| Kawa'iloa Bay at Maha'ulepu |
On Easter Sunday we attended 8:30 am Mass at St. Theresa's in Kekaha, a tiny town about 4 miles east of our cottage at the missile range facility at Barking Sands.
 | St. Theresa's is the most western Catholic church in the United States. |
 | The church is open on either side. |
| The view from in front of the church. |
Our singing during the Mass was accompanied by an electric piano, three ukeleles and a tambourine, which gave all the songs a lovely Hawaiian lilt.
After Mass we headed east towards Poipu Beach but stopped along the way in the town of Ele'ele for breakfast at a little place called Grinds Cafe.
After Mass we headed east towards Poipu Beach but stopped along the way in the town of Ele'ele for breakfast at a little place called Grinds Cafe.
 | "Grinds" is Hawaiian slang for food. |
| Lots of folks at Grinds on Easter morning. |
I had standard breakfast fare which was really good while Tom had mahi mahi eggs benedict which he declared to be really good. The fried potatoes were fantastic,
 |
| ...as were the fresh-baked cinnamon rolls we had for dessert. |  |
After breakfast we continued east past Poipu Beach to hike the wild, undeveloped stretch of coastline called Maha'ulepu.
Maha'ulepu consists of gorgeous beaches,
...fairy-tale wooded paths
Cliffs overlooking the sea:
| |
...and the most breath-taking vistas:
The only problem was getting there.
There is no road to Maha'ulepu.
The paved road ends about two miles before the coast and is then replaced by a red dirt moonscape of deep ruts and craters not meant to be negotiated by anything less than a tank.
Only they don't tell you that in the guide book.
Anyway, Tom took the terrible landscape veeeery slowly and carefully so that it took 20 minutes to go those two miles from the paved road to the Maha'ulepu coast.
Tom actually did a heroic job of saving the under carriage of our little rental Focus, and I'm sure he'd tell you that though the short drive from the paved road to Maha'ulepo and back was a traumatic experience, it was totally worth it.
Not to mention the added benefit that, except for some beach-goers with SUV's, we had the hiking trail almost completely to ourselves.
After we made it back to the paved road from Mahau'lepu we drove along Poipu Beach until we came to Spouting Horn.
There is no road to Maha'ulepu.
The paved road ends about two miles before the coast and is then replaced by a red dirt moonscape of deep ruts and craters not meant to be negotiated by anything less than a tank.
Only they don't tell you that in the guide book.
Anyway, Tom took the terrible landscape veeeery slowly and carefully so that it took 20 minutes to go those two miles from the paved road to the Maha'ulepu coast.
Tom actually did a heroic job of saving the under carriage of our little rental Focus, and I'm sure he'd tell you that though the short drive from the paved road to Maha'ulepo and back was a traumatic experience, it was totally worth it.
Not to mention the added benefit that, except for some beach-goers with SUV's, we had the hiking trail almost completely to ourselves.
After we made it back to the paved road from Mahau'lepu we drove along Poipu Beach until we came to Spouting Horn.
| "The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook" says of Spouting Horn: "This wonderful delight is a small lava shelf where water from waves is thrust through an opening, causing water and air to squirt out a blowhole...causing a loud moaning and gasping sound." Every time the tide came in, which was every few seconds, the water would spout and the "horn" would play. It was quite mesmerizing. |
| ...As was the view of the coastline from Spouting Horn. |
I expect this will go down as one of our more memorable Easters.
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