With just three months left to go before we set off on our Big Adventure, I figured this was a good time to check our Kaua’i bucket list and see how we’re doing.
Experiences:
- Rent a beach cottage for a couple of nights at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, to enjoy the beach and experience the gorgeous sunsets. We have reservations for a two-night stay in early July. We have a two-bedroom cottage, so YaYu is going to bring a friend along.
- Hike Waimea Canyon. Brett, YaYu and her friend will hike somewhere in the canyon while we’re staying at the PMRF cottages.
Brett, YaYu and her friend will have several trails to choose from for a hike in Waimea Canyon. - Hike the Wai Koa Loop/Stone Dam trail. The trail and the dam were destroyed during the April flooding, and are currently still closed. I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to do this or not, but I’ve heard rumors the trail may be open again later this summer, but I doubt it will be as beautiful as it once was. Even if I don’t get to go, I’m grateful that Brett and the girls had the opportunity.
- Take an ATV tour out to Kipu Kai Ranch This was so much fun – Brett and I did it in April with our friend Denise, and it lived up to the hype.
- Get up early and hike out to watch the sunrise from the Pineapple Dump. We’re going to do this after we move over to the condo in late July.
- Take the tubing adventure tour. I did this with my grandson and daughter-in-law, and it was very fun and total worth going. I highly recommend!
- Visit the Kaua’i Museum in Lihue. Another activity we plan to do after we’re staying at the condo.
- Tour the Limahuli Gardens & Preserve. The garden, located on the north shore, was severely damaged during the April floods and remains closed. Actually, I don’t even think anyone can even get there any more because of damage to the roads.
Flood damage at Limahuli Garden
Food:
- Celebrate our anniversary this year at Duke’s Kaua’i. Brett and I thoroughly enjoyed our dinner here: great food, a terrific view and a HUGE complementary slice of their famous Hula Pie!
We were seated at the table on the left and enjoyed this same stunning view. - Have a lunch date at Brenneke’s Beach Broiler. Another nice outing earlier this spring, and we enjoyed our lunch.
- Have dinner at The Eating House 1849. We are planning to take YaYu with us to eat here the night before we depart Kaua’i – we think it will be a great ending to our time on the island – and at Bar Acuda in Hanalei. We’re currently undecided about this. Not that it isn’t good, but will we have the time and $$$?
- Try breadfruit. Glad we got to do this with WenYu – she loved breadfruit! We all thought it was delicious. WenYu ate hers with butter and syrup.
Off-Island:
- Make an overnight visit to the Big Island to visit Volcanoes National Park. We have flight reservations over to the Big Island for late June, and a reservation at the Kilauea Military Camp, but the camp is closed indefinitely due to volcanic eruptions, and the whole trip could end up being cancelled depending on what’s going on with the volcano at the time of our trip. If we go but can’t visit the park, we’ll drive from Hilo up the east side of the island and around the top and down to Kailua-Kona for the night, making stops along the way, and then go back the same way the next day.
Out of fourteen items on our list, we’ve accomplished five of them, have reservations and/or dates for six, one has had to be cancelled because of the floods, one is an unknown, and we’re undecided about one. Not bad!
The Occasional Nomads 
I will treasure our ATV trip experience forever! What a fun time we had!
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It was a fantastic and fun experience, made better because we got to do it with you!
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I’ve never heard of bread fruit until a video I saw on YT just recently. Something I will keep my eye out for. Great bucket list. Going to bookmark should I ever get to Kauai. Tubing adventures for sure!
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Breadfruit is apparently a “super food” and supplies many daily nutrients. Plus, it tastes good! Many people cook and eat it before it ripens, but we enjoyed the flavor of the ripened fruit more. It was easy to prepare as well – just a few minutes in the microwave and it was done!
The tubing adventure was a lot of fun – I highly recommend it. Same for the ATV tour. They cost $$$ but I thought they were both worth it.
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We’ve done the ATV ride, the tubing excursion, and the Waimea Canyon hike . . . loved them all! I have a wonderful memory of standing at an overlook, gazing out at a big horn sheep next to a German traveler, and having him look up ‘Goat’ in his German dictionary to show me in order to confirm what he was seeing. He was absolutely thrilled to see them, as were my husband and me!
I wonder if instead of hiking/visiting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, you’d be able to take a nighttime boating excursion to see the lava glows from the water? Just something that suddenly occurred to me!
It’s crazy to think we actually hiked across a miles long crater there a few years back. It made me nervous then to do it!
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I am still hoping we make it to the Big Island, but doubt that the park will be open. I just hope we’re able to fly over to the island at the point! We will probably spend the night in Kailua-Kona, and a boat tour from there would be kind of long – but who knows? Even if we miss the park there will still be lots to see and experience on the island.
I would love to hike Waimea Canyon, but have loads of trouble on the “down” portion of the hike because of my knee, especially since there are no railings to hold onto – even poles don’t help much (uphill is fine though).
I had read that tubing tour was “ho hum” but I thought it was great – just enough thrills and speed to keep it interesting and fun. Our grandson absolutely loved it. I’m encouraging Brett and YaYu to try and fit it in before we go.
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I just found your blog through searching for Banana Joe’s and am really enjoying it so far! We’re visiting Kauai at the end of August/early September and I’m eager to find many of the hidden gems Kauai has to offer. Thanks so much for sharing Kauai through your blog! 🙂
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First of all, you will not regret stopping at Banana Joe’s! The banana frosties are amazing (the pineapple ones too).
I feel like we only touched the tip of what’s to be seen and done here. I especially love that you don’t have to spend a lot here to experience the best of Kaua’i.
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