Last month my wife and I took a long-awaited trip to the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We had meant to go in September but ended up moving it to mid-October, which worked out nicely, as it wasn’t too crowded and the weather was great. Kaua’i is called the garden island, and you can see why. It’s a lot more lush and not as over-developed as some of the other islands, and geologically older. I counted that this is our sixth visit to Hawaii since 2017, and our fourth different island, after Oahu, Maui and the Big Island, all of them quite different. We landed in the evening, driving through the tree tunnel towards our hotel near Poipu Beach, and went straight out for a nice dinner at Keoki’s Paradise, having our favourite, Hula Pie. I got some Hula Pie stickers for my new sketchbook which I was starting on this trip, returning to the classic landscape format Moleskine (but this time with a white cover). On our first day we drove up to what’s called the ‘Grand Canyon of the Pacific’, the Waimea Canyon. For such a small island there is a large amount of natural diversity and geology. We stopped at the Waimea Canyon Lookout and took photos, but there was no way I was going to be able to sketch it, it was enough just to look at it and try to take it all in. We have been to some amazing canyons in recent years and this was up there with them. We drove up further, through twisting tropical roads, towards the Kokee State Park. We knew that we would not get to view the famous and dramatic Napali Coast in the way that a lot of people see it – by boat (too long a trip), or by helicopter (no way man), or by small plan (aint gettin me in no plane sucker!) – and a lot of the hiking trails were closed due to them being a bit unsafe. However, the views of part of the Napali Coast from the elevated Kalalau Lookout were some of the most unbelievable that I have ever seen. We got out of the car, and it just didn’t look real. We stood there a while just looking at it. Or rather I started sketching it, which is the sketch at the top of this post (click on it for a closer view). The turquoise blue of the pacific, the hints of golden sand and red dirt, the verdant volcanic rocks, the jungle of plants and trees, and that one big cloud that was just sitting there all by itself right over the cliff on the left, like an airship waiting to depart. It was the furthest I’d ever been from Burnt Oak, geographically and in every other way too.  We took a hike up a jungle road about a mile to another lookout which was supposed to have even more amazing views. When we got there, it had fogged up, the clouds coming off the sea and into the valley blocking out all visibility. The magic view was gone, utterly. So we decided to wait, and see if it would burn off. A few other visitors waited patiently, some giving up, but I was optimistic. This was opti-mist. And slowly we could see some shapes, and even a hole or two of blue, and bit by bit the world opened up again, a little bit like in that show Catchphrase when you see a small part but have to guess at the whole picture. In the end, it looked like this, see below. I wasn’t Not a bad looking place! 

We drove back down the long road out of the Canyon, and went to the town of Hanapēpē. It’s a small place with an old Hawaii feel, and I think it’s the inspiration for Lilo and Stitch, though I’ll admit I’ve not seen that film. There are a couple of painted murals of them. They call this the Art Capital of Kaua’i, perhaps for all the little gallery stores. We grabbed a simple but tasty lunch at a friendly place which served from a table in a doorway and sat outside, feeling tired already from our hike and drive. We walked over to a very cool little bookstore called Talk Story Bookstore, which is apparently the westernmost bookshop in the U.S.! They have a cat that rules the shop, and lots of stickers of the boss-cat called ‘Mochi-Celeste’ (based on the previous boss-cat). I spent a small fortune on stickers of all kinds. They sold records too, and comics. It was pretty busy, so I stepped out to sketch the place from across the street.   

I walked a bit further down while my wife went into other shops, and I drew a quick one of the little church with the picket fence. I started getting a bit hot so I outlined and drew the rest later. We walked over to the Swinging Bridge, dating back from Hanapēpē’s days as a military town. It was a very warm day, and humid, and we drove back to the hotel to hang out in the pool before dinner in Kōloa (at the ‘westernmost brewery in the world’, Kauai Island Brewing). We were pretty far west, furthest west I have ever been. From here there is only the small island of Ni’ihau, but that is off limits to visitors. After that, you move into tomorrow. Far from home.