Kauai 2024: May 4th - North Shore and Rum Safari Tour

Our second full day of the trip found us up a little less early, but not by much. We ventured out and stopped for a donut and smoothy breakfast. Found the hamburger joint Bubba's and snapped a picture.

We had apple and blueberry fritters with a smoothy

Last Nights Dinner Joint - Burgers and Onion Rings

Then off for the end of the road on the north side of the island. Lots of great vistas on the way up and we made as many stops on the way back as time would allow. We had a 4:00 p.m. reservation for the Rum Safari Tour at the Gaylord Plantation

The north side of the island is a prelude to the Na Poli coast and one of the overnight hiking trailheads (Kalalau Trailhead) in the Ha'ena State Park. The beautiful vegetation and small towns along the way have all the scenery, shops and eateries you could want. We drove pretty much non-stop to the State Park where you can take the 11 mile one way Kalalau trail along the base of the Na Poli coast. This trail has several side trails to waterfalls that you would see if you did a water tour.

We opted to turn around and hit the Ha'ena Beach to actually dip our fee in sand and surf. The surf right now on the island makes it impossible to swim. The lifeguard said the area is great for snorkeling, but not of late. We did see a Monk Seal in the water and of course colors of the ocean are hard to get in a picture.

The picture just can't capture the hillside behind the beach the way you see in person

Chatted with lifeguard to get some facts

Panorama shot

Can you tell it was windy

Surf

Cave we forgot about when parked, so opted to keep going.

Not far down the road we stopped at the Waipa Foundation Festival figuring we would take in some local activities. A little disappointed in the overall event, but all about raising money, so the $20 to get in was fine. We got a free kids book that we will read to Parker when we get home. Grabbed a Poke Bowl and listened to Hawaiian music with a little hula dance. Just the island vibe!!

Then headed back stopping at various view points to end up including Hanalei where we thought we would grab lunch. The Hanalei Gourmet restaurant recommended was not open for lunch. One thing we learned is not everything opens for lunch and most places shut down by 9 p.m. every night. Don't wait too long for dinner.

Topo map to give you a feel for terrain - Kauai is the oldest island of the chain and has the best erosion contours and vegetation diversity.

Taro fields - number one crop on the island. Pineapples are not native so not grown much as most come from South America. Heard that story for many of the fruits, etc. being grown.

A stop in Princeville at the Tiki Inki restaurant owned by Todd Rundgren was our second recommended location. After splitting a Kalua Pork Plate (yummy) and Janie's first Pina Colada we did catch a little music and hula by an elderly group before heading towards the Light House.

Janie thought the Spam can for bill was funny and wanted to order Spam....none on the menu thank goodness.

One thing to remember is especially at altitude and the north shore you'll encounter sprinklers to short burst of down pours. Cools things off a bit and with the winds can even be a little chilly despite being almost 80 degrees.

After lunch we drove up to the Kilauea Lighthouse on the point east of Kilauea town. They typically require a reservation due to limited parking, but you can view from a distance. We took a chance and turned out they had space and free pass day versus the $10 entry fee!!!! Well worth the visit for the views of the coastline and sea.

View from a distance....can you find the white seal in the picture?

Birds everywhere and we found this pair along the path to the lighthouse.

No swimming for sure...this is from a distance and those waves were crashing the shore.

Vantage from Lighthouse

The point island being hammered

Built in 1912 and commissioned in 1913. No roads on the island at that time, so built from the shore line below and material from ships.

We then trekked to the Gaylord Plantation for our Rum Safari Tour. Quick gift shop visit where Jeff bought a long sleeve t-shirt and then joined our group for the 4 p.m. tour. Tatjia and Fletcher were our guides. They were funny, entertaining and full of good stories and facts about the island. Especially the fruit being grown on the 150 acre property. If you like a good drink and laughs, worth the time. We toured some of the orchards where they are growing all kinds of fruit and met their donkeys. Along the way Fletcher picked some oranges right from the tree for the Mai Tai cocktails coming up. We proceeded to the tasting pavilion in the middle of Taro fields.

Restaurant and bar inside - old plantation house

Pineapples take two years to grow and one per plant

Eucalyptus trees and their paper thin bark were colorful and one of Janie's favorites

We tasted the Koala Rum (part of the plantation setup) they had to offer starting with the white brand new not barreled must mix rum. It was like rubbing alcohol for sure. Then the second was a dark rum with more vanilla tone and the third their coconut flavor that is still 80 proof versus Malibu Rum at 27 proof. The fourth sample was a chocolate rum that was awesome. We finished this part of the tour with Mai Tai cocktails for the road.

We learned about Koala Rum being a cocktail rum and not a sipping rum. They did have a chocolate flavor we tasted that was pretty darn good.

Fletchers presentation of the Mai Tai - a good one has a dark rum float not a half and half. These were the best we've had on the island by far. Should not be sweet!!

Janie and Tatjia were bantering on banana sizes

Janie quickly became part of the entertainment as some of her questions got the host going with jokes. Especially about the small bananas and who would ever eat. Let your mind run with that one. Then we visited more of the orchard and animals including the pigs (fed them corn tortilla shells) and the new baby calf born that morning.

Back to the pavilion for port a potty needs and another cocktail Avocado based and more like a margarita. It was really good.