Paradise

I have never wanted to go to Hawaii.  Never.  When I hear people talk about Hawaii, I think of the tiny little green specks on a map, and then I imagine a little wave washing those specks away.  I know; I have issues.  So when Todd called and asked Mike if we wanted to use our passes to go to Kauai, I was surprised to hear myself saying, "sure," as though I were agreeing to maybe an offer of soda.  That casual.  Long story short, we went.

Leaving the kids is always hard for me, and harder for Raelynn, but once we got there--ahhhhhh.  Some things about Kauai I didn't expect: it smells beautiful, pretty much all the time and everywhere.  I'm pretty smell sensitive, and even the greatest sights on earth can be easily marred for me by unpleasant smells, but Kauai smelled so faintly of fruit and flowers and general calm.  Can a place smell like calm?  I don't know, but Kauai did. 

Didn't expect the chickens, either.  Or the baby chicks or the roosters.  But there they were, no getting around them, and I found the rooster crowing at dawn quite lovely, in a way.  Maybe because you're up at first light anyway.  Which looks like this.

And that was nice thing number three.  You wake up at 5:30 am feeling like it's 8:30, ready for a full and fabulous day.  After dinner you roll back to the condo and by 9 you're in bed--it's dark and nothing going on anyway.  I find being an early bird suits me when I can get to bed early enough, which I seem to remember from my days before children. 

Last thing--no one dresses up.  I'm as casual as they come, and I loved not having to really think about what I wore or worry about my ill-behaved hair.  Just didn't really care.  Watever, as they say in Kauai.  And they mean it.

Day one:  nice lunch at Tutu's, seated outside near a very nice couple and their pet pig, Pigasso. Very friendly pig and a perfect introduction to the oddity of the island.

Mike did the best ordering, with a giant plate of the best french toast I've ever had.  Then we drove up Wameai canyon and did a lot of looking out.  Mostly at clouds and in the rain, which was all very warm and delightful.  Mike, moving like a ninja, was barely hit.  The very picture of grace, I tell you.  Here, we came to an understanding of the not-funniness of pretending to push people off cliffs. Perhaps you can see the tension behind the smiles.  Mike looks decidedly evil, and I look like my usual forbearing self. I have a lot of practice refraining from violence.

Dinner was awful, but we stocked up on chocolate coconut macadamia nuts at Costco, and the day was saved.  Chocolate has that effect. The hot tub didn't hurt, either.

Day two:  Up early and off for a walk along the path by the beach.  Beautiful trail and interesting trip back along the street.  The bakery wasn't open. Things were never open there when they should be.  It was odd, but kind of charming. We got in the car and travelled north on the island through the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen.  Taro fields against sheer cliffs with waterfalls almost as plentiful as the chickens, and everywhere lush greenery threatening to encroach and resorb all of it.  It was stunning.

We started the day with the farmer's market in Hanalei, where we saw and sampled all sorts of exotic fruits, and drank coconut milk, which is pretty gross. I loved the colors.

After some gift shopping in Hanalei, we ate some seriously delicious pizza at Hanalei pizza and made our way to tunnel beach. This was possibly my favorite beach--apparently great snorkeling with turtles and marine life galore.  I, never having really been an ocean girl (I know--issues), thoroughly enjoyed the beach; I didn't even crack my book.  We followed tunnels up by briefly driving up to Ke'e beach, but had to hustle to get back south for our helicopter ride. 

The seriously deranged shuttle driver regaled us with a steady stream of odd humor and safety tips, and once we were sure he would not, in fact, be our pilot, we relaxed and enjoyed his banter.  Abby thought he reminded her of her father, and oddly, he reminded me of my own.  Eccentric, shall we say?  In any case, we were soon on the helicopter and off for the ride of a lifetime.  I wasn't really even mildly frightened--the place is calming, as I've said. Everything was music and green and blue and beautiful, but it wasn't until the Nepali coast came into view that I really felt moved.  And then the helicopter went into a valley--more like a bowl--with sheer cliffs covered in soft green folding all around and countless waterfalls streaming out from the rock.  Tears to my eyes, I tell you.  I've never seen anything like it.  Pictures here are almost a disservice.  They do not begin to show the breath-taking feeling of stillness and beauty.  People say breath-taking a lot, but I'm not sure I ever really felt my breath whisked out of me like that before. Best day ever.   Left over pizza for dinner and a nice cool evening on the patio.

Day three: also the best day ever.  The boys spent 5 or 6 hours on a long hike off of Ke'ehelp! We never did figure out why she was calling help, since she had swum to where she could stand when she started hollering, but we enjoyed the show, nonetheless.

After the beaches, we went back to Kapa'a and ate dinner at a little two-man operation there.  The fish was, quite naturally, delicious. I then spent a sleepless night worrying about the next day's trip by boat around the island to snorkel.  Out in the ocean.  With the sharks. Issues.

Day four: Abby's birthday, and also, the best day ever. We were up early and at the snorkel place on time.  I was relieved to see that the guide talking to us sounded like a reasonably intelligent and normal fellow. There were, I don't know, 40 of us on the boat, and I felt pretty relaxed once we got moving.  I guess it's the training of summers on the boat in McCall. The captain twice stopped for dolphins, and that was a highlight for me, to lay on the trampolines with my face looking down over the edge at these beautiful little aliens.  The second time there were more, but I didn't have my camera.  Todd has great pictures of them--I just haven't got them yet.

The snorkeling was actually pretty uneventful.  I had pretty much determined I would not be getting in the water, but it was closer to shore than I thought and I couldn't resist.  Not much to see, however, though I did catch a glimpse of a sea turtle.  The scenery was amazing, of course, and I found again that I didn't really want to open my book.

We went out for a nice dinner that night and it was my favorite evening.  The restaurant was on the beach, the moon was full and the breeze was perfect.  The fish was the best I've ever tasted--I understand now what people mean when they say that they like good fish.  That was some good fish.  My camera had broken by then, so I have no pictures of the evening, but again, Todd does.  I'll get them eventually. My greatest regret is that none of us captured on film the tall, bald monk in white fluttery clothes and his friend the bearded gnome.  The big man frolicked while the little one went for a swim, and they were just as random and odd as the rest of the island.  A perfect compliment to our evening.

Last day: Queen's Bath.  This place was beautiful, but a little frightening for a rule following, sign reader like myself.  Here's a bit of what this place looked like, but the rocks went all along the coast with all kinds of little inlets like this one:

Gorgeous, right?  But then there was this:

We forged on anyway, and Mike had a nice time swimming despite swarms of little fish that were a little too interested in him for comfort.

Overall, this is one of the loveliest trips I've ever taken, and I have to say it was a perfect blend of the place and the company.  Todd did all the planning and legwork, which made it a true vacation for me.  I had Abby to hang out with when the men needed to wander off and be manly, and plenty of time to be with Mike.  Here's a final picture of what we saw described as the bird of paradise: not an endangered species.

 

I still think the existence of those green specks on the map is tenuous at best, and it is insanity to go there.  But I think a little insanity was just what I was needing. Would I go again?  Sure.