Day 8
So, Phil is actually allergic to the car. He has come up in contact dermatitis on the backs of his legs and arms where his skin comes into contact with the seat of the Kia. I know he has passionately hated the Kia from the outset and we’ve tried in vain to change it but now even his body has rejected the car. It’s extreme.
Today we we went on another Shaka Tour to the Waimea and Koke’e state park. Before climbing the mountain, the tour took us to the Kauai coffee plantation and a Russian fort. The story behind the Russian fort was interesting. A Russian doctor, working for a trade company, came to Kauai to recover the cargo of a Russian ship that ran aground in Kauai. The doctor managed to convince the king of Kauai that he had power and influence in Russia. He promised the king that the Russians would support Kauai in an invasion. So, they built a fort. But the doctor had absolutely no influence and he was eventually fired for overstepping his authority (and not recovering the cargo).
The route up through the canyon has many look outs. We stopped at a few to take pictures. The visibility was better lower down the mountain. As we climbed it got cloudier and rainy until eventually we were in the clouds and couldn’t see anything other than a wall of grey. The red dirt waterfall was our favourite stop. We walked around admiring the red otherworldly landscape (and the possible bike lines). We went for a little walk around the Iliau nature loop. We were planning to do a hike on the Cliff View Trail but it was pouring with rain and I hadn’t packed the rainproof jackets so we didn’t. I wasn’t sad about missing out because the weather really was naff. We had lunch at Koke’e Lodge and museum before ascending to the final few view points in the clouds.
On the way back the tour guided us to a random ditch (the Menehune Ditch), the Hanapee swinging bridge (with cute puppies that tried to chew my shoe laces!) and to Captain Cook’s memorial statue (which was a lot smaller than I was expecting).
In the evening we grabbed a 16 inch pizza from Volcano Pizzeria and sat by the fire pit at the hotel. It was such a lovely warm evening.
Day 9
Today was a beach/pool day. We rented a daybed (which comes with fresh fruit and Mai Tais) and sat by the pool all day. Phil swam in the actual sea too. It was a very relaxed day.
Unfortunately, around 5:30pm Phil’s dermatitis got the better of him and we retreated to our room to sit in the cool air conditioning. Phil is VERY allergic to the car.
We watched Rogue One and back-to-back episodes of NCIS New Orleans until late. I really feel for Phil he is in such a terrible state and the only thing that really helps is a cold shower.
- Hippie -
