Day 4 -- Wailua River Kayak

On Wednesday we headed to Kapa'a to pick up our rental kayak for our Wailua river trip.  Along with a family from California, we made our way from the rental company to the river with our kayak strapped to the top of the Jeep.  We put in and started up the river -- it felt like the jungle until we looked up to see the most beautiful mountain scenery all around us.

The river was pretty crowded with other kayakers, as well as giant barges full of Japanese tourists off to see the Fern Grotto.  Using our handy map, we found our way to the trailhead where tons of other kayaks were pulled up.

We did the same and started on the trail to Secret Falls, which starts with a muddy crossing of the river.  We had heard that this trail is 1500 years old.  It seemed more like Western Ave with all the people traffic -- so much for the "secret" part.  

The falls are sacred to the ancient Hawai'ians, a place to pray for blessings on others.  We sat and had a snack and watched braver (or stupider) people stand under the falls where rocks can plummet with the water.

We took a dip in the pool and then headed back to the kayak.  Paddling back was against the wind, but not as difficult as we'd feared -- the only hazard was a gaggle of Boy Scouts.   We took a detour into a bird refuge, which was the most beautiful and peaceful part of the trip.

That evening we decided to head south to see a sunset at Spouting Horn.  Spouting Horn is where the surf is pushed through a hole in the lava ledge and creates an amazing geyser.  There's also a blowhole nearby that makes a beautiful whooshing sound.

Sadly, the larger (200-ft) geyser was blasted away by a jerky plantation owner because it was getting salt water on 10 acres (out of thousands) of his crops. We didn't quite get a full sunset, as we weren't far west enough, but the sky and clouds were still beautiful...  

Our first dinner out was at Keiki's Paradise in Poi'pu.  The service was a little snippy, but the fish was great.