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Today is
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This page was posted on October 23rd 2004 |
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Alice's Daily Journal of our 20th Anniversary Trip to Kauai, Hawaii |
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This is MY perspective, Nils kept a journal too (I copied it into a web version) which shows HIS perspective, it's amusing to see the difference! His is HERE |
| Preface As you can imagine there were MANY pre-trip preperations and details to take care of. The fact that we had to weather a 2nd Hurricane (Jeanne, and only *3* wks to the day after the first one (Frances)) just a week before our departure didn't help; in fact we thought we might have to cancel it altogether since after the 1st Hurricane (Frances) hit us, we were out of power for 8 days. We decided (before the storm) that if none of our 'host families' for the kids and Twix had power, we couldn't go. But thankfully the second time around we got our power back in 3 days and most of the host families got theirs back before us. |
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Day minus 1 - Friday Oct 1st The day is finally here, I can't believe we are leaving tomorrow to go to Hawaii - FINALLY. Nils and I wanted to go there for our Honeymoon but it was just 'way out of our league back then!! So we decided that we'd go for our 20th anniversary. And we ARE!! Today was a day of making sure all 4 kids went home from school with the correct families and we delivered their bags to the correct house! Last minute packing and stuff. All we had to do was drop off the baby of the family - Yes Twix the Norwich Terrier! She was originally supposed to be going to Camp Mollie (who also has a Norwich Terrier called Vicki) but Mollie's house got flooded and damaged during Hurricane #1 so SHE was staying (with Vicki) at a friend's house! So one of Nils' firefighter buddies Bernie, an avid Twix fan, said he'd love to watch her. Plus he has the same 'kelly day' as Nils, so would be off the entire first week. Bernie has a dog too, a 18mth old HUGE Red Doberman called Buddy! Twix is 10 lbs and maybe 10 inches tall?? but it appears that Buddy was smitten immediately by her charm and sassy walk!! He is in love with her. What a pair! We dropped her off and made FAR more of a fuss about leaving her than we (OR the kids) did with the kids! Barely a backwards glance by any of them, they were all too excited about spending 10 days with their friends from school! Twix was a little unsure at first, since Bernie had *3* other LARGE guest dogs staying (till next week) but we left her in good hands and dragged ourselves away!! We decided to go out to dinner and take our friend/neighbour/chaffeur Howard with us as a pre-thank-you for making him get up at 3am to drive us down to Miami Airport (1.5hrs south of us) We went to out favourite Sushi Place and it was delicious. But both Nils and I have agreed that it's best NOT to each Sushi the night before a LONG trip, since it seems hard on the body to digest it all! |
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Day 1 - Saturday Oct 2nd The alarm went off at 2:45am. We were both up quite easily due to the excitement and adrenelin! Howard wasn't quite so bushy-tailed ;) We set off at 3:20am and got to Miami Aiport at about 4:30am (2 hrs before our flight was due to take off) Upon arrival at Continental, we discoverd that their 'check-in' staff did not arrive or 'open up' until 5am - Darn we could have had 30 mins more sleep! Nils and I had thought we were being SO clever to have only brought one big suitcase and one carry-on backpack each plus Nils surfboard, but it bit us in the rear-end! Turns out you are allowed 2 pieces of luggage a piece, but they MUST be less than 50lbs a piece or you PAY! The suitcase weighed 65lbs! So that little 15 lbs mistake cost us $25. We only had a total of 80 lbs between the TWO of us and COULD have had 200lbs between us !! oy - oh and of course his surfboard which is light but bulky cost us $80 extra too - not sure WHY he couldn't have hired one there, since that only costs $50 a week and we had to pay $80 to take his board ONE way!! Nuff said on that - now we know - smaller suitcases, more of them, weigh them at home first!! The first leg was from Miami to Houston, Texas. It left on time, was only 2.5 hrs and also a pretty empty flight, so we could spread out. One bummer was that I twisted my back putting my HEAVY backpack up in the overheard compartment. I hope the pain goes away soon, even breathing deeply is painful. Nils did some studying of his Paramedic notes and I tried to sleep.We really had no layover in Houston by the time we got off the plane (at gate C57 or something) and had to walk to gate E18 for the Houston to Honolulu flight. Gate E18 was the furthest POSSIBLE distance you can attain in Houston airport from where we landed!! Nils bought a journal there so he could start writing in it, and I decided since I had my laptop that I would write and construct a web page of MY journal daily. That way you all get to read it online as soon as we get home and upload it! The second leg was 8 hours!! and a jam packed flight to boot. No spreading out this time! we also left an HOUR late - yes sat in the plane for an hour - runway back-up of planes! Nils watched movies and I got out my laptop and perched it in front of me (since the guy in front has his seat pushed all the way back, I almost have it under my chin in order to be able to push the LCD screen back enough to be able to see it!!) So we are now 3 hrs into the flight and have been fed Terriyaki Chicken sandwich, chips, potato salad and cookies and my battery is almost run out - gotta shut down for now! More later!! |
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Saturday Oct 2nd - continued (but typed up on Sunday!) Gosh a lot has happened since I last typed!! - Back the yesterday!! After I shut down the computer (with only 3 minutes left on the battery!!) I handed it to Nils (I was in the window seat) and said, "I'm done with this now, can you put it away in my backpack please" So Nils took it, stood up, opened the overhead bin and put it away - or so I thought!!!! (more later) The rest of the flight was LONG, packed plane, cramped seats, I did finally get to the see Spiderman 2 movie though. But in my opinion it wasn't soon enough that the 8 hr flight was over and we were landing in Honolulu. - Since we had taken off over an hour late, we were much later landing than scheduled, which meant that our connecting flight to Kauai was a mere 10 minutes later than when we taxied up to the runway and got off - at top speed! Nils took down my backpack, and put it on my back (I still couldn't turn or move well due to the back twisting earlier!) grabbed his backpack and off we went. We were literally the last people to board the plane to Kauai at 2:10pm ( 8:15pm Florida time) found the last 2 empty seats (not together) and knew that our luggage would NOT make it on the same plane! Very short 20 min flight, nice enough, cool being able to see the islands and ocean out the window. We watched all the luggage pop up onto the circular conveyor belt (only 2 in the entire airport!) but as expected our big red suitcase and Nils' even bigger, even redder surfboard bag did not show up. Not to worry another plane was scheduled for an hour after ours (we landed at 2:35pm) and it was already 3:15pm, so we decided to go over to Budget and get our car rental sorted out, come back and check to see if they arrived etc. No luggage on the next plane :( By now I was getting hungry and cranky - it was now after 4pm (10pm for my body and I'd been up since 3am!) So I told Nils to take me to where we were staying so I could settle in and he could drive back to the airport (about 10 miles) and wait for the luggage (I might add that he was FAR more concerned about his surfboard than the suitcase!! He'd also been told that surfboards take LOW priority so it would only make it on a plane if there was plenty of room!) We found our BEAUTIFUL Bed and Breakfast easily - it's called Hale Lani, which is Hawaiian for "Heavenly House" and it is indeed! You can see a 360 virtual tour of our Lani Suite HERE. So Nils pretty much threw me out the door there and took off back to the airport!! There was a lovely "Welcome Basket" there so I had something to snack on!. Since we had no stuff to unpack, I decided I would write some more of my web journal. So I opened my backpack to get out my laptop - NO FLIPPING LAPTOP !! seriously my heart almost stopped (this is my WORK computer - Motorola asset and all that!!) I rang Nils on the cell phone and said (as calmly as I could) "MY LAPTOP IS NOT IN MY BACKPACK, PLEASE TELL ME YOU PUT IT IN YOURS!" He groaned - Poor boy, another thing 'going wrong' - He said he HADN'T put it IN my backpack, he'd just put it up in the overhead bin. So now my laptop is either still on the plane off to who knows where or (hoping here) was in Honolulu Lost and Found. I think at this point Nils knew he'd better not come back home without the luggage, his surfboard and good news on the laptop! I had the 1-800 number for Continental and gave it to him. Nils got back later WITH the suitcase and surfboard AND news on the laptop! They had found it in Honolulu, had located it and were boxing it up and shipping it to Kauai on either the 7:45pm plane of the 9pm plane! So I started breathing again!! We cleaned up and showered, and went out to dinner in Kapaa (restaurant called Aloha Girl, which wasn't that great really!) after that we went back to the airport. Nils was getting tired (8pm by now, so 2am our time, almost 24 hrs up by now!) Got to the airport at 8:30pm and Praise the Lord the box was there WITH my computer. The ride home (only 5 miles on a main road and then 4.5 miles up the hill to our B&B) was pretty hairy though! Nils was almost delirious he was so tired and found it really hard to drive, it was dark and unfamiliar territory etc. I was sure glad to get home safely!! We fell into bed exhausted at 9:30pm (3:30am for us!) and were both out in about 5 minutes!! |
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Day 2 - Sunday Oct 3rd As you can imagine Wonderful nights sleep. Ruth (the owner) was right you don't need AC here, there is a lovely cool breeze and the temperature was perfect. We woke up early (6am) and Ruth brought us our daily breakfast at about 7:30am - it was AMAZING. A papaya filled with Mango, star-fruit and strawberries plus as amazing cooked french toast in strawberries - delicious indeed, but we did tell her later that we needed to cut back on the carbohydrate bread stuff!! They have their own papaya, mango, tangerine and lemon trees, that you can just pick fruit off and eat - yum! The place is just Heavenly - the name fits SO well. Ruth has done an amazing job decorating and kitting out the place. SO much nicer than a hotel!! We have a hot tub too! We met the Mother and Daughter (Stephanie) who are staying in the suite next to us (there is also a detached cottage they rent too) Ruth and Sandy live on the top floor. Nils and Sandy were tinkering around with a swim noodle making 'surf racks' so that Nils could put his board on top of the car instead of IN the car (up the back of my head basically!!) so I just read my book and enjoyed the calm lush green surroundings. We finally set off at about 9:15am to drive over to Kilauea where Nils' cousin Joe lives. We found his house (near Kilauea Lighthouse Point) easily and then there was some more faffing around with Nils and Joe putting ANOTHER surfboard onto of our car (an extra one of Joe's for Nils to use, which he didn't!!) Men and their surfboards!! We went to a break near Joe's house, not sure of the name, but it was down a VERY bumpy road (that said 4 wheels cars only, which ours isn't!) and the boys basically jump off the rocks into the surf!! I walked to where the river/lagoon meets the ocean and waded through the shallowest part (up to my butt!) and got onto the sand bar/beach (pretty much deserted, only one other girl there lying in the water reading a book. I actually enjoyed my time there reading, looking at the amazing view, surroundings, took plenty of photos. More and more surfers showed up and even more and more families waded over to where I was. Nils showed up at about 1:30pm (no food since breakfast, and I was hungry by now!) and told me Joe had left to go check another spot and never even went out where we were. But Nils had and it was big (I am sure HIS journal goes into detail on that!!) So we went back to the car and back to Joe's (just up the bumpy road) and he wasn't home yet, so we set off back to Kapaa (about 15 miles south of where Joe liveds) to go to the Kapaa Coconut Festival (been there, got the T-shirt!) which was lovely. Perfect timing, we got there at 2pm (it was from 10am-3pm) and so had an hour (just right) to wander around looking at all the local mechandise for sale (food, jams, jewelry, clothes etc) got some lovely stuff. We then walked across the street to Bubba's Burger to have a LATE lunch (we decided we'd hang out at the Lani Suite tonight and cook on the grill and hot tub it!!) I had a double terriyaki burger and it was delish! Then we went to the hardware store for 'more slippy rope' to make the 'faffing around' with the surfboards and racks easier!! Then we went to BIG SAVE grocery store and spent BIG of our SAVEings!! Things really are expensive here, about twice the price of stuff at home. So now it is 6pm, Nils is outside studying his Paramedic notes, and I am looking out of the window at THIS (and now I am going to type up Nils latest entries and see what his take was on it all!!) |
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Day 3 Monday Oct 4th After Nils in his ever present (known and understood only by truly avid surfers) quest for the perfect wave set off at 6:45am (already 15 mins late from his 'schedule' to drive back up to Kilauea (about a 30 min drive) to meet up with his cousin Joe. Since I am on VACATION I did NOT go with him!! I slept in and had a leisurely delicious breakfast at 7:30am (alone :( and read my book (finished one already!) The cell phone works pretty much the same here as back in Florida, well most of the time but with dead spots. Since there are more mountains here, the dead spots seem to be more frequent. So although Nils called me twice that morning I did not get any of the calls or messages till we were at Walmart MUCH later! So I had NO idea or pre-warning for Nils' return! He got back at 10:15am (Nils had negotiated a later 10:30am to my suggested (!) 10am and got out of the card with a stormy fed up look. I should have just kept my mouth shut! But like a fool I said, "So did you have fun and catch some good waves?" Turns out he got lost on the way there (trying to take the alternate route around Kapaa (ie the bypass which is ONLY needed when traffic is backed up and NOT a 7am!!) and got totally lost, getting to Joe's a hour and 15 mins later than he intended. So after checking out spots (surfers do this a lot, go to a spot, sit and stare and look at it and then leave to go check another spot, to sit, stand and stare at that one too; never actually getting IN the water to surf!! I guess you have to be a surfer to understand this!) So he behaved like a spoilt baby and sulked and stomped around and yelled at me as though it was MY fault!! Good grief this is supposed to be our 20th ANNIVERSARY trip for US as a COUPLE - not a flipping surf trip with the boys for him. He's lucky I have been so nice about him 1. bringing his board at all and 2. going off surfing leaving me to eat breakfast alone! He slowly came around and tried first to make up by making me a Lei with fresh flowers Joe gave him and taught him how to do. I did acknowledge the effort and thought, but being human and still smarting a tad from being lit into for something TOTALLY out of my control I wasn't THAT receptive!! (Probably a good thing that the honeymoon couple that haven't (it appears) left the cottage of Ruth and Sandy's they are renting aren't privy to "what it will be like 20 yrs from now" ;) !! We finally left in the car to actually go DO something at 11:30am. Both silent in the car!! Luckily the beauty and awesome scenery of the water as well as the mountains softened us both and the day started to get better. We went into the town of Lihue and found the Walmart!! We had a blast in there - spent $250 getting lots of goodies, presents, and two new soft sided bags to PUT all we've bought in on the way back! The we drove on further south through Puhi, Kipu and then through the tunnel of trees road (big tall trees that met over the top over a hundred feet up (it seems that high!) down into Koloa and finally to the south coast and the town or Poipu. We drove along the south shore taking in all the views, sights and lovely lush green surroundings. I tell you if you handed me a million dollars right now (since that is what it would take to buy a house here!) I'd leave everything behind and retire here, it's so beautiful and serene. We have a TV, VCR a CD/cassette player and radio in our room and I have no desire to turn any of them on! We went to see the "Spouting Horn" which was cool but smaller than I expected. We also took a trail off the side of the road down to the cliffs and watched the waves crashing up onto the rocks, even saw a pod of dolphins off in the water - there must have been at least 15 of them, all cresting out of the water at the same time as if on command from a trainer. It was so cool! I also saw something else, not sure what it was, looking like a big brown bird but it was swimming underwater!! It would pop up just for a brief moment (to breathe?) and then dive back down under the surf in search of fish. Then we drove back east back towards Poipu and the Beach front there. Nils started to get all excited as he saw a group of surfers out there on boards on some pretty neat waves! It was also a nice beach with stuff around it so we decided we'd come back down here on Wednesday for the day, get here early (hopefully not TOO early, I'd like to have my yummy breakfast here first!!) and spend the first half of the day here; so Nils can surf till he'd exhausted and I can lie on the beach (without having to climb down a rocky slippy path and wade through a thigh deep pool!!) and read my book. Later I hope to drive as far as we can west on the south road and up the west coast as far as you can go into Pohilale State Park. It was now about 4pm, and since I hadn't eaten anything since MY breakfast at 7:30am (Nils ate his when he got back at 10:30am) I was starving and starting to get a headache from it. So we hopped back into the car and drove back towards home stopping in the town of Koloa to eat at TomKats grill that had yummy food but a grotty grumpy old man (in his late 60's maybe older?) as our server - He was miserable and monotone and plain rude! I made up for it by having some delicious icecream afterwards at another place! On the way home we hit rush hour traffic so were bumper to bumper for about 5 miles till we turned off up 580 into the mountains and where we are staying. But it wasn't bad as there is so much to look at around you that it was almost an advantage to be going to slowly to be able to take it all in. Back at the house, we chatted with Sandy for a bit about our day and what we still wanted to do etc. Then we got into the hot tub and I read and Nils studied (I must admit he is being very good and dedicated about studying his paramedic stuff, I am not sure I would be so good about it!!) and by 9pm we were both ready for sleep!! |
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Day 4 Tuesday Oct 5th A Nils tried once again for the early morning surf trek, He left MUCH earlier this time at 5:30am! but Joe called him at the last minute last night and said, "Don't wake me untill close to 9am" so looks like he will be surfing alone (provided he finds waves that he actually gets INTO to surf!) just as I ate breakfast alone again (another yummy one of melon with cottage cheese and kiwi and bagel with cream cheese and passion fruit/guava jam!) Hopefully when he gets home (10am at the latest I hope) we can set off on the hike to the waterfalls and have a picnic lunch there. Hallelujah, Nils arrived back absolutely beaming today!! Apparently he caught the 3 best waves of his life (now as a NON-surfer I still boggle at the thought of spending 3+ hours in the water for 3 waves, but to each his own!) and so he was a happy camper! He'd even bought all sorts of stuff (wine, cheese, crackers, sandwich!) at the store for us to take on our "waterfall hike" Opaekaa (O-pee-ka) Falls is really close to our B&B and so we were there in a jiffy. This "blurb" is from one of the Island brochures "There is a stunning view over Opaekaa Falls from the Opaekaa Falls Lookout on Kuamoo Road (Highway 580). The Makaleha Mountains behind the waterfall and the masses of green foliage provide a picturesque setting. There is a trail to the top of the waterfall but take care as it is a long drop if you fall. " - HA - but we did MORE than that we hiked to the BOTTOM of the waterfall!! When you first get to the 'starting point' of the hike, you can look WAY down and see the bottom - it seems a LONG way down! So we set off on this 'pig trail' that took us down (not that steeply) to a river (to the left hand side and before the waterfall) that we then had to cross (lots of boulders and a tree across it so not hard) then you find that you are on the 'plateau' at the TOP of the waterfall (and right side, looking at it from the lookout point.) For a brief moment we thought that that was the end of it that we couldn't get down to the bottom, but we persevered and went up and away from the falls and found the trail (steep and rope assisted!) down to the bottom. I think Nils was shocked at my "mountain goat" abilities!! See we don't 'hike' together that much (Florida is pretty much FLAT!) so he had no idea!! I was happily sitting on a rock waiting for him when he showed up!! I didn't even care about getting my bum dirty (which he thought I did!!) We explorted a bit at the bottom, going into a cave to the right (where you can look OUT from it through the waterfall) then we sat down and set up the 'lunch' - wine, cheese and a sandwich - it was fabulous. IT was SO serene there - can't say quiet as the water hitting the bottom is quite loud!! So then on the way up - Mountain Goat Alice took off first and off I went. Half way up I looked behind me to see where slow-poke was and saw no-one, so I sat down on a ledge and waited for him to catch up. Then I hear him ABOVE me saying, "Hey where are you?" Little sneak!! He found ANOTHER trail back up - an even steeper, ropes needed one (which I would have happily done, that'll teach me to be a show off!) and so he was already back up on the 'plateau.' There we met another couple who were on 'the hike' to the bottom. We told them the scoop and options and off they went as we climbed back up to the top (and took photos of them from the top too - I left a note on their car telling them to email me from our web site and I'd send the photos - which they did and I haven't sent them yet - naughty me!) So we went home, satisfied with our accomplishments that meant we deserved a nap! When we got up (around 3pm) we set off again - to the North Shore of the Island this time. We checked out and visited a bunch of views, beaches and shops too. We also stopped in at the Hanelei Fire Dept. Nils armed with one of his Palm Beach County Fire Rescue T-shirts, as he wanted to see if anyone would do a 'shirt swap.' They were very nice and friendly, but did NOT jump on the shirt swap deal! LOL! They did say we'll sell you one of ours though!! So Nils bought one "Kauai Fire Rescue." We chatted about the Hurricanes and felt a bit whiney with our 8 days with no power when we heard that Hurricane Inniki (1992) that leveled Kauai knocked their power out for 2 MONTHS!! After that we stopped in at Nils' cousin Joe's house to see how he was doing, He seemd OK, and had a very impressive McGyvor like home-made ice-pack on him - It was a pillow case, filled with 3 of those small lunch pack plastic ice packs, with the open end wrapped around his neck and secured with a wodden clothes peg; then he had a bungee chord wrapped twice around his torso to hold the ice on his bruised heart/lung. His buddy Tom (teaches Yoga) was there too, then were eating dinner and going to a movie, so we left and went to dinner ourselves, we went to "A Pacific Cafe" in Kap'aa. The food was AWESOME! After that we came home full and crashed into bed again in a healthy exhaustion at around 9pm. |
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Day 5 Wednesday Oct 6th Yeah, no dawn surf patrol today, we got to sleep in (relatively 7am!) and eat breakfast together on the patio. Then we set off to the South Shore (remember the island is on 35 miles by 15 miles) to Poipu. We were going to go into Walmart on the way but somehow we shot past it! When we got to Poipu Beach, Nils was immediately surveying the surf and decided it looked good, except he'd only brought HIS board (shorter) and not the one Joe lent him (longer) so he had to rent one ($25 for a day - I am sure the weekly rate is better, and at this point I was wondering why he'd paid $80 to bring his!!) I settled in on the beach to read and bask in the sun and he paddled out to surf. One cool thing about this beach was the Monk Seal there. I got the scoop from the lady at the board rental place. It was a female, who had been on the beach ALL summer with her pup (to the delight of the tourists I am sure) and she had JUST recently weaned her pup (off her milk) and to 'help out' the Coast Guard type fellows there had actually transported the pup to a different beach (less frequented) to give it a chance. But Mamma seal was feeling blue and missing her baby (AWWW!) She even looked sort of wistful and sad. Although she was roped off from us, we could get fairly close to see her and take photos. At one point she stuck her head in the sand as if to say, "Please can you stop taking photos and leaving a grieving Mum ALONE" Atfter Nils had surfed for a while, we grabbed a sandwich to eat at the beach and packed up to leave. Nils was fascinated by the catch the local fishermen had hauled in and were unloaded from their nets. Turns out the catch was mainly something we call 'goggle eyes' (Ahole - said ah-hoe-lay) that Nils told them cost $80 a dozen in Florida. The guys immediately said, "you want to buy some?" with a big grin! Then we took the surf board back and towards Waimea Canyon. Whenever we were driving on that outer "C" road (you can't drive all the way around the island because of the Nepali Coast) and could SEE the ocean/beaches/surf I had to pay close attention to Nils/the road and his driving and he tended to space off as he gazed at the surf analyzing whether it was a left, a right, overhead, pumping or whatever it is they call it!! So I'd have to keep him focused on the road so we didn't careen off into the bushes, off the cliff or into oncoming traffic!! Thankfully on the way UP the mountain (18 miles to the very top) to see Waimea Canyon, you can't SEE the ocean (it's behind you) so we were 'road safe' and I could relax a bit more! We stopped several times on the way to the top to look at 'designated views' and a few of our own making (the ones without any guard rails gave me the heebie-jeebies a bit! At one spot (Puu Hinahina Lookout) we were greatly entertained by the 'almost official' island bird - the chickens (and SO many Roosters in one place together, I thought they didn't like sharing their women!!) Nils got out some left-over potato chips and the one chicken by the car must have sent off some sort of signal as I am sure chickens don't smell THAT well, as they came RUNNING out of the woodwork - from the bushes, trees, everywhere, running as fast as they could to get to him. I was laughing SO hard, you could almost here the ones furthest away saying, "Darn, I'm going to miss out again, I'll never get there before that fat chicken-head Billy gets there and eats everything" By the time we got to the VERY top, it was later on in the day and the clouds had descended and so all we saw was clouds over the side!! Going back down just 2-3 miles and it was clear again!! So we really had 'our heads in the clouds" We came back down the mountain a different way (thanks to our handy dandy brilliant "The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook") which was NOT the main way, but MUCH prettier. It also helped that we could see for miles everything around us, the ocean, the towns, it was SO neat. We even stopped and walked around on some mountain bike trails we found (that got Nils all excited and made him wish he'd brought his moruntian bike too - OY!) On the way home we ate dinner at the Brick Oven Pizza - YUM - A Hawaiian one (naturally!) of Ham and Pinapple. What was neat was reading the history of the place - Family business - 4 kids - 1 boy 3 girls - all names began with an M - HEY that sounds familiar!! Got home at 8pm, seemed like 10pm with all we'd done that day! SO another early to bed night. |
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Day 6 Thursday Oct 7th Nils left at 5am again on his 'dawn patrol' but the surf had died down and so I was pleasantly surprised when Nils got back home at 7:45am (I was eating breakfast) and since the 'lack of surf' was due to no surf adn not getting lost, he wasn't all crabby!! So after breakfast we set off on another "Waterfall Hike" adventure (which I really like!) This time to Wailua Falls. Once again they have a convenient "Spectators only Lookout Point" but we're the rugged sort and wanted MORE than that!! It had been raining off and on quite a bit (all night and even during the day, interspersed with sunshine) so the 'trails' were more like "mud-slides" There was one really close to the lookout point that looked like it was straight down! Our trusty "The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook" told us of another way down; longer but less steep and intense. So we drove back down the road (about 1/2 mile) and set off down that one (which was also a Mud-slide, but a gentler one!) We both took off our shoes (flip-flops!) off completely and decided to bare-foot it. I pretty much went down on my bum (ie leaning backwards, facing forwards, using my hands/arms, feet/legs holding onto trees, roots and whatever I could) but Nils was more upright and so when he slipped (he was in front) and disappeared head-first out of sight, it did worry me for an instant!! Thankfully he didn't go far, but I think he adopted MY way of descent shortly after that! When we got down to the bottom (the river) we had to walk UP that towards the Waterfall (basre-foot remember!) There was a trail, not blatently obvious, but enough that we didn't get lost of stray from it! We carved our initials along with other 'rugged hikers' on a cool tree (that had dark red 'meat' underneath the silvery outer bark, so it looked like it was bleeding) We finally made it to the Waterfall, to join 2 other couple, one who had been 15 mins ahead of us on the long trail and another that had braved the short steep one down. We all took photos of each other (hard to have couple photos when it's just the two of you and you don't trust setting you camera on timer, balancing it on a rock and then running (tripping) to get into the photo before the shutter goes off!) and then all 6 of us set off back UP the short rope trail (then again it is SO much easier going UP!!) Once again I am glad we did the long way there, it made it more interesting and challenging. After our 'exercise' we set off back to Poipu Beach in the south. Nils was itching to see if the surf on THAT side was 'happening' and the guy had said that he could come back and get the board without any extra cost since he had technically rented it for 24hrs. First we had lunch at a Tennis Club by the beach, very nice (empty!) food and atmosphere and we matched the decor!! The guy was really nice and told Nils he could use the board again but he had to have it back by 4:30pm to avoid any further fees. So Nils dumped all his stuff on the beach with me and took off. What I found amusing was that about 5 minutes after Nils went off and I settled in to read my book (#3 I think!) a young (20's) couple (dare I say newlyweds??) arrived. He thew all his stuff on the beach in a heap, grabbed his board, gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek and was off (to join the pack out in the water!) She sat down with a big SIGH! I thought to myself, "Get used to it honey, I'm 20 yrs down the road from you and it hasn't changed one bit" Yes a surfer's mind is totally ONE-track when there are waves anywhere within 25 MILES of them let alone yards!! The sad mamma Monk seal was still there on the beach too! We had eaten out every day so far and had not utilized the wonderful grill we had at our disposal and the ONLY thing I didn't want to miss on TV was on at 7pm (Survivor) so we went home and had steaks on the grill that night. |
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Day 7 Friday Oct 8th Nils left at 5am again on his 'dawn patrol' but the surf had died down (hey didn't I type that same thing yesterday!) Today we went to Nawiliwili Harbor (south east corner of the Island) First we went to Kalapaki Beach (there were surfers out there, although it was not high surf, but I am sure Nils probably silently kicking himself for not bringing his surf board) we looked at the local shops and even went into a really cool "Surfing History" museum - Nils took a photo and was told "No Photography allowed," but I didn't hear that and took one too till Nils reprimanded me! Then we set off back north again, and Nils wanted to get to the shore to 'check it out' more so we ended up turning left on what appeared to be a private country club resort, but there was a public access road (packed red dirt, not tarmac or anything) right through the MIDDLE of a fancy Golf course. Nils even videod that bit! At the end we came across a lovely (deserted) find. A lighthouse called Ninini Point. It was so peaceful there and we sat on the rocks and watched the waves and ocean and birds. I made myself a delicious sandwich for lunch - I felt so french, chocolate and bread but with caramel too -YUM. We could see the HUGE cruise ship in Nawiliwili port so we decided to go and check it out up close, but we were not allowed 'in the gates' as we were're boat passengers. You could spot the passengers, they all looked stressed, hurried and carrying loads of shopping bags! They only have about 4 hrs off the ship. We called the Helicopter place but today's flight was all booked up, so we made reservations for tomorrow 1:30pm flight. After that we checked out the shops and stuff a bit and then left and headed back north. I had picked out another hike for us to do from The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook - First we went down to Secret Beach, which in itself is not that hard to get down too, but most people just stay on the beach and don't know about the Secret Lava Pools. You have to walk all the way to the left of the beach and then hike over the rocks for a bit. The Lava Pools are so neat; big smooth calm water pools carved into the Lava Rock and the waves are crashing on the rocks a bit further out (look at the photos, you'll see) I went in the pools (there were 4 other people there, all toting the The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook) but Nils didn't - it was cool and refreshing. Then we hiked back to the beach and back up to the car. Then we went to Joe's house (pretty close to Secret Beach) - Joanne was there too and she wanted to take us to another "not-wel-known" spot (which incidentally was in our little book!) So off we went on another hike to Queens Bath. Couldn't swim in that one this time (ocean a bit rough) and it was also getting a bit late (dusk) and we didn't want to have to hike back over the rocks in the dark. After that, since we had 2 die-hard surfers with us, we went to check a few surf breaks for then and then headed into Princeville. Everybody knows Joe and Joanne, so we were stopping every 5 minutes to talk to somebody! We went to the grocery store there and we all picked out the sushi that we wanted for dinner. We all went back to Joe's to eat dinner - it was delicious!! Nice evening, home and in bed by 9:30pm! |
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Day 8 Saturday Oct 9th Nils did not go on the Dawn Patrol, so we had a nice leisurely morning with another yummy breakfast and Nils studied while I read my book (forget if it was #2 or #3 book!) The mother/daughter left today, they are going to Maui for a week next (lucky things!) we also discovered that the daughter who looks about 19!! is acutally 29 and a Pediatrician. Yes she said I often get people asking if I am the Doctor or looking past me for the Dr - We all told her she'll love that when she's older!! Then we set off down the hill (4.5 miles) to Kapaa as there was an Indian Dance Festival going on in the Kapaa Beach Park. The were many dressed up in all their native costumes (man they looked hot as the sun was blaring away) There were 'merchants' there too with their jevelry and stuff, but it was pretty much what had been at the Cococut Festival we'd been to before, so the only thing we bought was food. I had a delicious fruit smoothy shake but I almost wished I'd had a straw that was twice as long!! It did not smell nice, apparently (Joanne told us) that it's the guava that makes it have that 'puke' smell!! Our Helicopter ride was scheduled for 2:30pm and we had to be at the landing strip at 1:30pm. So since we had time to spare we went back to Nawiliwili to try and set up a cool Kayak/Hike/Zip-line/Waterfall adventure (that the mother/daughter had done, loved and told us about) for Sunday but they have a rule here that you cannot kayak on Sundays (not sure why) So the only thing we could do was a Zip and Dip tour, which was a hike to a waterfall tha tyou coudo swim in (not a very high one) and then tree top zipping (we did that in Costa Rica - AWESOME) but we decided not to do that (I really wanted to do the kayaking bit) and so said "Well we have to leave something for next time" Plus it was getting close to time for our big Helicopter ride so we headed to the airport. There are MANY different companies that do the "Nepali Coast Helicopter" tours, but we went with the one that our trusty little book said was the best. Kauai Air (and the only one that STOPS the rotars while you mount and dismount!) We got there in plenty of time and met the 2 other couples that would be going with us. Guess what it was a total Florida flight!! They were all from the Panhandle/Destin area and so had been through Hurricane Ivan themselves recently too! So we swapped Hurricane hardships!! Plus one woman was an emergency physician, so Nils and she veered off into medical talk for a bit! Her hubby was a pilot of planes, big bucks in THAT family I am sure!! AND they had 2 daughters Meredith (4) and Melanie (18mth.) We took off on time, seated by the pilot by weight - YES they ask you AND they weigh you!! So the pilot/physcian couple were up front with the Warren the pilot. Then on the back row was me woman, man Nils and me by the window. Mind you the helicopter is almost ALL windows, so you can see well no matter where you are sitting. It was amazing and SO beautiful, the photos really don't do it any justice at all. The sun was shining and it was just SO breath-taking. Warren was great, he spoke and told us about stuff, the history, where movies were filmed etc, but he also kept silent at times, so you could just enjoy the majestic views. The house whizzed by, we saw the entire island going in a counter-clockwise circle from the airport and back again. I think it was well worth the $200 each it was. At that price I wouldn't do it again but I am SO glad we did it. Next time I want to do a boat tour to the Nepali Coastline! We were back on the ground at 3:30pm so had time to go off and explore, other parks, beaches and piers we hadn't seen before. We just started turning up streets and roads to see what was at the end of them! We ended up back in Kapaa and ate a simple (not too expensive!) dinner at Aussie Tim's Texas BBQ. I had Quesedilla which were delicious and Nils had Chilli. Tim (the only guy doing everything in the kitchen!) brought out MANY slabs of ribs for other customers and I am glad I didn't have ribs!! They were HUGE (beef ribs) drwoning with BBQ sauce - a bit too much!! After that back home and early bed. |
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Day 9 Sunday Oct 10th Another nice morning of sleeping in till breakfast was delivered at 7:30am. Then we read and studied for an hour or so after that before taking off north again. We went to Hanelei Bay Beach and Nils took Joe's longer board out and surfed for an hour or so while I lay on the beach and read. Then we went into the town of Hanelei, ran into the 2 helicopter couples! checked out the shops and stuff. We knew Joe and Joanne had yoga that morning and would be done by lunch so we'd arranged to meet them for lunch and spend the afternoon with them. So we met up with Joanne, the Yoga place was right by where we were and then we waited for Joe to show up (his chest was still hurting so he didn't go to yoga.) Then we went to Hanelei Gourmet for lunch. We all had burgers which were delish, once again Joe and Joanne knew MANY people and we one of the helicopter couples was eating there too! After that we set off for Lumahi Gardens where Joanne used to work (with her deceased hubby) for quite a while. So we had our own personal guide (for free! she even said "People normally paid $15 for my butt" I refrained from making a smart-alek comment!) She told us loads of things I certainly didn't know about Kauai and its history, as well as a bunch of Kauai stories and legends. Nils and Joe were like two naughty boys, hanging back behind us (both producing a myriad of 'air noises' - say no more!) so I am sure they (particularly Nils, Joe has probably heard it all before) did NOT hear all the facts and nuggets of info. We were the last people to leave (shuts at 4pm, so that you can go all the way around before it gets dark at 6pm ish) Next (5:30pm) we headed to Kiluea Point Light House by Joe's house. It was too late to walk to the end and see the Lighthouse up close or be on the point (next time!) but we stood at the viewing point and could see loads of Booby birds flying around and couple of Geese. This spot is noted for Whale watching and also for seeing Albatross, Turtles and Monk Seals depending on the time of year. We said goodbye to Joe there at the lighthouse and he went home. We followed Joanne so we could see her studio Apt. We couldn't fully appreciate it as it was dark by now, but It is right across from where they filmed Jurassic Park. Joanne chatted away telling us all the latest news on her Finley Family. Back home after a long day and went to bed again early - although it always feels like it's 11pm!! |
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Day 10 Monday Oct 11th Sigh our final day is here :( We had our last lovely Hale Lani amazing breakfast on the patio and then started packing. Those 2 new soft sided bags were needed and well used! I packed the big red suitcase much less this time and with the lightest stuff I could to keep it under 50lbs. We also met the new honeymoon couple that moved in next to us. They had been at another B&B for one night, but it was awful, broken and holey screens on the windows so they got CHEWED up by mozzies (his legs were AWFUL!) not a good way to start a honeymoon. So Nils and I told them that they'd LOVE it here!! Our flight wasn't until 4pm, so once we were all packed, we had oodles of time, so we went down into Kapaa for more shopping (to fill any nooks and crannies in our cases that needed filling!) and to eat lunch etc. Since we needed to be at the aiport at 2:30pm we headed back to the house, put everything in the car and said goodbye and headed for the airport. Trip back was uneventful, no problems. sad to leave. |
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Day 11 Tuesday Oct 12th After Since we left at 4pm Kauai time (which is 10pm Florida time) we got home (Miami airport) the next day around noon. Nils' buddy was 1 hr late picking us up (more sitting around!) We picked up Twix on the way home (the kids were still in school we couldn't pick them up first, that's our story and we're sticking to it!) and she was beside herself with joy. Norwich owners will smile and understand when I say that she sounded like she was being strangled and murdered she was screaming so much!! We had to pry her away from Bernie and his dog Buddy who had both fallen in love with her. Got home, threw everything on the floor in theliving room! Relaxed for about an hour then set off at 3:30pm to make the rounds to pick up all the kids, their bags, one from vollyball game, one had golf. By the time we had ALL 4 kids with ALL their bags it was 8pm (remember that is 2pm for our bodies BUT we'd been up since 7am the PREVIOUS day!!) and the car was filled with noisy arguing siblings. Nils and I just looked at each other and said, "Can we just drop them all off again and get on the plane and go back?" We have decided that we want to go back every 5 yrs for our 25th, 30th, 35th etc we loved it SO much and I TOTALLY recommend 110% the Hale Lani B&B we stayed at - it was paradise! Please sign our family GUESTBOOK with your comments |
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