Last night Heather and I celebrated a belated 7th anniversary dinner at Tidepools, one of the Hyatt's fine restaurants, after spending a relaxing day at the resort. Earlier in the day we had coffee on the lanai watching the sun come up, changed rooms, and sat on the beach for a few hours.
The local beach, known as Shipwreck Beach, has hazardous surf conditions year-round, so the only people in the water were surfers. Most of the Kauai coastline is hazardous for six to nine months of the year, which is why the Hyatt and other resorts construct elaborate salt water lagoons. The lagoons allow people to enjoy the sea-like conditions in safety, which reduces the likelihood that last week's misfortunes occur.
Today we had a mid-morning breakfast at the Seaview Terrace overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We dined with some unexpected vistors - we're not sure if they are sparrows, finches, thrushes, or a Hawaiian analog. Our new friends were quite eager to share our breakfast, even though we made them wait...
Our main adventure of the day was a trip to Waimeia Canyon - The Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Waimeia Canyon is located on the West side of the island, and is a gorgeous drive. You can see Niihau from several of the vantage points from the Waimea shore and in the canyon itself. The canyon road rises to over four thousand feet, although the last mile of it is closed at the moment. On the canyon drive we were treated to gorgeous views of waterfalls, red volcanic earth, the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean, and some more of Hawaii's wildlife, particularly wild chickens.
On the way back to the resort, we stopped at JoJo's for the best shave ice I've ever had (yes, it is called "shave ice", not "shaved ice"). The we headed back east along the coast to the resort in Poipu.
