On Friday during our week at Cape Hatteras, we went to visit the famous Hatteras Lighthouse, which is the tallest brick lighthouse in the country. Since we had a baby with us, we didn’t climb the lighthouse, but it was still an impressive structure to see.
Our family at the Hatteras Lighthouse.
Mio photobombing Ted & Elisa’s photo.
Standing at 210 feet tall, it’s the tallest lighthouse in the country.
Ted eating the Hatteras Lighthouse
Afterwards, we visited the old original site of the lighthouse (it was relocated to its current location some years ago), and found a little river-like area where lots of turtles were swimming.
The turtles seemed really friendly and started coming up to Mirei and I.
More and more emerged from the water until there were about twenty out of the water coming towards her.
We joked that Mirei was the long awaited turtle queen and the turtles were coming to pay homage to her. (Our family has had a running inside joke even before this vacation that Mirei resembles a turtle.)
Suddenly, the lead turtle stretched its neck out and snapped at Mirei’s sock! I screamed and had to make sure all her toes were still intact before I could calm down.
It must have mistook her sock for a worm or something!
Mirei seemed to be unfazed and oblivious to the biggest crisis of her 5 month old life.
We headed back to the house and of course squeezed in more beach time before the predicted thunderstorm came in.
Dan caught a ghost crab at the beach.
Closeup of the ghost crab.
Mio was ambivalent about the crab…
Mirei lying inside the beach tent.
Dawww…
My sister Miwa playing frisbee on the beach with my brother Ted.
The rain started coming down so we had to quickly run back to the house to take refuge from the incoming storm… we still got drenched.
Dan, Miwa, and Ted were fascinated by the ghost crabs after catching one on the beach in the afternoon, so they went on an adventure that night catching more crabs on the beach.
They caught a whole bunch of them, but in the end let them go.
We kicked off our second full day in Kauai’ with a trip to Eggbert’s in Kapaa, which was right in front of our hotel. They are known for their awesome macadamia nut pancakes!
Eggbert's in Kapaa
Macadamia nut pancakes!
After breakfast, we drove over to Lihue to Kaua’i Backcountry Adventures, where we had reserved tickets to go on a tubing tour! It’s a mountain tubing adventure where you can float down the historic irrigation system of the former Lihue Plantation — it’s a ditchy and tunnel system that was once used to irrigate sugar crops, but is no longer used since 2000. It’s now exclusively used for tubing tours.
All geared up and ready to go!
We rode in these vehicles that were formerly used by the Swiss army to transport personnel and arms. It made for a bumpy but fun ride!
They stopped as we made our way up the mountain so we could admire the view.
Below is a video that Dan took of “sleepy grass,” a type of plant that closes its leaves temporarily when touched. I’d never seen anything like it before!
Once we reached the tubing site, they filed everyone into a single line and put us on tubes, and we just floated on our donuts in the river.
Everyone on their inner tubes, ready to go!
Dan floating in the water.
We floated through a series of dark tunnels.
Entering another tunnel...
We were to turn our helmet lights on when we went into the tunnels.
Floating lazily along...
Look at how red those leaves are!
At the end of the tubing tour, we got out of the water and enjoyed a sandwich lunch in the mountains. They then took us back down the mountain in the army vehicle again. Our tour guides were very funny and friendly, and the tubing tour was pretty fun without requiring too much physical effort. My kind of activity! 😉
For the rest of the afternoon, we drove up to the Northern part of Kaua’i, to get some beach time. Our first stop was Tunnels Beach.
Arriving at gorgeous Tunnels Beach.
The current was pretty strong on the Western side of the beach. Apparently a guy broke his arm earlier that day trying to swim there. Snorkeling is not advised on this part of the beach.
We headed over to the Eastern side of Tunnels Beach, which was much calmer and more snorkeling-friendly. Here is Dan, so ready to go snorkeling!
Me snorkeling in the water.
We spotted a triggerfish.
A school of fish at Tunnels.
Dan snorkeling.
Me in the water.
Another triggerfish... look at its piglike snout!
Lone coral.
A deliciously large sea urchin.
Dan discovered sea turtles!
This was my favorite snorkeling picture!
The sea turtles were nibbling on the coral.
Such amazing creatures!
Dan was taking a video of the sea turtles at one point (below), when a current pushed him forward towards the turtle’s butt. The turtle got spooked and quickly swam away….
A sea cucumber.
Closeup of coral.
Coral at Tunnels Beach.
A closeup. Huge thanks to Estella for lending us her underwater case to use with our camera. It was thanks to her that we were able to get some of these great underwater photos!
After spending a couple hours snorkeling at Tunnels Beach, we drove further north to see what we could find. We came across this super creepy-looking wet cave. I looked it up later and found out it was called Waikanaloa Cave. Sea caves are formed by thousands of years of ocean waves pounding against the lava and eventually etching out a cavern. At one time, the ocean was up to this point.
Waikanaloa Cave
This wet cave is right by the road, you can't miss it!
Hubby in front of the Waikanaloa Cave. I was getting more and more freaked out every minute we were there.
Can't get over how creepy-looking it was!
What lurks in that darkness? Apparently nothing (no sea life) except for leptospirosis, a nasty and dangerous bacteria. Swimming is strictly prohibited. (Who would want to swim here?!)
Me at the Waikanaloa Cave. Don't let my peace sign fool you; I couldn't wait to get out of here. Continue!
Desperate to get away from the scary cave, we continued on our way up the island and arrived at Ke’e Beach, where a much more pleasant sight greeted us.
Arriving at Ke'e Beach.
Me at beautiful Ke'e Beach.
Dan told me to look more enthusiastic...
Dan on Ke'e Beach.
Sparkling waters.
Dan under the giant roots of a tree on Ke'e Beach.
Me perched on the roots.
After Ke’e Beach, we started making our way back down the Eastern part of the island. There was a slight drizzle, after which we found this rainbow over the Kaua’i landscape!
Rainbow over Kaua'i.
Too bad it wasn't a double rainbow... haha*
We stopped by this souvenir vendor area on our way back, but most of the shops had closed up by then. We vowed to return the next day!
Kaua'i Products Fair, about to close.
For dinner, we decided to check out Kalapaki Joe’s in Lihue, a sports bar that one of the tubing tour guides had recommended as having great nachos and happy hour specials. The food was good, but the service was mediocre….
Kalapaki Joe's in Lihue.
A monster nacho plate, with kalua pork. It had to be the largest nacho plate I'd ever seen, but I have to admit it was pretty delicious.
Seafood pasta from Kalapaki Joe's. The lighting was horrible, so the photo doesn't look too appetizing, but it was also pretty good!
We returned to our hotel, stuffed and ready to pass out. The next day was our last day in Kaua’i, and in 24 hours, we’d be boarding a plane back home to San Francisco. Check back for Day 9, our last day in Hawaii! (Finally, right?)
