On this annual Kauai trip, we didn't have anything planned. We thought maybe if we were super bored of doing nothing, we could go hiking and try out paddle boarding, but we didn't have any specific plans as to when to do what in what order. After the second time here, we gave up scheduling many exciting events to fill up everyday of the week. We just want to lounge and enjoy doing nothing for a week for a change.
Inspired by Jean's Mexico Yoga Retreat, I thought I would try it on my own too. So on Tuesday - the day after we got here - after I got up at 7 AM, I did my Yoga. I played New Age musics from Pandora, and it put me in the right mood. Usually when I tried to do Yoga at home, I found it difficult to focus, and I never felt like I stretched enough. With the music, it was so much easier for me to focus on my practice, and it slowed my mind down a lot. I didn't try to rush from one pose to another, but rather flowed from one pose to another with ease. The sound of the waves and the breeze for sure helped calm me down too.
After Yoga, we got out of the hotel at around 10:30 AM. Went to Kapaa to have breakfast at our favorite breakfast place - Kountry Style Kitchen. We en-routed to get some local fruit and vegetable at the Sunshine Market in the Coconut Market Place. I bought 2 papayas, some tomatoes, a small bunch of fragrant basil, a bunch of big bok choy. When I saw the bok choy, my eyes lit up, and the woman said immediately: "it's $2 each" - hitting the iron when it's still hot, so to speak. Jack got 3 packages of home-made coconut powder. People there were so friendly. One woman asked if I was a Japanese, and another guy asked if I was a Chinese. The day started to be really fun already. But it was also too warm, so we left and head over to breakfast.
We got to Kountry Kitchen at a little before 11 AM. Wanting to have some local food, I ordered 2 scramble eggs with rice and Kalua pork. Jack ordered his usual, 2 eggs breakfast with hash brown and toasts. I love Kalua pork!! It was moist, nicely roasted, spiced just right and very well made. I love to have Hawaiian food, which just means some kind of meat with rice instead of potatoes and some veggies. It's so Asian in that way. :)
After the delicious breakfast, we headed north toward Hanalei/Princeville. We stopped by the lighthouse to visit the bird sanctuary. We stayed there when I tried to take pictures of the birds. We also made a detour to stop by Anini beach, which was one of the kiting spots on the island. The beach was surrounded by reefs, and it was made like a big protected pool. It was windy and cross shore. The water was clear and beautifully blue or turquoise in different spots. I made a tree pose in the water, and actually looks pretty good.
We went northbound, passing Hanalei's famous tourist village. We didn't make another stops until we got to the dry cave and wet cave. At 2 PM, we got to the end of the road, which was also the trial head of a famous north shore hike. We made an impromptu decision to go for a short hike since we were already there and we had time. The whole hike would be 11 miles one way, but we decided to just go for a couple of hours. Luckily, we both had our new hiking boots with us. They were truly my best friend on this hike, because it was challenging all the way. There were rocks of different sizes paved the path, and you had to be very careful not to mis-step, as it would have been easy to twist an angle or slip. We went up and we went down. There were places where we were among lush forest, and there were places where we were at the ridge looking out the beautifully blue ocean and sky. After we got to 1.5 miles, Na Pali Coast was right in front of us, and it was breathtaking. We stopped there to admire the view for a while before we decided to turn around and face the challenging way back. This hike made us all sticky, sweaty and tired, but it was worth it!
At night, we made BBQ chicken and had rice and caesar salad. It was a wonderful day already, and the best part was we didn't even plan anything.
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