Return from Paradise

Our Kauai Week in Review

by John and Donna Mollan

 

A cuppa java?

View from our condo

Beauty in the Jungle



Waiting for the Rainbow

1. favorite place – Our condo at the Lae Nani in Kapa’a had wonderful gardens, great views and wonderful apartments.  The grounds, pool and beach were also very nice.
2. favorite event – Smith’s Luau in Wialua.  The tour, meal and program gave you four hours and the program was unforgettable.
3. best service – Alaska Airlines direct service from Seattle to Lihue.  (Of course, we did travel first class!)
4. best scenery/ scenic drive – The drive from Kapa’a to Hanalei and beyond has some spectacular vistas and is only a bit over 20 miles.
5. biggest disappointment – Wialua Falls.  This is the waterfall shown in all the pictures and touted in all the tour brochures.  Those of us from the Pacific Northwest were underwhelmed.
6. best out-of-the-way place – The stream and drive to the end of the road about 8 miles past Wialua Falls brings you to a jungle-like park where you can hike or take a dip in a beautiful stream.
7. best meal – The buffet meal served at Smith’s Luau was very authentic, complete and tasty and included unlimited drinks.
8. best tourist attraction – The beaches near Hanalei, including Tunnel Beach and its tunnels, have waters with a range fit for water babies or super surfers.
9. best museum – The Kauai Coffee plantations, near Wiamea, had a tasting room with free samples of coffee and aromas to die for.  The tasting room and the adjoining groves of coffee trees would be a wonderful place to spend the rest of our lives.
10. best free show – The 5:00 pm show at the Coconut Marketplace in Kapa’a offered us live music along with the hula.  Nothing was tacky.
11. worst service – Hertz Gold Service – Much ado about nothing.  Our “reserved” car wasn’t even ready for us.
12. biggest surprises – Wildlife! We saw two large Hawaiian green sea turtles attempting to come ashore when we were swimming at Poipu Beach.  A few days later, an endangered Hawaiian monk seal came ashore at the beach in front of our condo
13. biggest overdevelopment – Princeville, on the North Shore.  The uber-golf resorts in this area could have been transported, intact from any other similar area of the world that has palm trees.
14. unexpected bonus.  Although the gas prices were about 15% higher than home, the short distances on Kauai meant that we could drive all week on only a bit more than $33 worth of gas.
15. The experience we enjoyed the most:  The climate! We spent day and night with our windows open and needed neither a blanket nor air conditioning.  The gentle breezes from our ceiling fans made for comfortable living.
16. addendum: Hawaii has hundreds of beaches, but none officially top-free or clothing optional.  Perhaps this is an area for improvement.

Stay tuned for our further adventures and Aloha!


 J & D

Sunday Daytimer, Kapa'a Kauai, Hawaii

Daytimer, Sunday

1. woke up, turned coffee maker on,
2. went back to bed
3. got up, coffee on the lanai
4. light breakfast on the lanai (cereal, juice, fruit, coffee)
5. checked email
6. walked around the grounds, took some pictures to post
7. walked all the way to town along the beach, about an hour
8. took a dip in the pool
9. posted some pictures to Donna's Facebook page
10. relaxed and read on the lanai.
11. lunch on th lanai
12. did some more reading.  John finished his book and started another.
13. took our snorkels, beach mats and other stuff to the beach.
14. set up lounge chairs on the lawn next to the beach.
15. John tries a swim, decides the undertow is too strong and returns to his lounge chair
16. read our books in the shade overlooking the ocean, sipped a few beverages
17. tried snorkeling in  the protected area,  but tides are wrong and waves too big
18. went  swimming in surf
19. returned to lounges
20. tried to locate misplaced car keys.  Discovered they were turned into the office
21. texted Kari, checked email
22. light dinner on the lanai
23. Watched the CBS news
24. updated their blog

October 14 summary:

money spent $0

miles traveled by method other than walking 0

experience:  priceless

Aloha from Kauai

view from the lanai

Oct 13
We arrived in Kauai on Thursday after 6+ hours on the plane. We were delayed on take-off with a mechanical problem for about 1 1/2 hours but the flight finally took off and was very smooth. It was nice to fly first class for the first time. A good meal, unlimited drinks and two movies made the time "fly by".
We picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel/condo in Kapaa. Kari reserved this placeand it is lovely. The condo is equipped with everything and decorated so beautifully and the grounds are beautiful. Our lanai looks over the pool and gardens and the waves of the blue ocean.

at the hula show

We have spent the first two days exploring, hiking and playing in the surf. It is nice to be on the quiet garden island. Quite different from our previous trips to the other three main islands. It is very quiet on this east side of the island on the coconut coast and we are so happy that we came here for vacation.
We have explored about 1/2 of the island and have done such neat things already. Today we stopped at a number of beaches and snorkeled and saw a number of lovely tropical fish and two HUGE sea turtles that were swimming right at the shore line. They were enormous!
The weather is gorgeous with temperatures in the 80's and so far no rain. We expected rain since this is the rainiest spot in the US with upwards of 400' annually but so far none.

More later so keep checking and Aloha to all of you.