After a long plane ride

     We are home.  I love Hawaii, but hate the plane ride.  In the old days we often had more than one seat and could move around and stretch a little.  Now it is so cramped I have a stiff back and knee from such confined sitting for so many hours.
    Our flight home left Kauai at 11 pm so we stayed in the condo until 9 and had a chance to wash the sand and salt off before getting on the plane.  We got home mid-afternoon.  We had a late lunch, a short nap and then a quiet evening.  Today I am almost back to the right time zone.
   I had a few favorites on this trip.  A new favorite beer - Kona Longboard Lager - I don't think I can get it in Minnesota.  A new gelato flavor called Salt Pond which was a sort of sea salt and caramel.  I discovered the rare and endangered plant - the fan palm - which I would have to have if I lived in Hawaii.  My favorite rain gear now and always - REI.  Finally, I have a renewed respect for my husband's driving skills through torrential rain and deep puddles.
    I think that maybe it is my Norwegian heritage, with all the fjords, that makes me so love to be near the sound of the sea.  I love the sound of the surf, it is like breathing to me.  I am happy to be back in my home but I can't wait to go back to the ocean.  Aloha.

National Tropical Botanical Garden

   On our last day here on Kauai we found sunshine greeting us this morning.  The boats are back in the water now that the high surf warnings are over.  It is another beautiful day in paradise.  The bad weather stopped us from taking a few of our planned excursions, but we decided to squeeze one in this morning before packing up for home.
   Kauai is home to three National Tropical Botanical Gardens.  Two of them are just down the road from us - The Allerton gardens and the McBryde garden.  These tropical gardens exist to preserve, research and provide education about the huge diversity of tropical plant life.  Over 90% of the plant and animal species exist in the tropics.  Year by year some of the species are vanishing.  The research facilities at the gardens explore ways to use the plants, how to propagate them so they will continue to exist and to provide habitats to maintain their growth.

  The Allerton Gardens are in a valley along the Lawa'i stream.  This area was originally owned by a Hawaiian Queen who brought in many plants and began the cultivation of the gardens.  Later the property was a sugar plantation.  The Allerton family bought the property and built a beautiful plantation house on a picturesque beach.  We learned on the tour that sunset tours of the house with access to the private beach and an alfresco meal of Hawaiian appetizers is offered several nights a week.  I am going to look into this for our next visit.  The tour took us down the cliffs into the valley where we walked paths along a huge variety of palms, fruit trees and shrubs and flowering plants.  Some of the plants are native to Hawaii, others came on the canoes that first visited the islands, still others arrived with Captain Cook and his explorations.  It was a fascinating and beautiful tour.  
     Our flight home does not leave until 11 pm.  We booked the room until tomorrow so that we could nap and shower before our long flight home.  The day is warm and breezy.  It will be hard to put shoes on to go home after a week of flipflops.  But it is almost spring in Minnesota.  Heading home.

Lazy Beach Day

    Ah, sunshine.  It was wonderful to wake up to singing birds instead of strong wind and rain.  The governor of Hawaii has declared Kauai a disaster area due to the storms.  Schools are closed, roads impassable and bridges washed out.  Most of the worst problems are on the opposite end of the island where they got the most rain.  Down here on the south end we can see a lot of standing water, but most houses are built up off the ground.  We were pretty amazed at how few trees were down.  Obviously the tropical trees are flexible and able to bend well with the strong winds. I am glad to see the sun!
  We had a nice slow breakfast today with some of my favorite Kona coffee, and then went out to the beach along with most of the rest of the residents of the resort.  We spent the whole morning relaxing in the sunshine, watching surfers, whales, little kids, and big waves.  There is a "brown water alert" for most of the beaches on the east and north sides.  Huge mud flows and some sewage spills.  The water here still looks clear and the whales seem happy.  My knee is weary from walking the beach - the sand is deep and the beach is at quite an angle.  But worth every minute of feeling the warm sand between my toes and the waves breaking around my legs.

     The grounds keepers were very busy this morning picking up debris from the storm. Huge palm branches are littering the lawn.  Every building here is surrounded by flowering shrubs.  It is so pretty.   Every day the workers trim, rake and tidy up the landscape so it looks like we are living at Disney World.  There is an orchid garden on the resort grounds along with a series of koi ponds.  After a day of rain and now hot sun the area was wonderfully fragrant.  The birds seem to love it too and I am discovering a lot of new varieties of familiar Minnesota birds - for example a grey and white bird with a red head that is a cardinal.  I love my Ibird app on my phone that helps me identify the unusual birds.  And NO this is not because I am an old lady, I have been bird watching since I was a kid.

     After some souvenir shopping we had a lazy afternoon full of reading, beach, sunshine and naps.  My very best kind of day.  Dinner tonight was at a fancy Tapas bar.  We enjoyed dinners of tapas with Arik and Jennifer in Barcelona, Spain.  One of my best memories of our family cruise.   This Hawaiian version of tapas was fancier with Asian/French "Fusion" dishes.  A little pretentious, but still delicious.  After dinner we found a little space for some ice cream.  I am sooo full.  

      

Storm Warnings

    A huge storm has stationed itself off the smaller Hawaiian islands - particularly Kauai.  Some areas got over 14 inches of rain TODAY.  We got about 7 here.  This morning it was not raining when we got up and the sky was a bit blue here and there.  We decided to drive to the northeast side of the island to the Kilauea Lighthouse.  The northeast is the wetter part of the island, but it wasn't raining when we left.

    As old scout leaders we were prepared with fleece shirts and good raincoats.  The road started out wet with standing water in low areas.   By the time we had gone ten miles it was raining heavily and we could see water standing in parking lots and filling up drainage ditches.  We kept on driving.  Soon with the wipers going full blast we could only see the white stripe along the road (when it wasn't covered with water).  We pulled over and watched huge brown waves break against the shore.  The run-off from the hills and overflow from the sewers has turned the water brown.
    The rain let up a tad so we drove on.  Water flowed across the road in more areas.  It rushed down the mountains in huge, red mud gushes.  And we drove on.  The wind started to blow harder - sometimes hard enough to blow the water back off the road.  And we drove on.  We turned towards the shore and drove out to the lighthouse point.  As we got out on the point the wind was gusting up to 50 MPH.  The lighthouse road was closed.  We parked and looked out across to the lighthouse.  Gigantic waves broke against the rocks.  Rick got out and found the rain and wind so powerful he couldn't see anything.
   We fought our way out of the car for a pit stop and tested the quality of our REI rainwear.  I turned up the heat in the car to dry us out a little as we drove "home."  The standing water was even deeper on the way back - often halfway up our hubcaps.  We returned to our resort to find that the wind and rain had moved into the south side of the island.  We spent the rest of the day tucked into our condo watching leaves and branches blow by.  Since most of the windows only have wooden shutters on them it is sort of dark in the unit.  No heat either and we are pretty damp.  But it is an adventure and we have lots of books, plenty of cable channels and we DID bring some warmer clothes.  I feel sorry for folks with only T-shirts and shorts.  In the mean time I am reading up on my history of Hawaii and learning about the Hawaiian alphabet (only 12 letters). We will see what tomorrow brings.

Waimea Canyon Drive

     Mist, drizzle, sprinkle, shower, downpour, torrent, flood.  We had all of these rain experiences last night.  Including a few electric outages.  When we woke up this morning the weather channel told us that roads were flooded on many areas of the island.   It was especially bad on the north side which is usually wet anyway.  So we changed our plans and drove west to the dry side of the island to Waimea Canyon.  The drive goes from the shoreline up to a lookout at 4,000 feet in Koke'e State Park.  The drive follows along the edge of the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific."  The canyon is 3600' deep, two miles wide and 10 miles long.  It has dramatic red clay formations.  Today there were dozens of huge waterfalls.  At the top of the drive one overlook gives you a view of the far west side of the island - the mysterious NaPali coast.  This area has no roads and can be reached only by hiking trail or by water.  It is dramatically beautiful.  The last time we were here we took a catamaran sail out to this coast, but most sailing excursions are on hold until the high surf warnings are cancelled.  We could see the huge waves breaking on the NaPali shore from our 4000' overlook.
   The rain subsided for the afternoon, but it never got really warm today.  I sat out on the lawn and watched the waves for a while when I suddenly spotted a dolphin leaping out of the water over and over.  Was it Flipper?  No, it was a "spinner" dolphin which jumps high out of the water and twists in the air.  Over and over.   What a show.  In addition, the whales decided to come in near the shore and give us a show.  Maybe they like the wind and rain.
    We stopped at the supermarket and I bought batteries, more food and a new flashlight (some little boy made off with the one I usually pack in my suitcase, didn't  you Kellen?)  Now if the power goes off tonight I can at least find my way to the bathroom.  We are well buttoned up with all the shutters closed tight and a pile of good books to keep us company.  We will see what tomorrow brings.

Whales and Rain

 As I sat quietly watching the sun come up this morning I saw several folks looking out at the ocean.  They were watching a pod of whales.  It was a great way to start the morning.  I grabbed my binoculars and joined them.  Awesome!
    Rick conked out early last night from his Mai Tai so we were ready early to head out for breakfast at the golf course.  Joe's on the Green is a restaurant on the Kiahuna Golf Course which has many outdoor tables.  It includes a great view of the mountains beyond the rolling course.  I tried "Joe's Favorite" scrambled eggs with mushrooms, onions and kelp.  I'm not so sure about the kelp.  Not my favorite.  But the coffee was great and the American fries were perfect.
   We drove around the Poipu area and then went back to the old sugar mill town, Koloa.  There are some nice shops in town in the old buildings including a couple that carry art works from local artists.  My favorite was about $3,000 out of my budget but great to look at.
   We had a lazy afternoon reading, swimming and whale watching.  Lots of Minnesota and North Dakota folks at this resort.  I enjoyed showing one couple how to locate the whales by the bursts of water from their blow holes as they come up.  I never get enough time in the water in Hawaii so I am trying to get swimming every day.  It was great until we had an absolute downpour.  Everyone wandered through the rain back to their rooms to get ready for dinner.  We cleaned up and drove down the beach to Brennekes which  has a great ocean view where I again saw whales.  As we stepped outside after dinner, the rain came again.  We have had a brief sunset and now more rain and thunder.  One spot on this island is the wettest place on earth.  I believe it.

Steelgrass Chocolate Farm

     Called Steelgrass because of the super strong bamboo growing on the property, the chocolate farm we toured today is one of the few places in Hawaii where the cocoa bean grows.  We saw an article in the Travel section of the StarTribune on this place and decided to take a tour.  The farm is in the highlands away from the ocean - just above a residential area.  It is always fun for us to go off the beaten track.  We took a three hour tour which gave us the chance to taste many tropical fruits and veggies that I have never even seen before.  Egg fruit which tastes and has the texture of cooked pumpkin.  Watermelon radish which is pink, white and green like a watermelon.  Sugar cane with lime juice - sort of a tart limeaid taste.  We saw cocoa plants growing and then tasted 10 different kinds of dark chocolate.  What a flavorful morning.
   On our trip back we stopped at several overlooks to the Waiamaia river valley and falls.  This part of the island was cultivated for farming in the early days of the native population.  We could see the giant surf along the shore in this area.  Still a high surf warning for this end of the island.  It is quieter on our southern beaches now with no warnings.  We stopped in a State Park for a picnic lunch (watched with great intensity by the ever present chicken population).

     On our way back to the condo I found a quilt store.  We both agreed that we had been to this store the last time we visited this island.  It has a nice front porch with comfortable chairs for the quilting spouses.
     A day on Kauai is not perfect without some time in the water.  The ocean is amazingly warm and wonderful.  One end of the beach is pretty rocky and the waves are fairly high.  Each day we have seen novice surfers hone their skills on the relatively gentle surf in this bay.  As the beach curves around the bottom flattens out and the waves are more gentle so it is great for kids and us older folks.  Nothing like a warm ocean.  I just love it.

Poipu Beach

     As always when we travel to Hawaii I was awake at my usual home time which is 4 am in Kauai.  The roosters were starting to crow (lots of very colorful chickens roam the island), but it was not time to get up.  I burrowed back into my very comfortable bed and slept until almost 7.  The rain has stopped and the early risers were out on the beach including a bride and groom getting some sunrise pictures taken - beautiful.

Add caption

We had bagels and fresh pineapple for breakfast and then wandered down to sit on the beach and watch surfing classes.  Some folks were doing pretty good.  We are on a protected bay so we can see some huge breakers off shore but the waves by the beach look good for beginners.  The water is warm and beautiful.  Ahh.
     We took a brief trip out to view Spouting Horn which is a hole in the lava rock where water shoots up.  Some pretty big bursts of water but I was not quick enough to catch on camera.  We stopped for lunch at Puka Dog - a wonderful Hawaiian hotdog - Soft bun, juicy hotdog, mango relish, sweet Hawaiian mustard -- the best!  Our afternoon was pure relaxation on the lanai - watching little kids play on the lawn and listening to the booming surf.  There are surf warnings up for the island until Friday which means that we really get to see some great rollers.
    After lunch we stopped at a little market in Koloa which is a the site of an old sugar mill.   Many of the old plantation-style houses are still there as well as some huge old trees.  There is so much new construction along the beach it is wonderful to see a bit of old Kauai.
    In the late afternoon we went to a small shopping center for a hula show.  Beautiful girls doing beautiful traditional Hawaiian dances.  We sat under the canopy of a huge tree while a few quick rain showers came through.  We enjoyed a fresh fish dinner at a restaurant which has a roof but no windows - very common in Hawaii.  I don't know why there are no birds flying around, but it is wonderful to feel the breeze, and smell the flowers after a long Minnesota winter.  Perfect day topped off with some coconut/pineapple ice cream.

Paradise on Kauai

The weather at home was frightful; a horrible mix of rain, sleet and snow.  We have had problems getting out of our neighborhood on our private (which means not plowed sometimes for 24 hours) road.  So Matt drove us to a hotel just outside of the airport on Tuesday night.  This put us only 10 minutes by shuttle from our 7 am flight.

By the time we got up this morning I could see huge snowflakes adding to the mess.  But we got to the airport in plenty of time to stand in line at security.  Our flight boarded early to try to get in line for de-icing.  But we got stuck pulling away from the gate and spent an hour and a half in line to de-ice.  Our first stop was Phoenix and I had made up my mind that we would be stuck there at least overnight.  There is  only one flight a day to Kauai from Phoenix and we only had just over an hour between flights. We used up that time on the runway at MSP.  We were lucky that so many Minnesotans were taking that same flight because the plane to Hawaii was held at the gate until we got there and our luggage was loaded. 

After being on a plane for almost 5 hours we ran to catch a 6.5 hour flight and were thrilled to be in the air and on our way to warm breezes.  It was a non eventful flight and, yes, when we arrived our luggage was with us.

It was pouring rain in Kauai as we loaded into our rental and drove through rush hour traffic to the east side of the island.  We stopped for an early dinner (4 hour time change made it 4:30 in Kauaii and 7:30 in our heads.  Then we found a great small grocery store for some Kona coffee and fresh pineapple for breakfast and then headed to our condo on Poipu Beach.

This is an amazing place.  There are a bunch of condo buildings scattered among huge palm trees on a wide green lawn.  Our front lanai looks across the lawn to the booming surf.  There is no air conditioning, just plantation shutters on three sides of the condo.  Screens keep the birds out and the shutters can be closed to keep the rain out.  There is glass only in the sliding door that faces the ocean.  I can hear the surf, the rain, and the birds.  It smells of grass and earth and flowers.  I walked barefoot on the grass down to the ocean.  Tide and surf is high.  The sun has set – early here near the equator.  It is still raining as we try to stay awake until 9 pm.  This is paradise.