A River House

The River House

Originally uploaded by bill_eisenhauer.

We are staying at A River House in Haena on Kauai. That’s its name, but we are calling it “the” River House.

This is a new find for us made out of necessity since the place we usually stay is being occupied by its owners (damn them…or maybe not). We found this place by way of my friend, Phillip, who stayed here last August and had nothing but good things to say. Sure enough, he was right.

After a full day of travel from Texas, we finally drove up to the place late into the evening — well, late for us. Our bodies told us it was near 2am or so. And as you would expect, we were each a bit cranky. But when we got out of the car, we could hear the sound of the nearby river and all was suddenly okay. One thing I like about Kauai is the sound of rain while I’m sleeping, but this river gives you that sound 24 hours a day.

The story of the house’s owners is quite interesting. They divide their time between here and Alaska. While in Alaska, they perform a ferrying service for fishermen out to sea. I think this means that they provide anything from a cup of coffee and a place to drink it to a holding area for catches. In reading their stories, its clear that while the River House is their paradise, their work seems like a cold kind of hell. One of their stories began with 30 knot winds and horizontal snow.

Turns out, they used to live in Montana, but decided to move to Kauai in search for a warmer climate with which to rest up for the four months in between their seasons. I often feel like I suffer in between my trips here, but they bring new meaning to suffering. Of course, that’s entirely my opinion, they are probably quite comfortable with it.

Back to the house. The main house has dark hardwoods and a simple, but complete kitchen. There is a built-in dinette with about a 270 degree view of the river and the cliffs. There is basically one main room for TV-watching and reading and then there is a single bedroom. Its not huge, but its perfect for two people. There is a wrap-around lanai which is good for listening to the river, reading, having a glass of wine, or whatever you feel inclined to do.

To the right of house in the pictures is another cabin which you could rent as a package if you had more people. It sleeps two. Unpictured is another structure which I believe they are calling the “nest”. It has a bed and a half-bath and provides you an even closer experience with nature.

The grounds are full of flowers and there are actually three streams that run through the property. The main streams is probably 20′ wide and has a healthy current. The stream closest to the house is gentle, but the mini-falls provides a mesmerizing sound. The stream in between the two is a small little tributary that you could easily jump over.

We are amazed at the varieties of plants and flowers that we have found. They have no doubt worked on this property for years to give this the look that it currently has. I’ve been tinkering with my camera settings to get better pictures of the falls and the flowers, but have only been partially successful.

Though we are only really in Day Two, I’m going to highly recommend this place. We are two miles from the beach and about five miles from the town, so it is plenty convenient. The owners also appear to be into cooking, so there is every kind of spice you can think of here as well as lots of cookbooks. We will not be taking great advantage, but if you visit you certainly could.

I’ll post more pics of the property sometime in the next few days.