The North Side

Up here near Princeville is the wetter side of the Island and really beautiful.

The road is crazy with tourist driving newly rented Challengers, four door Jeeps and Mustangs bent on running everyone over...usually the newly landed who haven't picked up the Aloha spirit yet. Tiny one lane bridges and narrow roads take you along the coast to a series of beautiful beaches, we went up here several times.

The first was just to get our bearings, the next time we walked beaches and trails, had a local cut up a green coconut with a machete surrounded in birds landing nearly on him. Really fun, the coconut was actually frizzy, once we drank the juice he cut it up so we could cut the coconut meat out which was not sweet but still had a nice flavor.

 

Across the street on the North side are several large caves, and I do mean large, going back fifty yards and nearly as wide.

 We then gave the famous hiking trail that goes up around the island where they filmed King Kong and other movies but the humidity was just overwhelming as we went up into the jungle part of the path so we only made it to the first look out over the beach below.

 

 There are a half dozen really beautiful beaches along the North coast with your usual surfers and boarders.

 

 

 

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The Boat Ride up the River 

On one of our last days we did the Fern Grotto boat tour on Walt Smith's boat (my dad's name which made us chuckle) This was up the only large navigable river on the island.

This included a traditional Hawaiian band and hula girls

Susie actually joined in
and got her Hula in... I know! What happened to our shy girl?

Just goes to show how the Islands affect you ... :)

 

Once you reach the Fern Grotto (see the ferns growing upside down and the Grotto ((name for a small cave)) in the back ground which has a water fall trickling down in front of it, you walk up a path a canopy of incredible flowers and trees. This is the cave people used to get married in until a flood made it too unstable, very wonderful spot.

 

 

On our very last day we decided to go to the Kilauea Point Lighthouse built in 1913

 

This is out on a long point with an island at the very tip serving as a bird refuge as well which you can't see in this pic', there is a really amazing cove on the right side which the fence runs right up to the drop off.

 

Off the cliff 

 

The tip island 

 

The North or left side