Winter in Hawaii means occasional fierce storms. Bad weather hit the islands as we were visiting this time around. The weather held for the first two days, but by the time we headed to Nawiliwili, the island of Kauai had taken a pounding. Drenching rains has caused flooding and land slides. Not surprising for the wettest spot on earth. The port was closed, and we were not able to dock. Our itinerary has four Hawaiian ports. We just missed one of them.
In lieu of docking and being able to get off the ship, we circled the entire island, coasting just off shore, doing some scenic cruising. We hit the Na Pali Coast around mid-morning, and the views were incredible. It’s one of the most remote places in the country, inaccessible by almost every mode of transport, other than tackling the grueling and dangerous Kalalau Trail (see picture at top for a view of the end point, Kalalau Beach). Our usual itinerary keeps us on the Eastern side of the island, never venturing out to the wild western side. Today we got a good peek at the dramatic cliffs and storm clouds.
The next day, we missed Lahaina as well. As we incredulously sailed away from the Hawaiian Islands, we dug in to deal with six straight sea days, and thousands of unhappy passengers. Our itinerary has four Hawaiian ports. We just missed half of them.
Always an adventure, here aboard the Golden Princess…
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