I am typically not a sun worshipper, but when the winter darkness of the Pacific Northwest comes to squat on my head I have started taking short trips to a sunny location to relieve the winter blahs.
This winter I went to Kauai, Hawaii for about 10 days and I got lucky because it only rained a few times while I was there. Kauai is a very laid back island environment which feels almost third world-like in its lack of development, i.e. shack like shopping malls, no public transportation, and mostly two lane highways.
One of the really charming things about Kauai is the surreally intense tropical foliage that is everywhere on the island except on the western side where the least amount of rain falls. The center of the island is the collapsed cone of a long extinct volcano that gets over 500 inches of rain a year. With that much rain, the center of the island is a tropical wilderness where no one lives because it is rough and wet, making it the last bastion of many of the native species that are indigenous to Hawaii.
In the winter, the wave activity on Kauai is a surfer’s wet dream and a fabulous photo opportunity for those who would rather see it than be in it. I was standing on one beach that was far to the North called Lumihai Beach and I was blown away by the fact that the beach sand was vibrating beneath my feet. I can’t remember any other beach I have stood on that vibrated like this one did and I have been on a lot of beaches. It was both thrilling and scary because it gave me the feeling that it might suck me into the waves that were pounding the sand 4 feet away.
Another super fun thing about Kauai is the fact that the island community has worked out a schedule of where and when a farmers market will be held and they have one every day of the week somewhere on the island. The local folks come to these markets and sell the tropical fruits and vegetables that grow in their yards. It is really exciting to get fresh tropical fruit that is allowed to ripen before it is picked and the variety of flowers and fruit is astounding. An added benefit to this market system is the fact that the produce comes directly from the farmers and the prices are really low because of that.
I have been to Kauai many times, and it remains high on my list of places to decompress because I always feel more relaxed when I get back home.
