My new reality

We left a very snowy and extremely cold winter in the Adirondacks to spend a few days with our warm, cuddly grandbabies.  There’s nothing like hearing baby laughter from these squirming bundles of love!  But warm sunshine beckoned and my bag had been packed for weeks.  Neither snow nor sleet or fog or gloom of night (actually, all the weather) kept us from departing for six weeks of travel starting with Hawaii!  Eleven hours from Newark, NJ to Honolulu, HI, then a puddle jump to Lihue, Kauai, HI.  Let the vacation begin!

We started in Kauai at the Grand Hyatt in Poipu on Shipwreck Beach.  This family resort sprawls over 52 acres with beautiful pools and gardens on the south side of the island.  Our first day was spent driving west into Waimea Canyon and avoiding the rain to the north.  Driving along the southern edge of the island we passed quaint, trendy villages with surf shops, food trucks, and roadside juice bars.  Stately planar trees, tall conifers (the ones that cell phone towers try to emulate), and viny philodendron (Devil vines) covered deciduous monsters lining the road.  And flowers grew everywhere.  About 45 min west of our hotel we headed north 11 miles up a windy curvy road along Waimea Canyon ridge. Pullouts afforded quick stops and short hikes to view “the Grand Canyon of the Pacific”.  It was pretty impressive peering down 3500 feet and viewing the red volcanic layers and sharp-edged ridges.  Kauai hosts one of the rainiest places on earth, Mount Waialeale, elevation 5200 ft, averaging 450 inches of rain each year. We were several miles distant but the clouds and rain rolled into our elevated location so we headed down to the shore.

We drove as far west as we could along the southern shore passing the US Pacific Missile Range base to the end of the pavement.  We already live on a dirt road and decided 30 min of driving on rough terrain to view a remote beach and campsite was unnecessary so we turned back and stopped at Kekehaha beach for some relaxation and wave watching.  We then headed back east, driving through ‘historic’ Hanapepe (either we missed it or it was pretty disappointing), then stopped in Port Allen at Kauai Brewing company for some refreshment.  This is the departure point for many of the catamaran adventures so we watched hordes of people heading down to the port while Greg enjoyed his libation at the self-proclaimed “Worlds Westernmost Brewery”.  The beer was good.

We relaxed a bit back at the hotel pool then headed out to dinner in nearby Koloa, also a historic, now trendy, charming town.  Food trucks abound on Kauai although we heartily enjoyed our hotel breakfast buffet so we skipped lunch each day and passed on the street meat.  Valentine’s Day dinner at the Koloa Thai Bistro was tasty and low-key: sushi, mahi mahi, and drunken noodles.  Jet lag began to hit so we headed back for an early night.

Day 2 we headed north.  Kauai has roads that encircle about 75% of the outer edge of the island while the mountainous volcanic remnants and eroded canyons in the center are mostly inaccessible. Lihue is the main town (city?) where the airport and hospital and commercial shopping districts are located.  The 1 hour plus drive took us past Lihue and golf courses, sprawling ranches and farmland, more tiny villages with juice bars and farm markets, to Kilauea Light House, a National Wildlife Preserve on the North shore.  Unbeknownst to us, a reservation was needed (free entry day, however (www.rec.gov)) so we headed out to return later for our newly reserved time. We continued across the North shore to Hanalei, almost the end of the road on the North shore.  This surfer’s village was hopping and cute, the road now a single lane.  Heading back to Kilauea, we stopped at another National Wildlife preserve, learning about the flooded fields we had seen, former rice paddies turned taro farms.  This rooty carb-laden vegetable becomes poi, a Hawaiian dish.  We visited a cute farmers market, then stopped at historic Kong Lung market center.  This little boutique shopping village was a former company store for the Chinese plantation workers who eventually became owners of the market.  Destroyed by a hurricane in 1992, it was rebuilt with cute tourist shops and bistros.  Onto the Kilauea Lighthouse.  Built in 1913 it sits high on a promontory with dramatic coastal views east and west and humpback whales spouting blow holes off in the distance.  Many birds, red footed boobies among them, nested along the cliffs.

Afterwards we returned to Lihue for the highlight of this island trip, but first, a quick stop at Wailua Falls, where the famous (or forgotten) opening scene of the Fantasy Island show was filmed. De plane! De plane!  Almost… Our next stop: Lihue airport, for an open door helicopter tour of the island!

We changed into warmer clothes and after our safety briefing (“don’t run into the rotors and here’s a blow up life vest which can be used as a poor persons parachute”), we floated above the ground in our doorless bird and above the interior of the island.  Wow! It was amazing! But windy.  The views were spectacular.  We returned to Waimea Canyon and spotted multiple waterfalls, then over to the Na Pali coast on the inaccessible North shore, hovered near canyon walls known as the “Na Pali Cathedral” and into the central crater below Mount Waialeale which was covered with rain clouds (remember: 450 inches)!  Oh wow, an experience to remember! A very gentle, smooth ride, thrilling, and no vertigo! (https://airborneaviationtours.com)

We dined at Hualani in a resort community nearby.  There’s a jarring juxtaposition between the surfer’s hangouts and the golf communities.  Dinner was delish: ahi tuna tartare, filet, and Onaga (red snapper).  I guess I’m part of the juxtapositional problem (feeling guilty but nevertheless very grateful).  I did see a humpback whale breach just beyond the infinity pool and multiple blowholes in the distance throughout dinner.

Our final full day dawned cloudy with the threat of rain.  After breakfast we hiked the  Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail from Shipwreck Beach to Maha’ulepu beach, 4 miles RT.  The trail was rocky with sharp, jagged stones threatening my every clumsy step and the cliffs were undercut by waves so we stayed away from the precipitous edges.  The views were fantastic with monk seals swimming near the coast, whale blowholes in the distance, and crashing waves creating scenic drama.  We relaxed poolside upon our return, cloudy but no rain, for the afternoon.  I may have gone for a massage but this post (and all my posts) are seeming very elitist.  Ugh.  (Thanks, Dan.) Bear with me as I share our good fortune and good health allowing us to travel.

Dinner at the nearby Beach House closed out our stay on this beautiful, chill, garden-like island.  We enjoyed ahi tuna sashimi, macadamia encrusted mahi mahi, and sea scallops at our beach side table. 

Next, the Big Island (Hawaii).  We lingered at the hotel beach reading and looking for whales until it came time to depart for the Big Island.  A short 50 min flight from the small but efficient airport took us to Kona, Hawaii.  Our first impression was of a lunar landscape: black lava rocks covering the barren coast for miles.  Eventually we arrived at our hotel, the Four Seasons Hualalei.  Our travel accommodations were made by Erica at Protravel (info@protravelinc.com).  Wow, she picks amazing hotels that often come with unexpected perks (discounted rates, upgrades, breakfast, hotel credits, etc).  Dinner at Miller & Lux steakhouse was outstanding but mucho $$$.  We spent the next day lounging at the adult pool overlooking the beach where we could watch breaching whales in the distance.  We dined at Ulu on seafood.  We spent the second full day on a complete island tour.  Considering this is the “Big” Island, we ended up spending a lot of time seeing the 400 mile outer edge of the island by tourist van, with stops at a coffee plantation, black sand beaches with green sea turtles, the Kilauea active volcano crater and steam vents, a lava tunnel, some site-seeing of the canyons and shoreline, the Akaka and Rainbow waterfalls, and a trip over the shoulder of Mauna Lea near the Keck Observatory before returning to our hotel and a beautiful setting sun. It was a long day but worthwhile.  We departed the next day for Oahu and Waikiki. 

Our short flight and taxi took us to the Halekulani hotel on busy Waikiki Beach with the famous Diamond Head hovering in the distance.  “Vog” from the Kilauea eruption was creating a flight haze not unlike Canadian wildfires back home.  Shucks, we just missed it!  An afternoon was spent at the pool overlooking the ocean, then dinner at the hotel with Hawaiian singers and dancers while the sun set to applause.  Next day: Pearl Harbor!

Another bright start to the day on Oahu despite it being “rainy season”.  We toured the Pearl Harbor Memorial, a beautiful yet sobering monument to those lost on Dec. 7, 1941 yet dedicated to all lives lost in war.  The Arizona memorial sits above the sunken battleship in Battleship Row, while fish and turtles swim around the rusty carcass.  The names of those lost are listed on the wall within.  The last 2 survivors recently passed, each over 100 years old.  Not many people are left who remember these horrific events.  I always feel the need to pay my respects at places like this. The museums on shore were especially informative detailing individual experiences of military and local inhabitants during the attack, US and Japanese battle survivors, POW survivors from the Pacific war, and interment camp prisoners of the US.  We also toured the USS Missouri, docked bow to bow with the USS Arizona rusted remains, signifying the beginning and end to US involvement in WWII.  The USS Missouri was christened by President Harry Truman’s daughter Margaret Jan. 1944 (final decommission in 1992).  Truman selected the Missouri to be the site of the Japanese surrender to Pacific Commander General MacArthur.  We also toured the Submarine USS Bowfin (a tight squeeze!) and the Aviation Museum and hangars.  A very moving, informative day.  Orlane was our tour guide; the warmest, perkiest guide ever!  Later we enjoyed dinner at Orchids, mmmm foie gras.

Our last day in Hawaii we circumnavigated the entire island with Oahu Photography tours with Emily as our guide.  The van was filled with 6 single “youngsters’ in their 30’s and us.  We fit right in! (JK.  I had to explain the current cultural references to Greg).  This tour turned out to be so much laid-back fun: another coffee plantation visit (lost on us non-drinkers), the lush Waimea botanical gardens and waterfall swim (everyone but us complaining about the cold water), beach and overlook stops on the North Shore for excellent whale and surfer watching, a Buddhist temple visit, Kuhaku food truck-town lunch, Jurassic Park movie location visit, and malasada tasting (Portuguese donuts).  Meeting the younger tour members, most traveling solo, was part of the fun.  It was a great yet relaxed way to end our Hawaiian adventure.