Day 6: Kauai Beach House

When we headed to Kauai, someone told us to look out for roosters. Evidently at some point, a hurricane blew some chicken coops around the island, and now they have wild chickens and roosters. And since everything with feathers is protected in Hawaii, now they have tons of wild chickens and roosters. They were so right, it was hilarious. We have lots of video of Mike feeding chickens and roosters.

It took all day to get to Kauai because we had to stop on Maui for a few hours. So we didn't have a lot of time on the island before it got dark. We rented a car and drove around the south side of the island. At Spouting Horn Park, we got out and took some pictures. This is where a sort of geyser is. It's really a hole in the lava bed that goes out over the ocean, and when the tide comes in, the water shoots up through the hole. It was pretty cool. There is a little hole and a big gigantic hole. The geyser is the little hole. I would like to see the surf rough enough that the big hole becomes a geyser. I wonder if that ever happens.

I think it was my idea to try to save money and book a reservation for a private room at a hostel instead of a real hotel. Last year Mike drove from LA to Washington to visit various nursing schools along the way. He stayed at hostels everywhere he went and had no complaints about any of the accommodations. I knew we'd have to share a bathroom, but it was the same at the B&B, so I didn't think much of it. The hostel we chose is called Kauai Beach House.

To their credit, the KBH doesn't claim to be fancy. It should also be noted that they don't claim to be comfortable or have walls. The "house", if you want to call it that, is the most slapped-together building I've ever seen. We did have a private room, but it only had one wall. The other 3 sides of the room were garden trellises with curtains hung on them. And the bed was hard as a rock. Our guidebook kept referring to cheap places positively by saying, "at least the beds are firm." Why do the beds have to be so firm? What's wrong with a pillow-top mattress for once?

My biggest problem with KBH was the shower. Be it known that I love to take a shower. I love to be in water of any kind as long as it's not cold. When I felt sick yesterday, I felt well as soon as I got in the ocean. I like to take 2 showers a day whether I need them or not. At KBH, the shower is pretty much a hose that has been zip-tied to the wall. It was cleaner than I thought it would be, but it's still the kind of bathroom where you wear your shower shoes. It was very not comfortable.

Mike and I stayed in our room and played cards that night. KBH is right on the beach, and we had a lovely view. But since we had no walls we might has well have been camping. The ocean and wind are very loud and it's hard to sleep when you're in the middle of all that noise. We found out later than you can camp in tons of places on Kauai since much of it is actually a national park. And it's a lot cheaper than the hostel, too. Only $5/week to camp.