Wednesday Oct 18
Off on the 10am fight to Kauai. There was no traffic on the way to the airport (unlike the other evening) so we arrived early and checked-in. Kona airport is very third world - open air and kind of junky looking. Fortunately there was a Hawaiian Air lounge - which was air-conditioned but otherwise set a new low as far as lounges go. We arrived at our condo at mid-day and were able, by prior arrangement, to check-in early. After settling in we had lunch at the resort’s beachfront restaurant, Oasis. We then walked across the street to do some grocery shopping - very convenient.
As the day was now slipping away we opted for a beach walk to get the lay of the land - our area of Kauai is called Wailua (about 5 miles from the airport). We saw a nest with 2 baby Shearwaters. We also discovered that Wailau is a bit of a desert in terms of restaurants - the Oasis at our resort and a beach pub looked like the only options - looked like we’d be cooking at home for the next 5 nights. This was not too bad - our condo was beachfront with 2 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms, “upgraded” and well maintained.
Thursday Oct 19
Today we headed off to the Waimea Canyon - an amazing valley of unspoiled vistas - totally amazing - it’s referred to as the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific” - and deserves the title. It’s 12 miles long, 1-3 miles deep and 3600 feet deep. One spot is renowned at the rainiest spot in the world as it recoded the highest annual rainfall (17 meters) in a single year - the average is over 11 meters. 
Later we drove to Poipu (south of the airport) where most of the major resorts are located - we had a very crummy lunch at the Grand Hyatt’s pool side restaurant.
As usual we stayed home for dinner.
Friday Oct 20
We headed north today to visit the Napali coast and hike the Kapalau trail - it’s about a 1 hour drive from our condo (can be a lot longer due to traffic, one-lane bridges, construction stop/go’s and tree lopping. This and a couple of scenic stops along the way meant we only arrived at 10:30am - far too late to secure parking at this popular spot even if you’ll willing to walk a mile. So we gave up and decided to return very early the following day.
Instead we heading south (since we were at the end of the road) stopping in Hanalei the closest village - it has a famous pier with a very picturesque backdrop of craggy rainforest covered mountains. The village is bit “old” Hawaii.
Saturday Oct 21
We set out at 7:30am to return to the Kapalau trail - arriving early, before 8:30am, and finding a great parking spot. It had been raining hard all the way up and we were concerned that the hike could be a bust. Nevertheless we set out wearing our gortex jackets and it did continue to rain on and off with the off periods becoming longer and longer - which was great as the vistas were stunning. The hiking was tough going - rocky, muddy and slippery. It took 3.5 hours to cover the 4 miles return which is considered the first stage of the full 22 miles return hike - open to only very experienced hikers and requiring a permit. If you’re really keen from the beach at the 2 mile mark you hike a further 2 miles to the Hanakapai water fall - we gave up at the river crossing which was thigh high and fast flowing - but we made it !! Back at the parking lot we spent 20 minutes trying as best we could to wash some of mud off our boots and clothes. 
We stopped for lunch at Princeville shopping village - at Tiki Iniki - a local “in” pub - small but a bit of fun - surprisingly our shared veggie wrap was really good.
We then continued to the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge where there is a lighthouse and many many birds, The Shearwaters were nesting and we saw many little chicks - we also saw blue footed Boobies and friggate birds.
It was then home to complete the clean up from our hike (boots, poles, clothes) then happy hour on our lanai (aka balcony) - it was a lovely evening as the rainy morning had cleared to a very fine day. We had left-overs for dinner.
Sunday Oct 22
We had a bit of a lazy day - visiting a couple of waterfalls in the morning before heading to The Beach House in Poipu for a gala farewell lunch. It was great - right on the beach and we had a front row table. After a long lunch we went home to start the clean up / pack up as it was our last day in Kauai. We decided to have a light dinner - avocado salsa on toasted french bread - perfect.