Kauai Day 4

Tuesday we opted for a light day.  We headed out in time to stop at a couple of bakeries to sample their malasadas (small Portuguese donuts) before exploring part of the S shore of the island.  After walking through Koloa, a small town, we went to Po Ipu Beach Park.  This part of the island tends to be sunnier, and has become one the premiere resort areas, so we shouldn't have been surprised to find a boring beach full of people.

We moved on to the Spouting Horn Beach, an interesting natural phenomenon, where a blow hole in the rocks make a geyser when the surf hits shore.  Originally there were 2 blow holes, Kukui'ula Seaplume which shot up 200', dwarfing Spouting Horn. Alas, a sugar company manager (it was king in these parts) ordered a worker to drop blasting powder into the hole to widen it to prevent the salt spray from stunting 10 acres of the company's multiple thousands of acres of sugar cane.  The enlarged opening was subdued it to sloshing waves.  That particular beach is off limits, cordoned off by a fence to prevent accidents should the waves wash over the rocks sweeping you into one of the holes.

Spouting Horn blow hole- there is also a air vent which makes a moaning sound

Next stop was Wailua Falls, an impressive, split falls, that plunge into a 33' deep pool  and didn't require a long drive from the main highway.   There is some controversy about how high the falls are.  Officially they are listed at 80', but the guide book folks actually measured them and were amazed to get 173' twice!  They do look tall.  In the not too distant past, the state fenced the lookout area to discourage folks from climbing down for a swim in the pool via a somewhat steep and slippery slope, but I suspect it hasn't deterred everyone!

Wailua Falls

We stopped at Lydgate Park for lunch and a walk.  It was a beautiful park, where the Wailua River enters the ocean.  The park has ancient Hawaiian sacred ruins and was another place of refuge.  Back in  the 1920's, after a trip to Italy, a local Hawaiian couple reproduced a rather novel 'swimming pool' for their family.  With $18,000, a crane, and lots of large lava rocks, 2 ponds were created on  the beach, allowing fresh sea water and fish into the ponds while protecting swimmers from the force of the waves.

Walking the beach at Lydgate Park 

Kaua'i has a huge feral chicken population thanks to a hurricane in 1992 which caused widespread damage, forcing many barnyard birds to survive in the wild.  Everywhere we went, hens, chicks and roosters wandered in towns, and along roadsides and beaches, pecking for food. They were everywhere!   This also meant more than the normal number of roosters vying for supremacy and a harem of chickens, and trying to out vocalize the next guy in the morning, frequently beginning with  few early (0100) morning calls to see  anyone answered.  What I heard wasn't  the standard 'cock a doodle doooo' , but more like 'go to the junk yard'.  I suspect if we'd hiked to the top of the highest peak, we'd have heard a rooster crow!

Our stay on Kaua'i had been busy, with lots of interesting sights added to our memories.  Our weather luck held.  The days were dry, with only the briefest of sprinkles requiring a swipe of the wipers.  There was measurable precipitation Monday night, but the clouds had dispersed by morning.

A better picture of the Red Footed Booby rookery

Great  Frigatebird

Wednesday morning, before departing for Oahu, we returned to the Kilaueu Point Lighthouse.  Although it was raining lightly (the first time it did more than sprinkle), the trade winds weren't howling which made it easier to get better photos.   We watched as a couple of great frigatebirds soared at eye level.  What a treat, usually when we've seen them, they're far above us.  This was the first day with rain persisting beyond day break, but the skies were clearing over the Pacific.