Jenny wanted for us to explore the island by car and see some of the sights along the way. We're always into a good long drive, so we packed swim-suits and towels and headed off counter-clockwise around the island.

Our first real stop was breakfast. We ate delicious banana and macadamia nut pancakes at the Tip-top Cafe. After that we headed off to see the Opaeka'a falls - they were impressive as seen from a distance. It would have been nice to get close but we weren't looking to do any serious hiking today.

We continued to the "Secret Beach", which is on the north shore of Kauai, accessible only through a short, steep footpath that runs from the end of a dirt road.

This is reputedly a nude beach, but when we got there, nobody seemed to be baring all. The closest thing to it was a few topless young ladies off on the west side. As newcomers to the island, Jenny and I were not going to be the first to initiate any nudity.

The most impressive feature of this site were the "lava pools" on the east side of the beach. These are not "pools of lava" but rather pools of water in lava rock. The heavy northern winter waves come crashing into these lava outcroppings, creating a spectacular water show. I went as far as I could into it, finally edging along a rock ledge that was about a foot wide. We have some amazing pictures of it.

We stopped in a few of the towns along the way to sample some of the highly rated establishments (such as the Polynesian Cafe in Hanalei where we had an excellent late lunch) and then headed out to the final destination of our tour - the mouth of the Kalalau Trail.

The parts of Kauai that are accessible by car are shaped like the letter "C" turned on its side. You can drive around the island counter-clockwise until about 11 o'clock. You can go back in the other direction until about 9 o'clock. The space from 9 to 11 is the Na Pali Coast - it's all state park land with no roads. The mouth of the Kalalua Trail begins at that 11 o'clock point on the northern shore. So, in short, our goal was to go as far counter-clockwise as we could by car.

The Kalalua Trail itself is supposed to be 11 miles long, and is an overnight hike - not something that we are considering for this trip, although we may attempt the beginning of it and then double back.

We managed to make it to the the end of the line by just before sundown - the trip there (with all of our stops) had consumed most of the day. The trip back only took about an hour and a half. That's basically an hour and a half to circumnavigate from the north shore to the south - and at speed limits not exceeding 50 miles-per-hour (speed limits on the island are low). This gives you a real feel for how small the island is.