15 minutes at a time

We started the day with a trip to the Farmers’ Market at Aiaina Hou Community Park, about 15 minutes down the road. The produce looked wonderful and the vendors were an eclectic mixture, but all we brought back with us was lunch – “aloha fish”, which was spiced baked Mahi Mahi with curry sauce. It wad delicious, and I wish I had gotten the name of the vendor.

We had lunch on our balcony and were once more graced by a visit from a red-crested cardinal, who watched us eat and left unfed.

There are three scenic overlooks within a few minutes of our resort, and we visited all of them this afternoon. The first is more than an overlook; it’s the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge Viewpoint, complete with six informational signs and a volunteer docent.

There’s even a view of the road to Hanalei showing how far down it is from Princeville to Hanalei. I’m not sure what the pipe is carrying, but it’s hard to miss.

Our next stop was the unofficial overlook on State Highway 560 at the hairpin turn just before you start your descent to Hanalei. There are no signs, but it’s unmistakable, and there’s a little space to park safely and enjoy the view of the bay.

It took about 15 minutes to get to Hanalei (we had to wait at a one-lane bridge). We parked at our fourth shave ice shop so far on this trip: Wishing Well Shave Ice. It was good, but Honu in Kapa’a is better.

We walked a few blocks into the center of town and did some light shopping at Hanalei Center (Diane spent an hour buying a dress at Tropical Tantrum and I looked at some vintage Hawaiian shirts at Yellowfish Trading Company) before going back to the car for our final scenic overlook of the day, the official Hanalei Valley Lookout.

We had planned to have pizza at Wikipizza, which is inside the Hanalei Bay Resort…but we couldn’t find any parking except valet parking, so we left and drove 15 minutes to Kilauea and the Kilauea Bakery, where there was easy free self-parking, friendly servers, and pizza with an interesting crust (more bready than I expected, but still tasty).

We leave Kauai tomorrow but are already looking forward to our next visit.