1-31-19  South to Poipu, Moir Gardens, Poipu mall,

Woke up to another cloudy rainy day on the North side.  Not a surprise.  So we decided to check the surf reports for the South side.  They were the only ones without a surf warning.  So we decided to take a ride and see if we could find some sunshine and calmer waters.
Ended up at Poipu beach.  Turned out to be a great decision. 

 lt was windy.  But the sun felt great.  I think it got up to about 77.

 Carolyn set up on the beach with her book.  I took to the water.  First to the shallow side to the left of the now not there tombula. 

 Lots of fishies there.  Like this reef triggerfish

 and this blue trevally

 I was surprised to see there are 2 life guard stations here now.  Last time I was here there was only 1.  Now one looks over the right side of the tombola and the other looks over the area by the baby beach.

 looking towards where the life guard station use to be.

 an odd couple---moorish idol and white spot box fish

 orange bar surgeonfish

 Christmas wrasse

 At one point, I heard splashing behind me.  I thought it was another snorkeler, but it got louder, so I turned to see what it was.  Much to my surprise, it was 3 adolescent monk seals rolling around in the water and playing with each other!

 I kept moving towards the shore and they kept coming my way.

 Wish I could have gotten a clearer picture, but I wasn't going to crowd them! 

 I ended up in pretty shallow rocky water for awhile.

 finally they turned to the left of me, so I swam off to the right.

 when I got a good distance away, I watched them from above water for awhile

 then I headed over to the right side of the tombola that isn't there anymore

 spotfin scorpionfish---saw 3 of these guys!

 4 spot butterflyfish

 orange bar surgeonfish---large school of them

 reef triggerfish

 sergeant major fish---these guys are protective of their homes and will shoot up at you to scare you away

 the sergeant majors riled up

 a cleaning station---note the little yellow headed Hawaiian cleaner wrasse.

 unicornfish

 palenose parrotfish

 rockmover wrasse---these guys really move rocks

 orange spine unicornfish

 Christmas wrasse---glad to see there are still a lot of them around Kauai

 ringtail surgeonfish

 yellow tail coris

 belted wrasse

 looking back at the lifeguard station that now faces the tombola area

 Lo and behold, the 3 young monk seals swam over to this side as I was heading in to get out.

 one of the seals tuckered itself out and decided to come up on shore and take a nap.  Didn't take long for the monk seal volunteer to show up and rope off the area.

 beautiful Poipu beach!

 probably the most crowded I've ever seen it.

After sitting in the sun awhile, we decided it was time for dinner.  So we changed clothes and headed to Poipu center.  

 Decided to walk around the mall first to see what's changed.  No Hoku was still there!  I've spent a few dollars here over the years!

 owwwwwww

 really liked this---only about $2700!

 Loved the cute little lariat with the flip flops on it, too.

 Refrained from buying anything and continued on our way.  I was surprised to see that the hamburger place wasn't in the back corner anymore.  And that Puka Dog wasn't there anymore.

 now there are taco and sushi restaurants there.

 Found Puka Dog though.  They just moved around the corner and have more room now.

 But we were wanting Keoki's Paradise's Happy Hour specials.

 love the atmosphere here and prices are reasonable.

 love the open air bar dining area, too.

 dinner---fish taco and kalua pork slider.  Both were very good, and filling.

 Carolyn wanted her picture taken at the entrance to Keoki's.  She said this was her favorite restaurant of the ones we went to.

 It was still rather early---5ish, so I drove over to the public parking lot by the Sheraton so we could walk around the Moir garden.

 I love this free garden!  What a little gem.  It's actually the grounds of the Kiahuna Plantation.  

 The gardens were created in the 1930s by Alexandra Moir while her husband was manager of Hawaii's first sugar cane plantation

Today the garden contains rare cactus and succulents,  bromeliads, orchids,  mature trees, and water lily ponds. 

 one of the many beautiful orchids.

 and----

 ---

 some of the cactus

 and lots more orchids.

 I was surprised to see the inside of the large cactus looked like wood.

 more really tall cacti

 a cute little water lily in a big pot.

 more interesting cacti

 more orchids

 such a variety

 We even went into the restaurant to check out the menu

 not cheap!  But looked good!

 heading back out

 heliconia

 looking back towards the restaurant

 never saw these blooming before!

 into the cacti garden

 flowering aloe

 ???

 love these yellow flowering trees.

 more interesting plants.

 and seed pods?

 hen and chicks!  how appropriate for Kauai!

 Looks like they've done a lot of work on the cactus garden since I was last here.

 more interesting flora

 After about 30 minutes in the garden, we debated on waiting for sunset or starting back.  We decided the clouds were getting too heavy, so we headed back.  Since we left early enough, we rode around Lihue a bit.  I wanted to give Carolyn the lay of the land so she can run around a few hours on Sat. after I fly off to Maui and she doesn't have to be at the airport until 8 and I want to be there around noon.
She mentioned wanting to possibly just sit and watch the ocean for awhile and read.  I showed her Ahukini Recreational Pier State Park right down the street from the airport. 

 the East surf was really putting on a show now.

  beautiful views from the park

 one last view before showing her how to get back to 56 and what's around there.

 Then we hit Walmart before heading back to Princeville.  She wanted a copy of my photos, so we stopped there to get a thumb drive.  Now to see if she can figure out how to get them off it!

Made it back to Princeville in good time and settled in for the night.
  
Another great day!