Driving on Kauai

Aloha Friends,

I've been driving around Kauai for a while now and I'm sure it'll come to no surprise when I tell you, it is so much more pleasant than driving in southern California! Enjoyable even! Driving on Kauai involves a few things that make it different than what I'm used to. Friendly hand signals (shakas and waves), eye contact, flashing of lights, lots of pedestrians, Toyotas and something called contra flow.

You'll see shakas and waves after letting someone into traffic usually followed by a smile. There can be heavy traffic at times, especially in Kapaa. Folks are pretty grateful when you let them in.

Drivers flash their lights to you as a signal that it's OK to turn left in front of them or that it's OK to pull in to traffic.

Always be on the look out for pedestrians, people cruising down the highway on  scooters going 30 mph and bikes. Bicycle rental is pretty popular as we have an awesome multi-use path.

Contra flow isn't as fun. It can be confusing and down right scary! Contra flow is when they allow cars to drive on the wrong side of the road to ease congestion on Kuhio highway southbound leading into Lihue. They place cones along the route to indicate where you should be driving. The contra flow starts early every morning except Sunday and ends just after noon. If you drive during contra flow hours stay alert friends.

Lastly, Kauai has an amazing affection for Toyota trucks! Went to Costco the other day to fuel up and every vehicle in line was a Toyota...including ours. Shouldn't have any trouble finding parts or a mechanic for my truck.

Thanks for reading my diary!