2009-Feb. 28: Lawai, Maha'ulepu beach

A sad day today----Angie and Josh had to leave and head back to St. Louis. But they did have all day here before their plane left at 11:50pm. So, once they checked out of their place, they headed over here. After a bit of reorganizing here, we headed off to the south side again.


First on the agenda was lunch. We headed for Brennecke's restuarant. Lunch was good, service was bit slow, but it was crowded. Here Angie's enjoying her pina collada and using the little umbrella as a hair ornament.

Then we were on our way to Lawai beach. We stopped at the little cove before Lawai to see the monk seal resting there. Definately not one of the younger smaller ones we saw there a couple days ago.

The wind was still howling all day. Temps still in the low 70's, but the wind kept things on the cool side. That didn't stop Angie and me from snorkeling at Lawai, though. The water was still very comfortable temperature-wise and the surf was only about 1 ft today.
Here's a cute little file fish. No, the picture is not upside down, the fish is!---barred filefish

Here's a large redlip parrotfish. You can hear them munching on the coral from quite a distance. There is a whole school of these guys here at Lawai. I've seen them the past couple years.

a puffer fish

 a peacock grouper

After snorkeling we tried to rest on the beach and enjoy the sun and read a bit. That's when a disturbed lady came by yelling at everyone on the beach for staring at a seal there. The area was roped off and the monk partol volunteer was there talking to the onlookers, but that didn't keep her from yelling at everyone that the rope doesn't matter and everyone should get back another 75 feet or so. At that rate, we would have been in the restuarant! That led to a rather disappointing end to the "kids'" beach excursions. We had enough and left.

Then we drove by Gillian's beach to see if it was warm enough for sunning at. It was too windy

so we headed back to the condo.

Dinner was another take out pizza from Brick Oven. This time we shared one large pizza. That was the right amount for 4 people. The kids rested up for their long journey home and watched tv. At about 9:45, we headed off to the airport to drop them off.
I stayed and visited with them until they went through security, then tried to call my husband to pick me up. Unfortunately, I had just replaced my phone and not all my saved numbers got transferred---his was one that was lost. After waiting about 15 minutes, I figured he was probably at the cell phone waiting area. So I hoofed it on over there the long way in case he drove by. He was there. At least it was a pleasant evening weatherwise.

Back at the condo, we flight tracked their flight until they were long gone. Finally hit the sack about 1am.

2009-Feb. 26: No Hoku and Smith's Luau

Today we decided to stick around the east side.

Angie called about 11:30 to see if we wanted to join them for lunch. We, of course, accepted and decided we should go to Scotty's. Lunch was very good and the service was excellent. In the past, the food had been great, but service was always a bit slow. It was a nice surprise to see that improved. But the real treat there was when Angie pulled gifts out of her purse for Ken and me as thank you gifts for taking them to Kauai. They got Ken and calendar and a book of photos showing the history of Kauai. Then they pulled out a Na Hoku bag out for me. I was shocked and excited. I've bragged about that store quite a few times. She even knew the piece I was wanting now---a Bird of Paradise pendant.

That's what they got me! That was a really nice surprise! (This was also why they wanted to drive themselves south the other day. I thought it was just so they could enjoy their convertible rental some more.)


We spent the afternoon lounging around the pool of the Kauai Coast Resort. It was a pleasant change of pace and we still got some time in the water---just not the ocean.


By 4:30 we were on our way to the Smith's luau. We thought we were going to miss it this time. We tried to reserve space for Fri. last Tues and we were told it was sold out. So we were put on a waitlist. They called Thurs and offered us 2 seats. We needed 4 seats so had to refuse. Fortunately they called back Thurs. afternoon and said all 4 seat came available. This was Ken's and my 4th trip to Smith's. I love the setting. It's a beautiful large garden setting and they even give you a trolley ride through the garden if you arrive early enough.

We love walking around the huge garden.

The building where dinner is served is large and open. I think the fresh air and lack of food were getting to Angie and Josh here!

The food!!!! We all thought it was fantastic---from the kalua pork, the teriyaki steak, chicken, salad, tropical salad dressings, veggies, breads, coconut cake and jello, .... . Even the Mai Tais are Ono!

The show after the meal is in a covered amphitheatre.   The short walk there is very picturesque.

Although the dancers may be young and of all sizes and cuteness, we found that to be a big part of the charm of the performance. It was refreshing seeing young folks with such enthusiasm and smiles recreating parts of their heritage.

The show was over around 9:30 and we were on our way to our condos to call it another night.

2009-Feb. 26: sunset cruise, Hanapepe, Waimea Canyon overlook

Today was the day of our sunset cruise. We had to be at Port Allen around 1:45, so we left the east side around noon and headed south. Since we had a little time to kill, we stopped at the swinging bridge in Hanapepe, the canyon overlook, and even had a quick lunch at Grinds. Lunch was very good with very good service.
The swinging bridge:

Waimea Canyon overlook

This was Ken's and my 4th Napali cruise, all in the winter. The first time we went was a morning snorkel trip, the winds were strong and the surf was high, but they made it to the Napali. The views weren't good, though, since the wind was throwing mist on the cliffs, but at least we got to see the Napali. The snorkeling was in really deep water and it wasn't very good, either. The other 2 times we had great views of the Napali. One of those trips was also to Niihau with snorkeling there (not great) and the other was a sunset cruise with great views, but cold and rainy on the way back. This time, the winds were high, as they have been all week, and the surf was very rough. A few people, including Angie who has never gotten sea sick before, got sea sick.

We made it about as far as Polihale and had to turn around.

We spent about 5 hours in the stretch between Polihale and the boat harbor. The good thing about it was we did get to see lots of whales. None that were breaching very far out of the water, but at least many were breaking the surface.

and flipper slapping

and tail slapping

Plus the views of the coastline were still interesting---
Salt Pond from the cruise:

 Old Sugar Mill?

 red dirt--

Even the sunset was pretty good this time and we didn't encounter any rain. It was chilly, but not too bad since we came prepared with sweatshirts and jackets.

Even caught this slight rainbow.

Since dinner was on the cruise---luau style complete with kalua pork and teriyaki chicken---we headed straight back to our condos after the cruise and called it a day.

2009-Feb. 25: Lawai

Today was a little different. The kids called and said they wanted to ride in their convertible and that they would meet us at Lawai beach. So Ken and I attended the Pahio (Wyndham) Kauai Beach Villas owners meeting in the morning. Heard, again, about the proposed new pool they've been promising us for 4 or 5 years now. Only thing different this time is now they are no longer denying that we owners won't have to pay a special assessment for it---in the tune of about $700 or so (probably twice that for us since we own 2 weeks a year).Shortly after that we were on our way south. I always love the views along the way, like these farm lands--

 and the jagged mountaintops.

We caught up with the kids about 1pm at Lawai. We all snorkeled for quite awhile.
Unicornfish

 Lawai is the only place around Kauai that we see Black Triggerfish

 surgeonfish

Then when Ken and Josh were lounging on the beach while Angie and I were still snorkeling, they witnessed a really neat event and were clever enough to record it.  2 young monk seals came to the beach right in front of where we were sitting.  

 it's rare to see 1 monk seal, let alone 2, so this was pretty special.

  Angie and Josh left us on the beach and took off to sightsee on their own a bit---so we thought (more about that on a later date). We did meet back up with them about 3 for a late lunch at Tropical Burger in Poipu. That was the first time we've eatten there and I was rather impressed. Service was good and friendly and our burgers were really good---with a wide range of choices for burgers. They were about $10/burger and fries, but that's not bad for Hawaii.
Angie and Josh then went on their way. They wanted to get back and cleaned up so they could attend Ash Wednesday at the historic Lutheran church in Lihue.  They loved the church, mass, and said everyone was incredibly friendly.

Ken and I just drove around a bit, then went to Safeway for a few more groceries---such as their delicious large deli sandwiches.

2009-Feb. 24: ride to the North shore, snorkel Anini

This morning started by meeting Angie and Josh at their resort and sitting through a timeshare presentation. We had no intention of buying, but like the discount on activities that it gets us. It was Angie and Josh's first timeshare presentation, so I was also curious to see how Josh, a salesman, would handle these guys. Unfortunately, he didn't have much oppurtunity to say much. The saleman seemed more interested in trying to convince Ken and me that we should buy. The 90 minute presentation lasted the expected 2 1/2 hours, even with us trying not to talk. But in the end, we each got basically a buy one get one free 5 1/2 hour Napali sunset cruise certificate out of it. We booked the cruise for Thurs., the 26th.

With that done, we headed north. I knew the surf was high, but the sun was suppose to be shining so I figured it was a good time to show the "kids" the north side and all it's lush folliage, wildlife, and spectacular mountain vistas.

We stopped at my favorite place on earth, Tunnels, and waded in the water,

 enjoyed the scenery (did I mention it was a bit cold for Hawaii),

and watched Josh kick up a good time.

Heading back towards the east side, we stopped at Banana Joes for a delicious smoothie. They get better and better every time I get one!

Since snorkeling was on the day's agenda, we did stop at the protected beach on the north side, Anini, and Angie and I did some snorkeling.

I've been there 5 or 6 times before and have had some great snorkeling there a couple times, but usually snorkeling there sucks.  (Update:  I've discovered where the great snorkeling is and as of 2016 it's one of our favorite places to snorkel) Today wasn't an exception, it sucked. But the water felt great and the views are great. With Angie snorkeling with me and not being out there alone, we ventured all the way to the edge of the reef. There the floor of the ocean dropped drastically and spooked us into scurrying back.  but we did enjoy the water and the few odd things we saw---like this guy, a sea hare.

One highlight of the snorkeling this time was the lone yellow tang we found. They seem to be few and far between around the island of Kauai. On the way back in, we were rained on. It was rather neat snorkeling in the rain, but we could see the guys on the shore rushing to get everything into the car so we hurried our way back to shore.

Here we are snorkeling back in the heavy rain.

After hottubbing and showering, we headed to the Wailua Marina Restuarant for dinner. After bragging about it so much, I was disappointed with a really poor cut of steak. At least everyone else's dinners were good.

And another day comes to an end.