Having never been to Hawaii before, I was very interested to see what we'd find in Kauai. I've been to tropical places before -- the Cook Islands' Raratonga being my previous Pacific Island experience. My expectation was that it would be very "American", and that certainly was true: Starbucks and Safeway across the street, and all the comforts of home. Still, the island feel was still there, and I have to admit to enjoying the week more simply because there was the combination of tropical paradise and... well... a Starbucks across the street.
The Resort we stayed at was the Waipouli Beach Resort, which turns out to have been brand-spanking new -- just opened in December. When I tried to find the place on Google Earth, there was nothing but an empty lot at the end of the driving directions. The resort is built in a sort of horseshoe shape around this amazing salt-water pool, with waterfalls and waterslides and several hot tubs with pebble bottoms. Very comfortable. The management is unnecessarily strict about guest behavior around the pools (this was confirmed by the pool attendant, who called them "anal"), but this didn't detract too much from our experience -- we were pretty conformant anyway.
Our little girl was in heaven. The first day we were there she said "I don't want to go home. I want to stay in Hawaii for five weeks." The waterslides and pool were fantastic (but a little chilly). They had a great pebble-bottom play pool area for kids. This was a good thing, because the beach was not particularly hospitable -- biggish waves, and lots of sharp coral. My wife's brother in-law came away with a huge gash right down the front of his stomach -- not quite disemboweled, but close.
We stayed pretty close to the resort. I went for a few runs, but despite the advice of the guy in the lobby, there wasn't really a good place to do that. Running along the beach only works for a few minutes, because there are frequent rivers requiring you to run back and find a bridge (at the main road), and running along the road is safe, but typically unpleasant. It's also very windy (at least in March), so running can be very tedious and it gets hard to hear your iPod. Luckily, the resort had a decent set of gym equipment, so I got my 5K in nearly every day.
The times we did venture out we saw lots of waterfalls, went to the big Canyon (spectacular, but cloudy), Poipu beach (good snorkeling, and hey! we saw some Grey Whales!), and we went up to some big lighthouse which was good to kill an afternoon. We drove nearly all the way around the island (well, maybe 60%).
Since it was my birthday while we were there, I insisted on going to a Luau. It was decidedly commercial and non-intimate, but it was a fun experience. I can't say too much about it. The food was pretty good. I tried poi: it was incredibly undersold and still managed to disappoint. The Kalua pork was fabulous. The rest was a decent meal and a pretty good polynesian cultural show. The best part was the Samoan fire dance guy, who was basically a baton-twirler in a loincloth and -- of course -- with a flaming baton. He comes out at the end of the show as the dramatic closer, but it would have worked better if he didn't keep dropping the baton (sorry, "fire sword"). He hit himself in the face one time, and then dropped his baton and it went skittering toward the band, who reacted with appropriate respect to an oncoming object that could engulf their tinder-dry drums in a flash.
Actually, the best part for me was the few moments during the show when the sky cleared, and the start shone through. I always forget what it's like to see the unobstructed night sky away from city lights -- it's truly spectacular. I nearly couldn't take my eyes off it -- more stars in a small patch of sky in five minutes than I see from Vancouver in a month of skywatching.
I would go back to Kauai, although I'd like to explore some of the less popular Hawaiian spots too. I still have a special place in my mind for Rarotonga, but it's nice to know that if I'm ever in the mood for a tropical week, it can be had for the cost of a six hour plane trip, and there might be a Starbucks across the street.
