North shore days

Last night I relocated from the south side, driving the one main highway back around:

• Lihue: where the big airport is, the county seat;
• Wailua: over the Wailua river, past the remains of the Coco Palms;
• Kapaa: lots of shops and restaurants along the Coconut Coast;
• Anahola: rural, lots of farms;
• Kilauea: the lighthouse, some shopping, also rural;
• Princeville: the Beverly Hills of Kauai, complete with golf course and fancy hotel;
• Hanalei: laid back surfer style town set on a gorgeous half moon white sand bay;
• Haena: residences with one small resort and a couple of shops;
• and then the end of the road a few miles down, where the Kalalau Trail begins.

About forty miles, takes a little over an hour.

Descending into Hanalei is a very special transition - at the bottom of the hill from Princeville is the first one lane bridge and crossing it always feels like entering a different environment, which you are. Hanalei and Haena are very quiet and private places way out here on the north shore. Civilization is only minimally allowed to encroach here. There are very few hotels out here and vacation rentals do exist for visitors but this is not a Visitor Designated Area which means they need permits to operate, though it seems many owners operate anyway and as long as they pay the taxes it seems to be allowed. It's Kauai's way of holding down and cordoning off the influx of tourists like me.

Both Hanalei and Haena have a mix of old and new, both modest and opulent residences. One sees very elegant multi-million dollar places mixed in here especially at Haena along the ocean side. Many Haena homes have parking underneath with the living area above as one sees a fair amount here, but they are very high here (local building code) some look like the building starts on the third floor. Other than the rich you have locals and a fair portion of surfer and hippie types out here. Signs along the road say Slow Down and a not exactly welcoming to tourists, but on the street here off the highway people are very friendly.

Tsunami are a real threat here: the beach here looks out over the ocean with nothing between here and Asia. For example when the Japan earthquake hit this area was evacuated.

It's been windy here since arriving and several squalls have moved through dropping rain quickly.

I'll explore and write more over the next ten days I have here but wanted to capture the feel of the area.