Beach chickens and 2012

I've neglected my blog. Work, the holidays, you know. And now suddenly, it's 2012. This will be our biggest travel year yet. In March we head back to French Polynesia to see what all the Bora Bora fuss is about and to explore the remote pink sands and sharks of the Tuamotu Archipelago, first on the island of Rangiroa and then we'll be stranding ourselves on a little motu called Ninamu off the coast of Tikehau. Never heard of 'em, you say? Me either. We're going to be summoning our heretofore hidden Robinson Crusoe. It should be interesting.

In August we head to Canada for a month, first to the Husdon Bay in Maintoba for a polar bear and beluga whale "safari", then to Knight Inlet, Britsih Columbia to find grizzlies and orcas.  The end of October finds us on a  7-week journey to Turkey, Namibia, Botswana, Egypt, Jordan, and Israel.

But first up, this week we kick off the 2012 travel extravaganza by heading to one of my favorite places, the Island of Lana'i. It's an amazing place, so stay tuned for more on that. In the meantime, today I'm going to take you on a little journey to the island of beach chickens, otherwise known as Kaua'i.

Kaua'i is full of chickens. They're in all the yards and along all the roads, they're even cruising the shopping malls. But Kaua'i chickens also love them some beach. And who can blame them. It's pretty hard to beat a beach on Kaua'i.

But it's Hawaii. Every place here has beaches. What really sets Kaua'i apart, aside from the chickens, is its jagged mountains, deep valleys, and stunning canyon.

It's no surprise that Kaua'i has become a popular choice for filmmakers. George Clooney's The Descendants, the Jurassic Park movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark, 6 Days Seven Nights, even Gilligan's Island filmed here.  With careful development practices (no buildings taller than a coconut tree, brah) and its wide variety of microclimates, Kaua'i is a location scout's dream and can stand in for almost anywhere.

Wailua Falls area gets several hundred of inches of rain a year.

When you take photos in Kauai, they come out sometimes looking like paintings. As with places in Lanai, the quality of the light on certain landscapes make for surreal images.

Kaua'i is also home to the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. A truly amazing place to view red-footed boobies, Laysan albatrosses, wedge-tailed shearwaters, and other seabirds in their natural habitat, as well as Hawai'i's endangered nene.

It's also a great whale watching spot.

And as a historic lighthouse.

Although the lush north shore of Kaua'i has my heart,

The "sunny side" of the island, the southern resort area of Poipu, has its attractions.

Poipu beach has lovely resorts and novice waves. And for our kids, or the kid in all of us, there's the Hyatt.

We just returned from a long weekend on Kaua'i, and as usual it was too short.  I left promising to come again for a week or maybe two, and it looks like there's some gaps in our travel schedule in June and July....