Psalm 147:8
He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth.
The Hawaiian Paradise did not disappoint us at all. We had a peaceful week, did some fun activities and saw my good friend and college roommate, Katrina. My only regret was not getting a picture in front of a “Welcome to Hawaii” sign. So, you are just going to have to imagine it.
We arrived on Kaua’i, the Garden Island, about an hour late. We were still able to check into our condo in the Kiahuna Plantation Resort in Koloa. This place was so nice. The condo was within walking distance from a nice body surfing and snorkeling beach. I liked this side of the island, the south side, a little better. Although it seemed really touristy, the tourists seemed to be about my speed and socio-economic background. This is not true for our two-night stay on the north side of the island in Princeville.
I also liked this side of the island because of the huge chicken population. We saw many roosters together, which is unusual on the mainland, and a few mama hens with their chicks. It was cute! I never saw the natural mama/baby interaction with my backyard chickens in Salt Lake City, so this was really cool to watch.
The water, of course, was a perfect temperature for all sorts of hanging out. Which I did many times. But we also took a hike and went on a tubing adventure while hanging out on the south shore. Our hike was on the Maha’ulepu Heritage trail, which followed the coastline from Shipwreck Beach to Gillin’s Beach. The views were stunning, and the trail was not very crowded. We also saw many sea turtles playing in the water. It was a nice break from going to the beach, but it was hot and when we returned to the condo, I went to the beach to swim.
We had a great experience tubing down the old sugar cane plantation irrigation canals and tunnels. This was a guided tour, and the water was only about three feet deep, so it wasn’t very intimidating. I was nervous about going through the tunnels because of my mild claustrophobia, but I had no problem. It was fun going down the baby rapids! The water in the canals comes from the rainwater flowing down from the mountains so it was a bit cold. It didn’t bother me too much. However, I was very happy to change into my warm, dry clothes from the jeep ride back to the town.
I was really amazed at how expensive everything was on this island and how difficult it was to get fresh fish. We bought some fish from a local fish shop one night to cook at the condo, and we just were not prepared for this cookout. We had forgotten that our kitchen remained on the mainland and the outcome of our cooking was pretty bad. But the choices to eat out were not great either. The first night we went across the street from the condo to a small place for some fish and tiki drinks, the night that we wanted to cook at the condo we ended up eating Kalua Pork plate dinner, and the last night on this side of the island we ate at a small restaurant called The Tasting Room. I ate chicken. Hopefully not one of the ones I had watched lovingly. (I am sure my picture will go viral and SLCC because of all the wine glasses in front of me.)
We moved to the north side of the island, just outside of Princeville, where I was able to spend some time with my college roommate, Katrina. She lives on Oahu and flew over for the night. Before meeting at the condo, Michael and I went to a few beaches on this side of the island, waiting for our check-in time. We got to the condo within thirty minutes of each other and we had a great time hanging out in the condo, catching up on old times, talking about future plans and just happily being in each other’s company after not seeing each other for about twenty-five years! The condo had a beautiful view and pool, a well-stocked kitchen and a BBQ grill, there was no need to leave, ever! Alas, Katrina went home and Michael and I went to a rum tasting and then out to dinner at a hamburger joint, where I ate fish.
On our last morning, I took a short walk and captured some beautiful photos. I could see the waterfalls in the mountains. I tried to capture this in a photo, but it didn’t really work… the waterfalls were so far away. We headed to the airport and back to LAX and to our home (our car!).