
west side gets. Compared to the lush north shore, this is practically a
desert.
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One last look at Waimea Canyon before heading back south to Poipu. Easy to
believe Mark Twain called this the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." (A number
of books mention this, however, one book mentioned Mark Twain actually never
went to Kauai and this is false. Don't know which book to believe in this
case.)
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All photos copyright Anne Sullivan