Aloha HAWAII Mahalo!

Golden Shower Tree! They were shining like this for what felt like a mile on the road between Poipu and Koloa Town.

We don’t catch this every year so we’re basking in the glory. There are other kinds of Shower trees too that we look forward to seeing.

Wow, a new place for us! La Spezia in quaint little Koloa Town. It was lovely and I believe we’ll be back.

Doggin’ down the river.

Kathy and Kenny hosted a most delightful soiree in the New House! There was a fire, years went by, and now here it is again, completely rebuilt and redecorated and ready for FUN!

That’s Ruby, me, and Sharon testing the camera for a run-around picture…

…and here it is, a picture that will need to be recreated because we can’t see the handsome faces of those boys in the back.

Kathy, Sharon, me, Pat, Ruby, Bob, Sharon, Kenny

A view from their balcony.

Sharon-Kathy-Sharon, a Kathy sandwich. They love to have this picture made!

Along the shore, fishing. What a cutie-pie!

Evening out my bedroom window.

OOw, lookie here, ‘our’ new car! ‘We’ have had that Honda since I first came to Kauai in 2006 and now 10 years on ‘we’ have a new vehicle with all the modern amenities.

Especially this car has a running board that comes down and up when you need it. It is the most awesome thing and Sharon will take a picture of me lovin’ on that running board. I told her I will never not notice, every time, how awesome it is to get into a truck with a running board.

April 2

ALOHA – Welcome to KAUAI, The Garden Isle!

On our very first morning Mount Waiʻaleʻale revealed herself in all her 5,200 feet glory. Last year we didn’t see her even once since she is one of the wettest places on earth and almost always capped by rain clouds.

I oh so love this tree, looking out to the bridge. AH, Kauai!

Sharon’s son has a young child now and oh yes the décor is shall we say adjusted.

Reflections in the fish pond. I’ll get my feet cleaned soon by the fish in the pond as I’ve done each year since they arrived on the scene.

Hello chicks and mom who is handsome enough but…

((Rome and Lilly! Kauai is just full of wild chickens and this is the time for all the baby chicks too. What fun!))

Lydgate! Our absolute favorite walk.

…not so Splendid as dad, a Splendid Red Jungle Fowl!

Another view from the end of Lydgate Park looking onto the bridge I always admire from the house.

Rarely you can take boats from this, the Wailua River into the sea as you can today.

Our first lunch in Kauai at the Olympic Café and our always beverages – Sharon, the driver, enjoys an iced tea and I, the passenger, have a draft beer, usually Longboard or some other local offering.

And here’s Ruby and Ray doing what they do every weekday morning every year for their many weeks in Kauai.

April 30

So much Aloha, Mahalo nui loa!

The trail often catches a glimpse of the golf course.

April 29

There’s a walk I’ve wanted to do for ages but it’s long and hot so starting out early is the ticket and since we had spent the night at the Hyatt I was on the Mahaulepu Heritage Trail by 7am.

From yesterday, that far point is the start of the trail.

You have to walk across Shipwreck Beach to get to the scramble up the hillside.

Plenty of weddings happen out here.

Here come so very many pictures of the amazing views.

I didn’t do very well in figuring out the trail since I kept running into dead ends such as this one.

It was a bit of a scramble to start off, not hard really, and the trails, such as they were, were sandy, rocky, rooty, but easy too – just watch out for No Falling.

I started at 7 but 6 would have been even better.

Oh dear…

…so many…

…more.

Looking back at sunlit cliffs.

Coming back instead of picking my way along the coast I decided to hug the golf course and from where I was able to get in 90 minutes, I was able to return in 30.

Had I known it would be so much faster coming back I could have continued on for a while longer.

Next time!

The trail crosses a heiau, an ancient temple site.

April 28

We have recently been going to another island for a few days during April but this year we thought, hey, let’s blow the whole budget for one night at the Grand Hyatt in Poipu.

So we did.

I’ve been wanting to eat here at Tidepools ever since the first time I saw it but they’re only open for dinner so tonight is the night – dinner at Tidepools.

We arrived in time to enjoy the perfect seat in the restaurant Ilima Terrace…

…and a most delicious lunch.

Unbelievably, amazingly, most remarkably, we got upgraded to a Suite. A Suite. A room so magnificent it has its own name. We had this balcony view to the sea and another balcony with a view to the grounds with pools and spectacular plantings.

Awesome is the word for it.

You can see the break out there in the picture above.

Just having the view, hanging out at on the balcony.

And then we went to the spa, Sharon for a massage and I for a facial. Oh yeah.

We had a cocktail and some shrimp tempura and enjoyed the setting at Stevenson’s Library.

Coming out from the Library the evening show was kicking off with…

…a beautiful hula dancer.

This struck me as symbolic.

The fire guys came…

…and that was the end, followed by keiki, the children, dancing, but we had to go because we had a reservation for dinner.

It’s very fun inside with a Polynesian flare in the décor and delicious food.

We shared this crab cake appetizer and shared a prime rib entrée. Perfect!

April 27

Kathy and her very special hybrid hibiscus.

We drove around looking at things and then stopped off here where a very cool rough-and-ready older woman who knew things told me the names of a few of the trees I was stuck on.

April 26

Dinner with the Cooks. Ha! That’s really their name! Camas and Curtis Cook, and oh they do, cook. Sharon took these pictures.

I’m estimating we’ve gotten about 20-22 dinners out of the big fish catch of 2015.

sp.

Curt was just back from a business trip, a convention in Shanghai. He’s third from the left with his male colleagues and his three female interpreters. You know how much I enjoy other people’s work. And that’s the pheasant he found on their property this morning.

cc.

And since not only did I not take a single picture, I didn’t even put on my clothes until way late in the afternoon, here are some confusing trees. They are all big trees (except the Haole Koa can be bush-y) and from the road if they are not blooming I am at a loss. I wish I could find botanical drawings of all of them.

From top left: Haole Koa, Royal Poinciana, African Tulip
Bottom left: Monkey Pod, Tamarand

(internet pix)

…it’s a close-up of this tree and there are lot of them planted along the Lydgate path. What ARE these guys?!?!

We’re going to a nursery tomorrow and I’m hoping against hope someone there will be a tree expert. I’ve put only a few trees in here…we’ll see what I decide to do when I get home!

See all this action…

Look, up in the sky, it’s the Second State Bird of Hawaii!

We must not degrade in rank the First State Bird of Hawaii, the Nene. There are signs everywhere to be careful while driving so as not to run over any of the endangered and most precious Nene.

April 25

Morning walk and a gorgeous swim at Lydgate and then a picnic just in time before the rain came.

From Chris

Oh look, pictures of me. That’s me and Dave testing out our fishing hats. Then that’s me and Chris and Sharon standing somewhere, and then that’s me and Sharon at the Beach House.

Thank you Chris!

April 24

We enjoyed lunch and some sightseeing in the Koloa area. The place where we always eat in Koloa is being remodeled, into what we are not entirely sure, so…

…we ate at the pizza place with this view from their dining area. The food was good and we would happily return.

The Old Mill.

The Lighthouse marking the entrance to the Nawiliwili port.

By the airport, I like to drive out here to see the waves on the breakwater And…

…to see entirely unsupervised children hurling themselves off the old pier.

Don’t miss the upside-downer!

April 23

I walked over to Smith’s so I could try to name the trees I look at every day, and here’s (biiig telephoto) looking back at the house.

Evening festivities!

Sharon, Kenny, Pat, Kathy, Ruby.

April 22

Yay, one of my favorite walks, we went to the taro fields outside Hanalei.

It’s so beautiful there and you can walk walk walk and get absorbed by the sights and sounds, smell and humidity of taro.

Here’s a cutie.

One of the fields was not yet planted and we saw the Black-Necked Stilt. That’s a moorhen in the back.

Last year when we were doing birds we came here but the Stilt wasn’t around. Oh my birds are So much easier to identify than trees. I’ve mentioned that before.

An Orchid Tree for sure which brought me to the conclusion that the Farmer’s Market parking lot tree was an Orchid Tree too.

We went for lunch in Hanalei at Buchons, a place we’d never been before and because it was so early we got a second floor table by the window.

Ah, Rain. It started after we got seated and stopped before we left. The rain has been very cooperative this year!

BTW, don’t eat at L&L Hawaiian BBQ. There are a ton of franchise locations and maybe they aren’t all the same? I wouldn’t risk it. We were there with Chris and Dave and ordered four different dishes all of them a disappointment. Don’t bother as there are many more satisfying meals around. Like a Puka Dog is better.

April 21

We enjoyed another walk along the Ke Ala Hele Makalae trail. The name means The Path That Goes By The Coast and we love it.

In the far middle of the picture you can see the remains of the Pineapple Dump where the canning plants would dump the remains of the process.

They’d just roll huge containers out the ramp and dump…hence, The Pineapple Dump.

Looking back from the ramp and onto the path. Cool fence!

We went to a farmer’s market later in the day. The parking lot was full of these trees and first I thought it was one thing and then I thought it was another.

Now I think it’s an Orchid Tree.

April 20

Chris and Dave left today – this was our last meal together at the Ono Family Restaurant and it was onoliscious. Safe travels to Chris and Dave who will be in transit for something like 21 hours making their way from Kauai to Newton, Kansas.

We had a stop-off to feed the pigs…

…and the very splendid Splendid Red Jungle Fowl.

April 19

We took a swing by the Kilohana Plantation to take a train ride through their extensive orchards and farm.

We drove out to Poipu to enjoy dinner at The Beach House, a perfectly wonderful spot and a perfectly wonderful dinner.

Ahhhh.

But first the two pages of disclaimers.

And then…Tubing!

(internet pix)

What a ton of fun.

(internet pix)

April 18

Here we are getting ready for our next adventure.

Our very excellent guides.

We traveled along two and a half miles of an old sugar plantation irrigation system. The particular route we were on is still in use as a water delivery system into a purification plant and then distribution to Kapaa, Lahui, and a few other towns in Kauai.

We spent a lot of time in the tunnels that plantation workers dug by hand in the early 1800s, which reminds me to note that the guides did an excellent job of keeping us all entertained with interesting stories and audience participation for the three hours which included only about 45-60 minutes of actual tubing.

Back home, there’s Chris coming in from a kayak upriver.

More.

We cooked our fish four ways, two on the bbq, one fried, one baked, because we had so much fish we could experiment. ALL the ways were delicious!

April 17

We set our alarms for 5am to get to this spot by 6am. We’re here wondering what’s what until…

…oh, here comes the boat.

As the sky lightens the captain, co-captain, another guy who was a real fisherman from San Pedro, Dave, Chris, and I climb aboard…

…while Sharon waves us Bon Voyage…

…we head out to sea.

From here it looks like smooth sailing but it was oh so not smooth sailing. The captain said they do go in much worse conditions but even seven miles out the waves were huge and the boat was never not pitching about. I put away the camera and didn’t take it out again until we were safely back along side.

Nevertheless I did make the whole trip without chucking my cookies and had a totally fabulous time rockin’ and a rollin’ through the morning. Chris and Dave were not so lucky cookie-wise but kept up good spirits throughout which was admirable.

We’re back now. This is our co-captain on The Bridge of this incredibly small fishing boat which got smaller as the day went along.

The amazingly adorable kid and his dad cleaning up after…

…we caught so so many fish, I think a few of them are already missing from this picture, that near the end of our time out I said to the guys ‘oh please, don’t make me catch any more fish’.

‘Catching fish’ is a bit of a misnomer, more like ‘reeling in fish’ since the guys did all the setting of the lines and put the pole in a holder at our seat once we had a strike, and then they pulled the fish into the boat, cleared the hook, and basically did all the jobs except the reeling. What a luxurious way to go fishing.

They cleaned us up plenty of filets (the big ones are mahi mahi and the small ones are yellowfin tuna) and we’ll be eating fish for days. They sell the rest, a procedure we knew would be the way before we signed up.