On Thursday, while Dusk and Rinda went off in the morning to hike a little of the Kalalau Trail along the Na Pali coast, Bill, Machelle, Michael, and I decided to pay a visit to the Kilauea Lighthouse. Kilauea is a small town on the North Shore only about 15 minutes away by car from Hanalei. The lighthouse sits on a point which is the northernmost point in Hawaii. The area surrounding the lighthouse and a small island off the point have been designated a National Wildlife Refuge, primarily for birds. We lucked out with the weather as it was windy, but mostly sunny, when we visited. There were spectacular views up and down the coast and we saw lots of birds and enjoyed a few small exhibits.

 

It was quite windy on the point but that is what you would expect when facing the open ocean. We enjoyed watching the waves crash into the cliffs creating dramatic explosions of seawater. Bill even spotted a sea turtle way down below in the water. It was quite a large one. Then Machelle spotted another that was a bit smaller. There were hawaiian geese wandering about as well as some red footed boobies across the way on a hillside. We saw some young wedge-tailed shearwaters hanging about their nests and looking all fuzzy.

After we left the lighthouse, we stopped in Kilauea town to browse in a couple of shops and have a snack. I have been enjoying the local arts and crafts. The beauty of the surroundings here cetainly inspires some lovely artwork!

On the way back toward Hanalei we detoured to Anini Beach and got in a little beach time. Anini is a lovely sand beach with an offshore reef that creates a protected lagoon in which to swim and snorkel. We saw a kite boarder setting up his equipment which was of particular interest to Michael as he has dabbled in kite boarding and would like to do more. It was very windy, so when the kite boarder took off, he went ripping across the water straight out the break in the reef, and played in the waves, all of which were quite advanced maneuvers. Michael and I went in snorkeling. It was not really the best snorkeling as the water was a little choppy, the visibility wasn’t all that great, and there wasn’t a ton to see. However, the highlight for me, which made it all worthwhile, was that we found a turtle and I was able to follow him for a bit. Snorkeling with turtles is one of my favorite things to do!

 

That evening we had some semblance of a sunset which was a nice change of pace. Dusk and Rinda had enjoyed their hike, though Rinda was a little banged up from a fall during their river crossing. Fortunately it was nothing serious, just some scrapes and bruises. We walked into town for some happy hour Mai Tai’s and cooked ourselves some dinner back at the house. All in all it was an excellent day.