Oh Hawaii. We’ve all seen it in the the movies, the paradise in the middle of the ocean, the incredible rolling hills, amazing beaches and the location of many movies. I’ve always known a good part of Jurassic Park was filmed in Hawaii but wasn’t quite sure exactly where that was.

Firstly Hawaii is made up of 6 main Islands. This is the easiest way I can break them down.

Kauai : Also called The Garden Isle, Incredible scenery, less touristy, short to drive around, currently Instagrams favourite Island.
Oahu : Super Touristy and super busy, home of Waikiki, Go to the north shore if you go here, also home to the stairway to heaven.
Molokai : Huge sea cliffs, less visited, described as the ‘empty island’, more traditional.
Maui : 30 miles of beaches, Home to Road of Hana, Haleakala Volcano resides on Maui.
Lanai : Among the smallest and least trafficked of Hawaiian Islands, main draw being a big fancy resort, 98% of the island is privately owned.
Hawaii : AKA Big Island, super volcanic : home to one of the worlds most active volcano, home to Hawaii’s highest mountain : Mauna Kea.
At the core of Hawaiian value is the notion of taking care of the land, so the land takes care of you. Whichever island you chose to visit, always make sure you pick up your trash and respect the place. Don’t be one of THOSE tourists.

Kauai was going to be where I was headed, with a short stop into Oahu on the way home. I’d heard and seen how incredible Kauai was and really looked forward to doing a heap of hiking there.

I flew Brisbane to Sydney, then onwards to Honolulu (Theres no direct flights from Aus to Kauai). From Honolulu I met up with Kira and then we flew to Lihue which is the main capitol of Kawaii. I met Kira a few years ago whilst backpacking in Vietnam and have since met up with her again in America. She also popped over to see a bit of Australia last year on my trip up to Cape York (more on this trip later). It’s really hard finding people you can travel with for long periods of time, who carry the same interests and are willing to climb stupid hills with you. Whilst being completely different people in a way, we’ve become really good friends and travel incredibly well together.

The flight from Honolulu to Lihue was a short and sweet 45min. Id gotten used to flying 5+ hours to work all the time so it felt like as soon as we got up to flying altitude, we where heading back down. Instead of renting a normal rental car we looked into getting something that we could actually camp out of and could do a bit of beach driving etc in. The company Kauai Overlander seemed to be the most suitable and they had one of their Tacomas available to rent the time we would be there. Bryce met us in the parking lot of the Airport (Bryce and his partner Melody run Kauai Overlander) and after a bit a fill-in on the vehicle and information we were off. It took me a few times of driving on the wrong side of the road before I was used to it again. We ended up staying in an Airbnb in Lihue for our first night, and I caught up on some much needed jetlag sleep.

The Tacoma named “Gold Fish” by Kauai Overlander, we changed the name to “Goldie Hawn” though. Thought it was more suitable

The next day we headed off towards the west coast of Kauai. Two things I noticed quickly on Kauai was 1. All the chickens. 2. Shave Ice. You see ‘shave ice’ sold all over Kauai at various places. Firstly, I thought it was just like a slurpee, or one of ice cones you get from markets where they fill a cup with ice and pour syrup over the top. I was mistaken. The ones on Kauai are on a completely different level and are incredibly good. This particular one had really good reviews and was on the way. We ended up stopping here a second time on a return trip - they were that good.

They where worth every dollar. They werent anything like the ones back in Aus.

There are Sooooooooo many chickens on Kauai. There literally every where you go.

We continued to the west coast and entered Polihale State Park. The road into the park wasn’t in great condition and I would suggest only venturing in if you have a 4wd/jeep. This didn’t stop heaps of tourists creeping slowly in there sedans so they could get close enough to reach the beach. After dropping tyre pressures (its legal to drive and camp on the beach with a permit), we shot over one of the sand dunes and on to the beach. There were heaps of tourists in jeeps around, but no one else drove out on to the sand and the beach-goers proceeded to look at us like we were crazy as we started driving up the beach. I had dropped tyre pressure down to around 18psi but the beach still seemed to be super soft. I kept momentum up and continued down the beach to more solid ground. With no recovery gear and no one else to snatch, this was not the spot to get stuck.

We would quickly find out that we weren’t the only ones brave enough to drive down the beach when we turned into a cut at the far end of the beach and saw a Jeep bogged right down. An American couple had decided to venture out into the sand, thinking it was all sweet since they where in a 4wd. After dropping there tyre pressure down, and figuring out they hadn’t actually put the car into 4wd, we managed to get the car unstuck and got them straight off the beach where they should never ever venture again. They where incredibly lucky we came through, as no one else was in sight and would’ve been a really expensive recovery if they had to call a hire company out.

Dude didn’t even offer me a beer. Poor form.

We found ourselves a nice spot right on the beach and set up camp. Goldie Hawn had a super easy rooftop tent for Kira, and I had a little 2 person tent with a blow up mattress. It also had a bit of a fit out in the tray including a esky and few draws. A pull out awning also pulled out from the back.

We witnessed an amazing sunset and started up a fire as the sun went down. Weather was really good temperature at night time and would make for a good first night on the road. I had heard that the stars where really amazing from Polihale but sadly we were there at a full moon meaning no astro.

The next morning we left Polihale and headed south for a boat tour we had booked for that day with Capt Andys. We were both keen to see the Na Pali coastline from the water and this tour would scoot around the west coast we had camped at the previous night before and up to a spot we were eager to see.

We got to see a couple pods of spinner dolphins on the way up but it was incredibly hard to get a shot of them as they where so quick. Apparently, if you do want to see the dolphins better, the morning is a better time to do this.

The weather would come and go and we would end up getting caught in quite a good shower of rain. We cruised up the Na Pali Coastline, ducking in and out of caves. The boat driver who wasn’t actually Capt Andy himself (Disappointing, I know), was incredibly skilled and managed to battle the incoming/outgoing waves of the caves without any drama. Pretty sure he said he had been doing it for 20-30 odd years.

We would end up pulling up on the remote beach of Nualolo Kai for a feed and a snorkel. There didnt appear to be to much to see in the water so we just hung out taking in the amazing scenery. Shortly after lunch we went for a short walk to an ancient Hawaiian village that was not far from the beach.

After packing the boat up we continued the cruise back home. Hawaii would deliver another stellar sunset, and we pulled up for a few minutes to watch it duck below the horizon.

We arrived back into port at dark and ended up camping on the coastline south of Lihue.

The next day after having breakfast at a quaint little coffee shop called “Little Fish Coffee” we continued north past Lihue stopping off at Wailua Falls, Opaekka Falls and Wailua River Valley. We would end up pulling up in Kilauea for lunch and visiting the local lighthouse.

From Kilauea we headed up to Princeville where we had a Airbnb booked and ended up driving down to Hanelei spending time admiring all the waterfalls across the valley.

Hanelei would end up being one of my favourite little towns on Kauai, with one of my favourite beaches and is a really good base to complete the Kalalau trail. I would definitely suggest aiming to spend a few days here. Theres also heaps of good food places in Hanelei.

The next morning we made a early start to try and be the first ones on the Kalalau trail to make our way up to Hanakapiai Falls. It was slightly confusing for us to try and work out exactly what permits etc you needed to complete this hike so i’ll try to break it down as simply as i can.

Hanakapui Falls is a 8 mile round trip hike. It follows the first 2 miles of the Kalalau trail and then ducks inland 2 miles to reach the falls. You have to cross the Hanakapi'ai stream 4/5 times to reach the falls. You will need a day parking permit to complete this hike and theres a large carpark at the start of the trail to park in.
The Kalalau trail is a 22 mile round hike that requires camping permits. Permits are only being given out 90 days in advance atm due to all the repair works going on around the area. The permits also sell out very quickly due to the popularity of the hike. There is no overnight parking at the start of the trailhead so you either need to get a shuttle or uber from Hanelei or Princeville. This hike is no joke and is incredibly dangerous. It’s rated as #4 on the toughest hikes in the world, and there are sections that are incredibly skinny - if you slip here you will definitely die a tragic death. Youtube “crawlers ledge - Kalalau Trail” if you want to see exactly what I am talking about. We met a couple who had purchased camping permits for Kalalau trail, we would later find out through instagram that they didn’t actually make it to the end due to finding it to hard and they overestimated what they could carry. I didnt’ get to complete it this time round but I’m definitely planning on coming back to do it.

We would be only completing the trek up to the falls this time round. The trail to Hanakapui starts with a decent incline and you really don’t get to rest from this point forwards. It is a difficult hike that has plenty of uphill/downhill and can be incredibly muddy. You really need to be careful when you cross the stream aswell as this area is prone to flash flooding and numerous people have died here.

It took around 2.5 hours to reach the falls from the carpark. We spent the last half hour rushing quickly as we could see the sun creeping into the catherdral and looked as if it would be incredibly overexposed. We found that there was no rush at all as the sun was not going to creep in anymore then it had. Also of note : Whilst Hanakāpī‘ai Beach is incredible, this is not the place to go for a dip. Over 100 people have lost there lives here due to flash flooding, rips and aggressive surf. Whilst hot, going for a swim to cool down is not worth your life.

Our permit was only valid to 1pm, so after an hour or so of mucking around at the falls, we made the return trip back to the car. I was more then glad to see the car in sight, it had warmed up quite a lot and was a hard slog back to the car. We would end up staying again in the Airbnb at Princeville and was really worth it for a hot shower and comfy bed after the hike. It was definitely an early night.

The next day we checked out of the Airbnb and headed back down south and over west again heading for Kokee national park. Some of you have probably figured we are now cutting back over from where we came from. Kokee national park isn’t that far from Polihale Beach but one problem Kira found when booking permits etc for camping was that we were restricted on what nights we could camp where. This meant that we would need to cut back and forth between where we could and couldn’t stay. In saying that, it’s not a big deal at all on Kauai if you have to do the same. Its literally only 1.5-2 hours to go from one end to the other. I couldn’t understand why Kauai didn’t have a full loop around the Island, but you definitely come to understand why when you see that its not actually physically possible to have a road on the Na Pali Coast side.

Its a steep climb up into Waimea Canyon from the coast and the views on the way up are worthwhile stopping for.

There are a heap of good viewpoints on the way.

We got up into Kokee State Park and went searching for a campsite. There is one main campground in Kokee with cold showers/toilets that is 2wd accesible but we went searching for one of the more remote camps. The Tacoma had no trouble navigating the 4wd roads but would not be suitable for anything less. We pulled up into the below spot but sadly figured out it was a day use area.

We continued on down the track and found a nice sheltered area surronded by huge trees.

After being joined by a local cat, we had dinner and finished the night off with s’mores. I’d actually never heard of these until my last trip to the US. They are incredibly good and I wish they where a thing in AUS.

The next morning we forced ourselves to wake up early once again : this can be hard but is ALWAYS worth it. It was was a 4:30am start as we had about a 45min drive out navigating the dirt roads to make it back to the main road. Thankfully we made it out without to much drama and headed up to the Kalalau lookout. The clouds weren’t really flowing like I would hope over the ridgeline but the sunrise was still worth getting up for.

After sunrise we headed down the road to the start of the trailhead of the Awaawapuhi Trail. The trail is one of the most popular on Kauai and has a large signposted parking lot.

The hike down is quite easy as it is a continuous 1500ft descent and took around an hour and a half. The bad part about trails that head down the whole way means you will spend the whole way coming back up it. Its simple science really. Whilst not incredibly hard its a good workout by the time you return. Depending on the time of year the Hawaii heat can knock you around a bit aswell.

The official viewpoint gives you incredible views down into the valley, but you can travel down a little bit further to get my more panoramic view.

The below photo shows the way down if you wish to proceed further than the first viewpoint.

The views are well worth the hike : they are incredible. The Valley is huge and the choppers/planes that fly into it look tiny.

After making the return trip back, we headed back down to the main Kokee camping site and spent the rest of the afternoon resting in preparation for a hike we had planned that afternoon.

I will continue this hike with PART 2 continuing on with the rest of the trip.

Kauai : The Real Life Jurrasic Park - Part 1