Hawaii Day 4: Wailua River / Princeville

After another quick swim in the ocean , G and I headed up to Wailua River -Hawaii’s only navigable river. We ate breakfast at some nondescript diner in Wailua that smelled of mildewy carpets and old coffee. The meal was basically choked down but appreciated. We were on a tight schedule cause we had to take G’s parents to the airport in the late afternoon.

We rented a double sea kayak from the Kamokila Village and headed up the river. This is a great way to get a kayak because it saves you about 45 minutes of paddling and allows you to take the trip unguided so you can spend as much or as little time doing as you please.After about a 15 minute paddle up the river we docked our boat and made the 30 minute hike up to Secret Falls which were stunning. We played around in the falls for a while and just kicked back and enjoyed the view before going back to the kayak and going up the river further. After a while we stumbled upon another really fun swimming hole with some large cliffs and a rope swing to jump off of. All of it was a ton of fun.

However, it was here that I somehow managed to get our digital camera so wet that it would no longer turn on. Water in the screen, on the battery, in the lenses. Soaked. Busted.

After our kayaking and swimming hole adventures we took a quick look at Opaeka’a Falls and the Wailua River Lookout. Then we headed to Bubba’s Burgers for some good old rejuvenating grease. We ate on the deck and watched the huge surf on Kapaa beach.

After dropping G’s parents off at the airport we raced up to Princeville to try and visit Queens Bath. Looks beautiful doesn’t it? It can be an uncomfortable place in the middle of the night, empty, with storms brewing. We didn’t make it till late in the evening and the treacherously path down to the shore was pitch dark and slippery from rain. When we reached the bottom we realized we were on a very dangerous rocky outcropping with really strong seas below us. On the horizon lightning storms were brewing and would occasionally light up the precipice we were standing on. After a few minutes we turned back up the trail and G had a full blown panic attack and barely made it back to the top. We headed straight to The Princeville Hotel so G could catch her breath.

After we both calmed down a bit we headed to the Blue Dolphin Restaurant (which also doubles a backdoor fish market) in Hanalei where we had the best sushi of the entire trip (we ate sushi/sashimi whenever we had the chance) which redeemed the evening. It was very late by the time we got back to our room.