The canyon is 10 miles long, and up to 3,000 feet deep. That’s Waipoo Falls, ann 800-foot cascading waterfall. It’s a 2-mile cliff hike to get there (I didn’t do it).
Details of the canyon on Wikipedia here (check out their panorama).
“…The canyon has a unique geologic history—it was formed not only by the steady process of erosion, but also by a catastrophic collapse of the volcano that created Kauaʻi.…”
Yumi started the restaurant in 1978. She passed it along to her daughter, from whom Gina bought the business. As a tribute to the founder she calls it “Gina’s at Yumi’s.” In the southern Kauai town of Waimea.
Chantal, Gina’s mom was helping out when I was there.
A great breakfast.
By way of asking around in Waimea (southern part of Kauai, where I’ve come today), I went to the Kaleheo Steaks & Ribs restaurant tonight, had a half order of baby back ribs with Hawaiian cole slaw, two local beers, and listened to local band Waiola do a bunch of covers (a perfect rendition of Percy Sledges’ “When a Man Loves a Woman”), and then a stunning Hawaiian song where the singer hit impossibly high falsetto notes, the occasional yodel, and the maybe 25 customers were cheering.
This is out of chronological sequence with my trip, but I’ll backtrack when I can.
The southern part of Kauai is WAY different than the northern part.
I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin about half past dead…
This song recurs to me now and then when I’m on the road. In Puerto Jiminez on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, a kind of dusty border town, the song came to me. And here this morning in Kapaa, on the northern shore of Kauai, I’ve got only a half hour from the airport and I love the place. It’s got the big touristy hotels, but there’s a healthy local gringo culture here, haven’t been here long enough to suss out local Hawai’ian culture, been here less than 48 hours now, gotta check out of hotel soon, so will post some of yesterday’s discoveries before the maid kicks me out:
My Daewoo beater, duct-taped sunroof, $25/day (30 w.tax), perfect, not being the new Avis/Budget/Alamo brand new tourist rental.
Found a place to lay my head, got into ocean, perfect temp., not too cold/warm, oh my! 3 times in water yesterday, each time with fins, once with air mat, which I’m finding difficult to control, squirrelly; a little body surfing; the sand is rough and granular, fluffy, soft, nice to roll around when you come back in. Last night swam in rain. No one else at least here, doing anything like this. I’m like a starving man sitting down to a banquet, the Pacific so inviting and comfortable, unlike the 50 degree NorCal ocean.
Small Town Coffee
Annie Caporufscio set up shop in this converted Ford airport shuttle van with her partner Jeremy Hartshorn; Annie had run the shop for 9 years in rented space, but got tired of the landlords rising the rent and “…didn’t want to be bullied in the lease.” Great barista crema, the muffins make a good breakfast. Local hangout, good vibes…
Kauai Beach House Hostel
$40 shared sleeping room, $80 for a solo room (of which there are 3). Looks doable to me, especially in the land of 2-$300 hotel rooms. On beach, clean, wi-fi, young travelers, kitchen, shared baths, cool place.
Shared room.
Paul Iwai’s Rooster Farm
How many roosters, I asked. 200?
More, Paul said. Are they beautiful! Had great visit with Paul, from a Japanese family, on family land, born here, I know chickens, and we talked shop. Oh my again! Look at these beauties; beautifully tended. You should hear the noise!
I asked Paul where I could buy a knife and he gave me two. We ate macadamia nuts from his trees, he gave me grapefruit, tangerines, I’m sending him 3 books. Kindred spirits abound here.
That’s part of what happened yesterday, gotta pack up and head north now.
I realize that I am afflicted with over-enthusiasm, especially when it comes to communicating my experiences as i move through life. That said, this was just about the most perfect day I’ve ever had.
I was a water person in earlier years, starting at 4 years of age when I fell in a lake and while underwater until my dad fished me out, enjoyed the experience. In high school I swam competitively and one day after a swimming meet at the great Fleishacker salt water pool out at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, a swimmer named Jim Fisher and I went out across the Great Highway to swim in the ocean. I couldn’t believe it. The waves, blue water, invigoration. I was hooked.
Had my first surfboard ride at age 18, then changed my major at Stanford so I was through every Thursday at noon and able to head to Santa Cruz until Sunday night. I was a lifeguard, taught swimming, and then somehow over the years, drifted away from the beach in comparison with my serious surfer friends.
WELL — I’ve come to this small island of Kauai to get back in the water. Today I was in the ocean 3 times — a little bodysurfing, mostly swimming (the last time in the rain tonight) and in a fresh water pool 3 times..
A barista coffee shop on wheels with wonderful coffee, muffins, and vibes. A hostel on the beach with rates (in this expensive resort area — Kapaa –) of $40/$80 per night for shared/solo rooms. A guy in the country with about 300 beautiful roosters and tangerine, grapefruit, macadamia and lychee nut trees. A day of clouds and sun and clouds and rain. This island like a large boat in the Pacific Ocean. A Mexican restaurant that feels like you’re in Mexico with delicious food and 3 TVs with Mexican soccer games.
I’ll try to get around to writing it up (with photos) before long…
Saw this in San Francisco out by the beach last week. I believe there are outfits that do conversions like this. In this case, they went horizontal and not vertical with the addition, the former more aerodynamic than the latter.
Photo shot in San Rafael, Calif. by Dave Covey
In 1988 I bought a 4-cylinder, 5-speed Tacoma 4×4 with the Xtra cab (meaning a 6′ bed). Then in 2003, I got a new one, same model. The engine is a bit gutless going up long hills, but will run forever.
By this time I knew exactly what I wanted:
A metal camper shell made by Tradesman in Winters, Calif. It opened on all three sides, was way stronger than plastic shells. I bought an aluminum rack from Hauler Racks. It came disassembled via UPS and I bolted it together and mounted it. It rests on the truckbed sides, not on the camper roof.
At Campway’s in Santa Rosa, Calif., I got the inside of the bed sprayed with a waterproof membrane to protect the metal. Also a “carpet kit,” with storage boxes along the sides and sliding middle panels inside the bed.
You can see the pull-out drawer and side storage boxes. I shot this photo on Hornby Island, BC on one of my four trips to Canada shooting photos for Builders of the Pacific Coast. I remember one afternoon collecting oysters way out on a reef (beyond the commercial guys and cooking them for dinner on a beach fire with aluminum-foil-clad potatoes, red wine, AND just-picked blackberries with …(ahem)… heavy cream and brown sugar.
These days I’m doing less posts on this blog and more on The Shelter Blog. I realized that I had a lot of build-garden-homestead-forage experience (and assemblage) to communicate and liked the idea of putting it all in one place.
I’ll cross-reference some of my posts on the new blog with this one, such as this:
1983 Toyota 4×4 Pickup Truck Used on Baja Beaches and Desert
I bought it used from a builder friend. It didn’t have the “Xtra cab,” so the bed was 8′ long.
Tarp for Shade: I had a Yakima Rocket Box on racks on the camper roof, with a flea market tarp (12’×14′) folded up inside. The frame was 1″ electrical conduit, with special connectors tightenable with wingscrews. The tarp was aluminized fabric. It was weighted down with canvas bags filled with sand and hung from each corner (ingenious!). Took maybe 45 minutes to set up. I’d place it butting up to the truck bed.
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