Hawaii December 2009
Kauai - The Garden Isle

I have visited over 60 countries in my travels and I think that Kauai is the most scenic Island I have ever been to.
Why Kauai? It has a feel and lifestyle all its own, lush, rural and laid back. It is the first Island of the Hawaii group to have been born. It consists of tropical forests, cascading waterfalls, white sand beaches, mountains that take your breath away and a spectacular canyon.
It must have something going for it as there have been more than 60 movies and television shows recorded there over the years.

GOLF
You have a choice among 162 holes of golf. The golf courses,they say were crafted by nature. The highlty rated Prince course at the Princeville Resort is one of the most beautiful courses in the whole world, and the PGA Grand Slam of Golf has been played at the Poipu Bay Course for many years.
ACTIVITIES
You can hike or go horseback riding, snorkel(bright fish and turtles everywhere), dive, kayak, surf, cruise the Na Pali coast, watch the dolphins and whales, take a helicopter flight over the mountains cycle or picnic on a beach.
ROMANCE
For the romantics, you can get married or renew your vows either on the beach with a backdrop of mountains or in the moutains with a backdrop of waterfalls.
The wedding of my daughter was the reason we travelled to Kauai and it was the best place for it. We stayed in Condos at a place called Princeville on the North Shore, which overlooked the Na Pali Coast. The wedding was a small gathering of 30 guests. The ceremony was casual and conducted on the cliffs overlooking the sea.
There is something magical about Kauai, it is somewhere you can totally relax and unwind. The people are friendly but respect your privacy.
ACCOMMODATION
If you don't want to stay in condos, you can rent houses on the beach and there are a lot of them available. There are not many hotels on the North Shore mainly condos or rentals.
TRANSPORT
One downside with Kauai is the public transport. There are buses but they will not take your luggage. The taxis are a bit expensive if you are staying on the North Shore. Most visitors hire cars. If you intend to go during holiday season then you need to make sure you have booked a car to pick up from the airport. My daughter had a Mustang convertible and we had a soft top Jeep. If you are Australian just remember to drive on the right side of the road. You don't have to get an International license if you have a license in English.
CLIMATE
Climate wise it does rain in Kauai but it doesn't seem to bother anyone as the weather is warm and the rain is mistlike and comes and goes. Everyone carries ponchos or light raincoats. We went in December which is their winter and wet time. But on the upside if you are a surfer, winter is the best time for good waves.
WHEN TO TRAVEL
If you can go in the off season then the flights are cheaper and so is the accommodation.
I booked everything except the flights on the internet. As it was booked and paid for before we went we were able to relax and not worry about the costs.
We found that the trip was not anywhere near as expensive as we thought it would be.
DINING
Food wise, it was very reasonable. The Americans make the best fries and hamburgers. The burgers fill the whole plate. The best burger is the Bubba Burger from Hanalei Bay on the North Shore. You need to get there early as there is always a line up.
If you rent a house or condo then you will have a kitchen. There is a foodland & Safeway supermarket which sells everything even alcohol (beer & wine was quite cheap).
We were able to cater for the wedding by buying everything from the supermarkets.
SPAS
I would have liked to have visited a spa but did not have the time. Resorts have beauty treatments which include the Hawaiin lomi lomi massage, seaweed body masques, ti leaf wraps, botanical baths and mango manicures. Next time I will try them out.
GETTING THERE
You cannot fly direct to Kauai. You fly to Honolulu and then catch a domestic flight to Lihue airport Kauai. I booked the flights on the internet with Hawaiian Airlines. There are other airlines too such as Go. The only problem with all of the domestic airlines is they tend to overbook seats so you may find your flight delayed. So make sure if you have organised a hire car that you ring them if your flight is delayed. Hawaiins are quite laid back so where you are getting stressed they seem to remain very calm and at times you may think they don't care. Their attitude seems to be it will all turn out ok in the end. Guess what? It does.
WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION
I bought the lonely planet book but a lot of information I got from the Kauai tourist site on the internet. I even sent away for a brochure on the island and they posted it to my home.
If you are interested in going just email me with any questions and I will try to answer them. Just remember I am not a travel agent and am not affiliated with anyone. I am a traveller like all of you and want to just pass on my experiences and knowledge. It is all free. The question you may ask is will I go back there? Hey I didn't want to leave and neither did my husband and other family members, so yes I would definitely go back as there is so much to do there. My two sisters and brother-in-law spent 5 weeks on Oahu, Big Island, Mauai and Kauai. I asked them the other day would they go back, and without hesitation they said for sure. They are all in their sixties.
OTHER ISLANDS OF HAWAII
We also travelled to Big Island and Oahu. See separate section on these.
Good websites for info www.kauaidiscovery.com and www.gohawaii.com