The Wild Chickens of Kauai

No chronicle of Kauai is complete without some mention of the ubiquitous wild chickens. We heard numerous stories about the chickens ranging from a humorous statement that "there is only one KFC on Kauai" to the impact of hurricanes freeing fighting cocks that mated with the wild chickens to create wild chickens that are not just common, but more aggressive.

From Taro Fields North Shore

From Taro Fields North Shore

Spouting Horn

My friend Dianne Draper used to live in Hawaii. She said Spouting Horn was the best place to buy the unique Ni'hau leis made of shells found only on that island west of Kauai. I couldn't afford the lovely leis, but we did get some typical pictures of the spouting horn area. As was so common on our vacation, the rain grays out the pictures a bit.

From Spouting Horn

From Spouting Horn

Kilauea Point

The first time we tried to visit this gorgeous lighthouse, it rained so hard we could barely see the lighthouse. We went on to Ke'e Beach and came back to take some pictures of this lovely place. We even had actual sunshine!

From Kilauea Point

From Kilauea Point

The birds were incredible and it was interesting to look down at the variety of colors in the water.

From Kilauea Point

Of course, I couldn't resist taking pictures of this charming Episcopal Church in the nearby town.

From Kilauea Point

I thought the grounds of the church were spectacular.

From Kilauea Point

The view from our Kauai room

I found myself totally absorbed in watching the ocean and listening to the surf. It was my first trip to Hawaii and, truth be told, the first time I'd really spend much time at all near the shore. Bright and early our first morning in Kauai, I slipped out on the lanai to check out the water I had more sensed than seen the night before when we checked in. Imagine my surprise to find a cruise ship in our little cove!

From Cruise Ship

Kalapaki beach is part of Anchor Cove and we soon learned that Anchor cove was aptly named -- it appeared to be the main port for the island.

We quickly learned about the latest thing in water sports -- paddle surfing!

From Kalapaki Marriott

If you are wondering about the darkness in the photo -- it rained most of our trip, so these were the best pictures we got of the paddle surfers.

From Kalapaki Marriott