Hanging out in and around Hanalei

• If you go ... Kaua'i's North Shore

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Travel Editor

HANALEI, Kaua'i — Here's a Hanalei story: You call a wildlife adventure guide to arrange a birdwatching trip during your vacation, and he says, "Sure, Saturday morning's fine ... (pause) ... but don't you want to go to the farmer's market?"

As it happens, I do. The market proved to be a juicy slice of Hanalei life, and the idea of a tour guide who includes you in his morning's grocery shopping epitomized my recent North Shore Kaua'i weekend, which was both laid back and very real.

At 8 on a cloudy, drizzly Saturday morning, he swings by in a well-used pickup and we make a quick visit to peek at the Laysan albatross fledglings in Princeville, dip down into Hanalei Valley and spot waterbirds in the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, then shoot through town to snag a scarce parking spot in a muddy field full of pickups and aged cars.

Laid out on makeshift tables, stacks of crates and the tailgates of pickup trucks are bottles of pineapple chutney, raw honey, fresh goat cheese, healthy-looking greens and herbs, hairy rambutan and other tropical fruit, husked coconuts already plugged with a straw so you can sip the chilled juice, brown eggs, bundles of beautiful cherry-colored radishes, shiny eggplant and bell peppers.

My plans to visit a restaurant that evening are immediately scrapped as I envision the warm goat cheese salad I'll make in the well-equipped kitchen of my condo at the Hanalei Bay Resort. Honey and preserves will make great omiyage. And, yes, I'll have some poi mochi for the road.

A business-like crowd — mostly pareu'd and patchouli'd haoles with a smattering of local-looking folk — moves swiftly among the vendors, pausing to talk story only after they have checked everything off their shopping lists. My guide, biologist Carl Berg of Hawaii Wildlife Tours, trails an apology as he disappears hurriedly into the crowd to find some lettuce. If you don't get there early, he says, the best stuff is gone, or the vendors are packing up to head over to the larger Kilauea farmer's market, which starts at 11:30 a.m.

Except, perhaps, for the increasing number of wealthy part-time residents whose homes double as vacation rentals, nobody lives too far from the bone in this remote place. People work two jobs, everybody knows everybody and tough issues — a spiraling crack drug problem, loss of neighborhood to part-time residents, snail attacks on the taro lo'i, traffic, a lack of good-paying jobs, environmental concerns, skyrocketing land values — come up in conversation. But so does a deep love for their home and a sense of living somewhere very special.

"They say 'Maui no ka oi,' but we say 'Kaua'i no need brag,' " said one cheerful daughter of Hanalei who was shy about giving her name but generous with smiles and insider tips when we talked story at the Hanalei Big Save.

In a long weekend spent exploring the North Shore, from Kilauea Point Wildlife Refuge to Ha'ena at the end of the road, I came to understand what she meant: The island's extraordinary beauty and its people's cheerful resilience both speak louder than any slogan.

Kaua'i has always been different. In this, both geology and history play a role.

It is the northernmost of the chain's major islands, the oldest, wettest and most weathered, which gives it an entirely different look — a true "high island" appearance, with abrupt cliffs, craggy mountain peaks and the miniature Grand Canyon of Waimea.

It is a place in touch with its history; Hawaiian language speakers on Kaua'i and nearby Ni'ihau to this day retain an old-style pronunciation — t's for k's.

It is the only island Kamehameha was unable to conquer by force.

It is the only island that was home to menehune. Today's linguists, anthropologists and historians understand these to be not the industrious, pygmy-sized pranksters of modern-day fable, but descendants of the first Marquesan settlers, who were given the derisive name "manahune" ("commoner," implying one who had been subjugated) by Tahitians who arrived in a later wave.

It is the only island that is almost round, its perimeter traced by a single road that dead-ends on either side of the impassable Na Pali coastline, its center building to the perennially cloud-draped Mount Wai'ale'ale.

Edward Joesting, author of a very readable history of the island that was my constant companion on this trip, called it "the separate kingdom" and so it feels — particularly the North Shore.

I purposely left my itinerary loose, allowing time to watch the rain come and go and the surfers negotiating the break in Hanalei Bay below my balcony.

But I could have chosen from lots of activities centered nearby: shopping in Hanalei town (which has been much renovated and is a bit too charming, if you know what I mean), touring the Limahuli National Tropical Botanical Gardens, horseback riding at Princeville Ranch Stables, kayaking with equipment from Kayak Hanalei, taking a helicopter tour from the nearby Princeville Airport, snorkeling or exploring sea caves with Na Pali Eco Adventure, bicycling with wheels rented from Pedal N Paddle in Hanalei.

The Hanalei Bay Resort is a time-share/resort hotel with a comfy, home-like feel and a variety of room sizes that readily accommodate families. There are commodious kitchens, roomy balconies, laundry facilities, a pool and tennis courts.

The first night, I checked out chef Mark Burson's new menu at the Bali Hai restaurant — a large room open to the view of the bay and the mountainous coastline beyond. Book for sunset and ask for a balcony table. The food was good: crab cakes with a lovely salad of local greens and a nicely charred steak, all well-presented.

The next day, I checked out Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, great for walking and birdwatching as thousands of red-footed boobies, wedgetail shearwaters and other birds tend their chicks in the cliffs and on an offshore island.

Later, I indulged in an in-room massage (privately arranged — there are a number of such services), nap and some time in the pool and hot tub. Unlike its ultra-plush neighbor, the Princeville Resort, the Hanalei Bay is unintimidating with a nahenahe (gentle) Hawai'i feel. The activities desk is particularly friendly and helpful. The pool area could use spiffing up, but all in all, this is a resort that seems to fit well in its surroundings.

The next morning, I was up early for coffee on the balcony and my bird-watching adventure. Down in Hanalei Valley, we got a close-up look at a nene, coots, moorhens and stilts and a rare sight of a rather confused Chinese teal that must have been blown off course. Berg, a semi-retired biologist with a wide variety of interests, proved knowledgeable about everything from the challenges facing taro farmers to the names of the ahupua'a and heaiu in the area.

But the best and most quirky part of the tour was wheeling through cliffside neighborhoods of fancy homes in Princeville, peering under hedges and around people's fences to locate Laysan albatross chicks, like mounds of earth-toned mohair yarn, their soft down quivering in the fresh breeze.

The albatross parents nest near cliffs because they're comically ungainly on land and need a lot of wind to help them land and take off. They've been nesting in this area for generations, and are genetically programmed to return to the spot where they were raised — only to find, in many cases, that the old homestead is now a driveway or sideyard. Berg said he'd spotted tracks through fresh concrete as confused birds land in what used to be an empty lot.

Members of the Princeville Neighborhood Association have banded together to protect the birds, keeping track of them, persuading the lawnmower operators in the pocket parks not to run over nests and so on. It's a bit heart-rending to see the birds — whose parents fly literally 10 hours or so across the ocean in search of lunch, bringing back a sort of fish oil meal for the kids — sitting alone with their little heads tucked up.

Lunch in Hanalei and a leisurely afternoon drive to Ha'ena for time on one of the Islands' most beautiful beaches completed my low-key Hanalei sojourn.

All through the weekend, the words of that hapa-haole hula song played in my mind: "You will be in heaven by the sea."

If you go ... Kaua'i's North Shore

Book early: Neighbor Island flights are increasingly difficult to get, especially on weekends. Weekend fly-drive packages on Aloha or Hawaiian airlines are running about $250 for a compact, two nights/three days.

Helpful sites: www.realkauai.com, www.explorekauai.com

Lodging: The North Shore, from Princeville to Ha'ena, offers every type of accommodation, from luxury resorts to vacation rentals and condos and bed & breakfast operations. Here's an overview:

• Hanalei Bay Resort. All the amenities of a hotel with condominium-size rooms, spacious lanai and full kitchens; daily maid service, activities, concierge desk and a comfortable, old-Hawai'i feel. Pool, jacuzzi, yoga classes, tennis courts. $180-$240 (ask about special offers). (800) 827-4427 toll-free.
• Princeville Resort. "Fodor's Best" and "Frommer's Best" selection. Sheraton's opulent cliffside hotel with its marble halls overlooks Hanalei Bay; 201 rooms, 51 suites; express check-in; spa, riding stables, tennis and golf; cultural program. $395-$658 (ask about special offers). (800) 826-4400, toll-free.
• Hanalei Colony Resort. Remote, homey beachfront one- and two-bedroom condominiums on a perfect beach near Ha'ena with lanai, full kitchens, twice-weekly maid service. No phones or TV sets. Pool, jacuzzi. From $180 per night (garden view) to $334 per night (oceanfront, two-bedroom, two-bath). Car/condo packages, too. (808) 628-3005, www.hcr.com.

Vacation rental or B&B. There are dozens. Kauai Vacation resorts (www.kauaivacationresorts.com) is a clearinghouse for everything from $400-a-week condos to $4,000-a-week houses. Coldwell Banker's Kaua'i Web site (www.balihai.com) offers a variety of freestanding and condo rentals, as does Remax (www.remaxkauai.com). For B&B operations, check Hawaii's Best B&B (800) 262-9912/www.bestbnb.com or Bed and Breakfast Hawaii, (800) 733-01632.

Dining: You won't go hungry in and around Hanalei; there are at least a dozen restaurants in the town itself. I loved the Brazilian food at inexpensive Neide's Salsa and Samba and enjoyed perfect fried calamari and a beautiful goat cheese salad at Bamboo Bamboo (both in Hanalei Center on Kuhio Highway in Hanalei). Locals recommend Postcards Cafe for dinner, Hanalei Mixed Plate for plate lunch, and Zelo's Beach House for beer and burgers in Hanalei. In Princeville, dinner at the Bali Hai restaurant is a must — get a table timed for sunset. Also highly recommended: La Cascata, a bit of Tuscany in Princeville at the Princeville Resort.

Farmer's markets: 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Hanalei; 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Kilauea town.

Shopping: Hanalei is great for poking around for everything from cheap imported lauhala hula totes to artwork and fashion. Don't miss Kung Lung in Kilauea for high-end imports.

A couple of notes: Regular unleaded was $2.25 at Princeville last we checked; gas up in Lihu'e, where it was $2.07. Cell phones often give up the ghost on the North Shore (Nextel works, Sprint does not).

Activities: At the airport and outside every hotel, rack upon rack of brochures invite you to do everything from kayaking to horseback riding. Compare prices, ask specific questions about what's included, check with the hotel concierge.

I enjoyed birdwatching along the Hanalei River with Carl Berg of Hawaiian Wildlife Tours; he guides personalized excursions to see plant and animal life, for up to four people at $45 an hour; (808) 639-2968.