Tunnels and "Puke a dog"

Today was another mostly relaxing day, since we were tired and sore from our 8-mile hike yesterday.  We tried to find Tunnels Beach, which was only a few minutes from our house and was supposed to be the best snorkeling on the island.  We couldn’t seem to find the entry, so we parked at Ha’ena Beach Park, the better-marked beach just down the road and planned to walk to Tunnels. Unfortunately, we had forgotten to bring our beach towels, so we had to go right back to the tree house!  Since we had to go back anyway, we did some internet research that allowed us to find the tiny dirt road entry to Tunnels Beach this time around.

Tunnels was beautiful: lovely golden sand and blue water, and the cliffs of the Na Pali coast in the background, but the water was too tempestuous for snorkeling, a common theme on this trip. (things I have been reading say to visit Hawaii in the summer for snorkeling/calm water, and in the winter for surfing/waves).  Gavin wanted to try getting just offshore to a drop off where the reef probably started, but I wouldn’t let him.  I didn’t want to go out farther than our feet could at least touch the bottom; even barely offshore in hip deep water a sudden wave instantly pushed Gavin 20 feet away from where we had been standing – luckily it pushed him parallel to the coast instead of 20 feet out to sea to deeper water!  We were some of the only people even in the water, and once again there were a plethora of signs warning of strong currents.

Tunnels Beach.

Obligatory yoga on the beach photo.  :)

After drying off in the sun while reading some books, we headed back into Hanalei for lunch at Pukadog (which we jokingly had been pronouncing "Puke a dog" every time we passed it), a hot dog shop that one of Gavin’s friends had strongly recommended.  They certainly had some interesting and creative options for hot dogs.  I tried coconut relish on mine, but that was a mistake.  It was so syrupy sweet it was like eating frosting on my hot dog.  Gavin liked his mango relish better.  Their homemade mustard was really tasty, though!

After lunch we decided to do some more relaxing on the beach, so we went to the nearly-deserted Wainiha Beach Park.  This beach wasn’t as picturesque as some of the beaches we have been to, but it had plenty of nice shade trees and a few surfers and even SUPers on the smaller waves.

For dinner we chose Bouchons, a restaurant on the second floor of one of the little touristy strip malls in Hanalei.  We only chose it for the balcony and were planning on having just a drink there and then heading back to the Dolphin Restaurant for our last meal in Kaua’i, but we ended up just staying for dinner at Bouchons since we liked the view and our waiter was nice enough to seat us on the balcony even though we originally told him we weren’t having dinner.  I convinced Gavin to have some sushi with me, even though he doesn't really like it.  :)

We went back to the tree house to pack for our flight, but as we pulled into the driveway Gavin noticed that we had our first clear night on Kaua’i, not a single cloud above our heads.  The stars were incredibly bright and numerous; I always forget how the sky looks away from the town lights where we live.  We stood in the driveway and watched the sky together, a lovely end to our Hawaii vacation.