Sand in my pants

The days start out with scattered clouds, but the sun burns them away by noon. Evenings are often cloudy again, nature’s balm for the hot afternoon. Mellowness pervades all. Ahhh.

Apologies for the belated posting; it’s been a much-needed break for me from all things computer-related. Plus the Kapa’a Sands Resort people told me I had to be at the pool to access the wireless… Apparently they don’t realize one can get it when sitting on one’s lanai, watching the waves. Sweet.

Our first day in Kauai was “settle-in day.” We originally rented a tiny studio-type condo that was really noisy at night (near the road). I asked if we could move, not expecting to be successful, and they just happened to have the Taj Mahal available: a two bedroom, two bathroom, two-story suite. It’s spic and span, quiet as could be - just the sound of the surf. We feel quite spoiled with luxury.

Our last vacation to Europe was so planned out, this year we want no agenda. We’ve just been winging it day by day, which works just fine here. Kaua’i is small enough that if your activity on the East Shore is closed, just drive to the West Shore and do something else!

The only thing we’ve had to plan in advance was the helicopter ride, which required reservations. That was the day before yesterday and it was great. It started out a little iffy - a sudden rain storm drenched the heliport just as we were boarding. But we soon discovered that when it’s raining on one side of the island, it’s sunny on another. The ride was awesome, and I only got scared once, when we hit a little turbulence. The scenery was spectacular - my pictures don’t do it justice, of course.¹ We wore headsets so the pilot could point out all the cool landmarks, including the waterfall featured in the opening sequence of Fantasy Island. ²

After the ride, we drove somewhere to eat, and realized we were right up the street from one of the Botanical Gardens.³ We had just enough time to get there for the last tour of the day. Botanical “gardens” on Kaua’i mean a huge expanse of jungle, complete with rivers, man-made water features, the beach, bridges - and in this one, a house and a guest house that were built by the owner of the land until he donated it for the Garden. It took 2 1/2 hours to tour, an hour and a half of that by foot. Our tour guide was wonderful - a smart, funny, and laid-back botanist named Anela who won Kevin’s approval by saying the Grateful Dead is the best band in the world.

After that busy day, yesterday was chill day. We went to a park beach in the morning. The surf was pretty rough so we swam in the protected cove. The waves were strong enough to crash over the rocks and provide some quality “bobbing,” which is what we named floating on the swells the last time we were in Hawaii. Speaking of which, after my near-death experience last time⁴, Kevin is pretty paranoid that a killer wave has my name on it. He’s turned into Marlin from Finding Nemo - “I’d feel better if you played on the sponges.”

Being white kids from Seattle, we reached our sun tolerance around noon and went for lunch. Fish tacos - yum. Then we went to the Market nearby so I could get a beach dress and some pink shorts with “Kaua’i” written across the ass. Then, exhausted from all the activity, we went to the pool at the condo for a few hours. I swam and Kevin read. Kevin’s already read an entire book, while I can’t seem to concentrate enough to get very far. My brains are still recharging and don’t want to be taxed with the effort of multi-tasking.

We had dinner at Wahooo Bar & Grill - a wahoo is the fastest fish in the sea. The Grill sits next to a coconut grove, built by some enterprising young man who didn’t know how long it takes coconut trees to mature. (He’s now a not-so-enterprising old man.) Donkeys wandering in the grove bellied up to the fence by the patio, and a stray kitty with an ouchie-eye waited for scraps.

Today we go to the North Shore to see what we can see.

The pace of Kauai is slow and the locals are extremely nice, even to tourists. Maybe it’s because there are fewer of us; it’s not perpetually sunny here like Hawaii and Oahu, and there is virtually no nightlife as Kaua’i lacks any real cities. Kauai doesn’t attract hordes of partiers. It’s the place to go when you just want rest and relaxation.

I could live here, seriously. I could telecommute - doing technical writing from the beach. Not sure about the market for aeronautical engineers, though. Too bad Kevin doesn’t know how to fly a helicopter.

1. You’ll all have to make do with crappy cell phone pictures for now. When I get back, I’ll post the ones from the camera. [↩]
2. There was a little guy beside it pointing at us. De helicopter! De helicopter! [↩]
3. There are five national botanical gardens and four of them are in Hawaii. [↩]
4. ”Do not turn your back on the ocean.” Truer words never spoken. [↩]

Filed under Aloha O'i |