10.01.08: Packing for Kauai seemed increasingly difficult, despite sending yet another box of stuff back to the mainland. We decided to leave our New Zealand board on the Big Island as a “family/community board”, but we also retrieved a duffel bag full of summer clothes and Bali artwork that Tutu and Caitlin hauled back from Australia for us. We are also carrying some cooler weather clothes and Kailani’s new car seat, so it seems like a lot!
We arrived at the Kona airport with what we thought was plenty of time to spare. After going through security, we plopped down our carry-on stuff in the lounge while I went to the bathroom. I heard an announcement about our flight boarding, so we picked up our stuff and went to the gate only to find that it wasn’t open just yet. We went back to the lounge and didn’t even have a sip of our drinks yet when they announce the gate’s now open. Urgh! But, at least it took off with no delays. But, before making it to Kauai, we arrived in Honolulu for an hour layover. We made the best of it by having lunch. Although the delay on our second flight was only a short one, it did seem to make us feel like we got into Lihue, Kauai with no time to see friends or do anything else that night. When we checked-in to our condo at Poipu, they gave us a complimentary upgrade to a two bedroom, two bath that was super spacious. After spending six weeks cooped up in a tiny campervan in New Zealand, it was pretty luxurious to have such a big place!
The next day was our friend’s, Rory and Lisa’s, wedding day. It wasn’t until the afternoon, so we made use of the first half of the day by going to Poipu beach. Sean rented a board and paddled out while Kailani and I played with a rental boogie board in a shallow little lagoon that was perfect for little one’s. Kai practiced standing up on the board and we also took turns pulling each other around on it. Later, we ran into Lisa’s brother, Paul, his wife, Sarah and their four kids. Luke, third oldest, found a crab and Kailani played with the four as they made a “home” for the crab in the sand. Paul, Sarah, Sean and I reminisced about New Zealand as they spent a year living there several years ago. Before heading back to the condo to get ready for the wedding, we made a stop to the Kukuiula market in Koloa town to get some essentials for the kitchen. I was happy to find that they had a pretty decent selection of organic and natural foods, so we’ll be going back there, I’m sure.
The wedding was a short walk down, between our condo and the Grand Hyatt, where Rory and Lisa were staying and where the dinner reception was. They picked a spot on the beach for their ceremony based on a turtle sighting in the water. And, just as we walked up to that spot, we saw some there. I’m not sure if it was on purpose or not, but there was also a nice “right” peeling onto the rocks. The ceremony was intimate with about 30 people there. And, their minister did a beautiful Hawaiian-style ceremony. It put a tear in my eyes when Rory and Lisa included Lisa’s 16 year old son, Mikiah, in the ceremony by presenting him with a ring as well. Rory and Lisa have been together for 13 years, so we already view the three of them as a “family”. But, we feel so honored to be invited to wedding to make it “official” and grateful that we were able to make it. We can‘t be happier for them, especially because Caitlin, Sean and I have had the pleasure of camping, snowboarding, traveling to Costa Rica and hanging out with them since Caitlin and Mikiah were young groms playing with each other. We are all bummed that Caitlin wasn’t able to make it. Dinner at The Tidepools at the Hyatt was a great finish to the ceremony. We had some great conversation catching up with Rory’s brother, Pete, his parents, as well as meeting the rest of Lisa’s family and their friends. They served Lisa’s favorite wine, Cakebread Chardonnay, as well as a Napa Valley Silverado red (Cab, I think). And, the food and service was outstanding as well. I devoured both the salad that had a hint of macadamia as well as the crab cake appetizer. For the main, Sean and I both chose the oven roasted banana-macadamia crusted Mahi Mahi with a perfectly-cooked scallop and shrimp. Kai chose the kid’s steak. I asked if they could substitute her mashed potatoes for rice and mentioned that she was ¾ Asian, and our server chuckled. Oh, I can’t forget the chocolate mousse “bomb” for dessert that I devoured and put me over the top.
Although the wedding reception ended with us all making plans for the next morning, things seemed to fizzle out. I’m sure it was the wine talking, and it caught up with us that Friday morning. Sean lost his voice talking to everyone the night before and I was feeling tired as Kailani woke up at the crack of dawn. Sean managed to make it out for a surf session with Rory and the boys, and JUST as Kai and I were going to meet up with Lisa at the hotel for a swim in the pool, I ended up finding Kailani lying between our couch and coffee table with tears in her eyes. I’m not sure what that was about, but we ended up not making it. I put her in bed for a nap instead. Later that afternoon, Sean took Kailani to the Hyatt for a swim session with Rory while I went to the market. And, later that evening, everyone from the wedding gathered at our condo complex pool area for a BBQ.
On Saturday, we figured it was about time we venture around the rest of the island. We grabbed Rory’s brother, Pete, and went for a ride. As we headed north, we rang up our friends who we met in Bali, Abe and Darrah. They were adding some barbed wire fencing to their property as their two cows escaped and were partying with the neighbors. We decided to stop by. We were in awe as we looked around the landscape surrounding their property – two HUGE rocks jutting up the top of the mountain behind them, and a river mouth opening out to a beautiful beach on the other side. Pete later admitted that he was wondering where the heck we were taking him. But, just the same as how we felt about Abe and Darrah, he was pretty stoked to meet such cool and friendly locals.
We were still in awe over such lush and green landscape as we made our way up north. Our next stop was Tunnels Beach right near “the end of the road” (the furthest north you can go) where we went into the large and deep tunnel. It seems so large, until you walk out of it and see that it’s one small part of this huge, huge sheer face cliff. The afternoon was topped off first with a shave ice (we had macadamia ice cream with coconut and pineapple shave ice) as well as some pretty good fish tacos, probably the closest we’ve gotten to Mexican food since leaving the US (although we still don’t count is as “true” Mexican).
Sunday, we were back at our local beach for some playtime for Kailani in the lagoon while Sean and I switched off surfing at the break nearby. Later that evening, we were scheduled to go to a luau with folks from the wedding, but plans fizzled out, mostly when news that it’s held indoors got out. We still had another great dinner, but at a pizza place instead.
Monday, we were scheduled to leave for the mainland, but not until late night. We spend the early part of the day packing up…again. And then, our friend, Clinton, who moved over here from CA came by for a visit in the afternoon. Timing seemed to be perfect for us to give him our leftovers (including some extra soaps, TP, etc.) and he recently moved into a new studio. After having one last dinner, we received an escort to the airport from Clinto. He definitely knows his way around the Lihue airport and everyone knows him as well, because he works there for United. We are truly appreciative of all the hospitality that we’ve been given during our stay on this island! Thanks all!
We arrived at the Kona airport with what we thought was plenty of time to spare. After going through security, we plopped down our carry-on stuff in the lounge while I went to the bathroom. I heard an announcement about our flight boarding, so we picked up our stuff and went to the gate only to find that it wasn’t open just yet. We went back to the lounge and didn’t even have a sip of our drinks yet when they announce the gate’s now open. Urgh! But, at least it took off with no delays. But, before making it to Kauai, we arrived in Honolulu for an hour layover. We made the best of it by having lunch. Although the delay on our second flight was only a short one, it did seem to make us feel like we got into Lihue, Kauai with no time to see friends or do anything else that night. When we checked-in to our condo at Poipu, they gave us a complimentary upgrade to a two bedroom, two bath that was super spacious. After spending six weeks cooped up in a tiny campervan in New Zealand, it was pretty luxurious to have such a big place!
The next day was our friend’s, Rory and Lisa’s, wedding day. It wasn’t until the afternoon, so we made use of the first half of the day by going to Poipu beach. Sean rented a board and paddled out while Kailani and I played with a rental boogie board in a shallow little lagoon that was perfect for little one’s. Kai practiced standing up on the board and we also took turns pulling each other around on it. Later, we ran into Lisa’s brother, Paul, his wife, Sarah and their four kids. Luke, third oldest, found a crab and Kailani played with the four as they made a “home” for the crab in the sand. Paul, Sarah, Sean and I reminisced about New Zealand as they spent a year living there several years ago. Before heading back to the condo to get ready for the wedding, we made a stop to the Kukuiula market in Koloa town to get some essentials for the kitchen. I was happy to find that they had a pretty decent selection of organic and natural foods, so we’ll be going back there, I’m sure.
The wedding was a short walk down, between our condo and the Grand Hyatt, where Rory and Lisa were staying and where the dinner reception was. They picked a spot on the beach for their ceremony based on a turtle sighting in the water. And, just as we walked up to that spot, we saw some there. I’m not sure if it was on purpose or not, but there was also a nice “right” peeling onto the rocks. The ceremony was intimate with about 30 people there. And, their minister did a beautiful Hawaiian-style ceremony. It put a tear in my eyes when Rory and Lisa included Lisa’s 16 year old son, Mikiah, in the ceremony by presenting him with a ring as well. Rory and Lisa have been together for 13 years, so we already view the three of them as a “family”. But, we feel so honored to be invited to wedding to make it “official” and grateful that we were able to make it. We can‘t be happier for them, especially because Caitlin, Sean and I have had the pleasure of camping, snowboarding, traveling to Costa Rica and hanging out with them since Caitlin and Mikiah were young groms playing with each other. We are all bummed that Caitlin wasn’t able to make it. Dinner at The Tidepools at the Hyatt was a great finish to the ceremony. We had some great conversation catching up with Rory’s brother, Pete, his parents, as well as meeting the rest of Lisa’s family and their friends. They served Lisa’s favorite wine, Cakebread Chardonnay, as well as a Napa Valley Silverado red (Cab, I think). And, the food and service was outstanding as well. I devoured both the salad that had a hint of macadamia as well as the crab cake appetizer. For the main, Sean and I both chose the oven roasted banana-macadamia crusted Mahi Mahi with a perfectly-cooked scallop and shrimp. Kai chose the kid’s steak. I asked if they could substitute her mashed potatoes for rice and mentioned that she was ¾ Asian, and our server chuckled. Oh, I can’t forget the chocolate mousse “bomb” for dessert that I devoured and put me over the top.
Although the wedding reception ended with us all making plans for the next morning, things seemed to fizzle out. I’m sure it was the wine talking, and it caught up with us that Friday morning. Sean lost his voice talking to everyone the night before and I was feeling tired as Kailani woke up at the crack of dawn. Sean managed to make it out for a surf session with Rory and the boys, and JUST as Kai and I were going to meet up with Lisa at the hotel for a swim in the pool, I ended up finding Kailani lying between our couch and coffee table with tears in her eyes. I’m not sure what that was about, but we ended up not making it. I put her in bed for a nap instead. Later that afternoon, Sean took Kailani to the Hyatt for a swim session with Rory while I went to the market. And, later that evening, everyone from the wedding gathered at our condo complex pool area for a BBQ.
On Saturday, we figured it was about time we venture around the rest of the island. We grabbed Rory’s brother, Pete, and went for a ride. As we headed north, we rang up our friends who we met in Bali, Abe and Darrah. They were adding some barbed wire fencing to their property as their two cows escaped and were partying with the neighbors. We decided to stop by. We were in awe as we looked around the landscape surrounding their property – two HUGE rocks jutting up the top of the mountain behind them, and a river mouth opening out to a beautiful beach on the other side. Pete later admitted that he was wondering where the heck we were taking him. But, just the same as how we felt about Abe and Darrah, he was pretty stoked to meet such cool and friendly locals.
We were still in awe over such lush and green landscape as we made our way up north. Our next stop was Tunnels Beach right near “the end of the road” (the furthest north you can go) where we went into the large and deep tunnel. It seems so large, until you walk out of it and see that it’s one small part of this huge, huge sheer face cliff. The afternoon was topped off first with a shave ice (we had macadamia ice cream with coconut and pineapple shave ice) as well as some pretty good fish tacos, probably the closest we’ve gotten to Mexican food since leaving the US (although we still don’t count is as “true” Mexican).
Sunday, we were back at our local beach for some playtime for Kailani in the lagoon while Sean and I switched off surfing at the break nearby. Later that evening, we were scheduled to go to a luau with folks from the wedding, but plans fizzled out, mostly when news that it’s held indoors got out. We still had another great dinner, but at a pizza place instead.
Monday, we were scheduled to leave for the mainland, but not until late night. We spend the early part of the day packing up…again. And then, our friend, Clinton, who moved over here from CA came by for a visit in the afternoon. Timing seemed to be perfect for us to give him our leftovers (including some extra soaps, TP, etc.) and he recently moved into a new studio. After having one last dinner, we received an escort to the airport from Clinto. He definitely knows his way around the Lihue airport and everyone knows him as well, because he works there for United. We are truly appreciative of all the hospitality that we’ve been given during our stay on this island! Thanks all!
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