Driving, driving, driving.....

After we indulged in the shave ice, we drove down to Costco in Lihue, the biggest town on Kaua'i. I could already tell that we needed a backup plan for food, as it is very expensive in the restaurants, fruit stands, and grocery stores. We bought apple strudel pastries, energy bars, rolls, a pineapple, bananas, and a roasted chicken. Oh, and a couple of gorgeous sarongs from a special event that was going on. 

Tip #1: By all means, sample the local cuisine, but be thankful for Costco. We ate for three days on that chicken and other prepared food,  for less than we paid for one dinner in Kapa'a. Costco's prices are not much more than what we pay on the mainland, except for bananas, which are almost twice the price. Go figure. And the pineapples are so much more delicious than we get at home, even though they all come from Maui. Can't figure that one out either.

Then back up north to the famous Kilauea point lighthouse. It was built in 1913 as a navigational guide for ships on the orient run. Today it is a National Wildlife Refuge. Many native and endangered coastal plant species have been restored here. It costs $5 a person to enter the area.

The setting is sublime, and the cliffs and air space are teeming with sea birds. The red-footed booby makes its home here and can be seen in large numbers, roosting in the trees that line the cliffs and swooping over the waves. 

The parents leave the babies alone during the day and return to their nests at night with food.

This little guy was under some bushes right next to the museum.

Giant frigate birds, whose wings can reach spans of seven feet, also ride the wind. Their long wings and short legs make them ill-adapted to land on the water, so they spend their days trying to make the boobies drop their prey so that they can steal it. 

It took many tries to get a focused photo of the frigate bird, they never stand still!

There are supposedly albatrosses in the area, but I am not sure if we saw any.

We drove most of the road on the north shore, almost to where it runs out at Ke'e Beach, a few miles past Hanalei. There are many one-way bridges, and the road gets progressively narrower the closer it gets to the end. The only way you can see the incredibly beautiful Napali Coast is by sea or air, as there are no roads. You can hike it for about eleven miles, but even the hiking trails run out eventually. Somehow, the hippies have figured out how to get to some of the best beaches and they live there.

This is a very famous view of the taro fields of Hanalei.

And that was our Friday. We drove up and down the coast a fair amount and felt like we were getting a handle on the island. The gorgeousness of the scenery was incomparable.