We made our way through a very winding road to the Waimea Canyon visitors center. The visitors center was small and had a few little exhibits on the local flora and fauna (but not merryweather- Ha ha!).
One thing I learned very quickly about the island was the sheer number of roosters- they were everywhere! We could barely park the car at the visitors center without running them over. Apparently, a hurricane had once destroyed the cages of many roosters causing them to populate the island. They aren't even good to eat- just nuisances. Sometimes, I'd run towards them like a kid and make them scatter.
We drove a little ways down to a spectacular overlook. You could see all the way down through the canyon to the ocean below when the mist was calm enough. We even spotted a rainbow. Waimea Canyon is known as Hawaii's answer to the Grand Canyon.
A little down the road, we found a sign leading to a short hike. Unfortunately, as we went down the path, we discovered that this trail didn't have much of a view- just lots of trees and bushes. At one point, we stopped to snack on bananas and nuts before we followed the road back up (and up) to the parking lot with our car.
We checked around for other areas to explore and came across a sign indicating hikes that led to an overlook and a waterfall. They had the same starting point so we followed the main road for a while and decided to deviate towards the overlook. The trail at this point became fairly steep. The bright side to this is that up the hill to get there means down the hill to get back.
The overlook was another view of the canyon from a different angle. I still wasn't feeling that great so we sat down and enjoyed the view for a bit before heading back down. When we returned to the place where the trail diverged, we continued toward the waterfall- a much longer hike this time.
We hiked up and down and around, through thick grass patches and slippery dirt inclines. At one point, we could see across to where we had stood before. Eventually, we found our way to the waterfall mentioned on the sign. It turned out to be a pretty but ordinary waterfall and not the greatest pay off for the long hike. We both concluded that we had just as nice a view from the short hike and the first overlook. Oh well.
We made it back to the car just in time to avoid hiking in the forest after sundown. We didn't really see any animals along the path, although we heard various bird calls from time to time. We took a different route back. By the time we could finally relax in the car, I was totally beat.
We then returned to the winding switchback downhill road. Neither of us does well with that sort of motion, and we were both relieved when we got back down to the normal highway. Next, we had to figure out where to go for dinner. I wanted to see the little village that had inspired the setting for Lilo and Stitch, but when we drove by, it looked rather dumpy and asleep. We eventually settled on a pizza place called Pizzetta mentioned in my guidebook.
Our GPS didn't seem to like it as it kept pointing us to the wrong place, but eventually we happened upon it when we pulled into a little strip of shops and restaurants. I insisted we get Hawaiian pizza since we were in Hawaii! It tasted pretty much the same as what you get on the main land.
We got back to our home away from home fairly late. In fact, we were late enough that if we had stayed out any longer, our poor hosts would have called the police! They knew we had gone to the canyon that day and were freaked out with fear that something had happened to us! Unfortunately, I hadn't heard my phone ring while we were having dinner. Now that's what I call hosts who treat you like family!
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