Our first day in Kauai was quite eventful to say the least. We seemed to master the art of hopping around the island's many hot spots with ease, as Kauai isn't exactly the largest of the Hawaiian islands. Having awoken to a brilliant Sunday morning, our first stop was to the nearest coffee shop--naturally--for some blueberry cheesecake, banana bread, and chocolate macadamia nut lattes. Yes, you heard me right. Thank you kindly,
Koloa Mill coffee shop!
After a satisfying breakfast under sunny skies and a light drizzle here and there, we made our way to the oldest Catholic Church in Kauai,
Saint Raphael's in Koloa. This location was the birth of my yoga-crazed papa's new obsession of the week... what he likes to call his "Brain Stand". I was his designated photographer for a series of photos he insisted I take of him doing headstands in front of every major photo-op we came across. My dad is quite the character...
The car ride around Kauai made for a moving slide show of sorts, which at times made me feel like I was in a living desktop picture! It was nearly impossible not to gawk at the never ending luscious mountain range and the expansive rolling hills of tropical trees. A particularly charming stretch of highway, situated on Maluhia Road on your way to Po'ipu, beheld a sort of fantasy-like tree tunnel of densely packed Eucalyptus trees running all the way down the path.
Around noon time, my stomach is nearly programmed to grumble. Lucky for me, and my stomach of course, we were able to find this quaint hole in the wall Hawaiian restaurant--
Hamura Saimin. Saimin is a traditional Asian-inspired Hawaiian noodle and soup dish, and you know the hole in the wall joints always serve the best of the best. And for dessert, I dug into a slice of light and fluffy Hawaiian cream pie, made of some exotic fruit that is still a mystery to me. But, boy was it good.
Next stop was the
Wailua River, where waterfalls ran down the side of green mountains, which seemed to go on for miles. At the bottom of the canyon were remnants of an old Hawaiian village, which was just crawling with colorful peacocks, who were clearly not phased by having to model for tourists on the daily. Maurice and I took advantage of their friendly nature and frolicked about, mimicking the tropical birds like true divas!
Can't you see the resemblance? ;)
After a bit a strolling around the earthy sites on foot, we hopped onto a Wailua River boat to see some parts of Kauai you can only reach by water. If I wasn't a
Divaranan, I'd love to take a kayak down the river. But alas, I'm not quite sure I've got the arms for such a task :p
Looks like photography runs in the family!
At the edge of the river sat the destination for our river boat trip--
The Fern Grotto. A green canopy-covered winding path weaved through a lush forest of tropical flowers and trees with the fattest leaves I've ever seen. This eventually lead to the fern-adorned cave known as the Fern Grotto. Our authentic Hawaiian tour guides sang some traditional love songs underneath the Grotto--famous for romance--which they continued on the boat ride back, along with our very own hula lesson.
To end the daylight right, we headed out to the shore in Po'ipu and watched the waves pull in and out over black lava rocks as we listened to the gentle roar until the sun descended beyond the horizon.
And of course, to top off our first day of adventures, we indulged in a few heaping scoops of
Lappert's Hawaiian ice cream!
Feast your eyes...
