Slice of Life Day 10: Beaches of Kaua'i

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The beaches on all three of the islands we visited were amazing. Oahu had Waikiki Beach. You can't get any better than that. Kauai had Poipu Beach just past our resort. Maui had Kapalua Bay where we snorkeled.  Today I will be talking about the beach on Kauai at our resort. It was very close to the Poipu Beach, but more private.

The waves here were awesome!  They would rush up onto the shore making the loudest crashing sound. There were loads of surfers and boogie boards trying to catch a wave. We saw many tourists getting lessons on how to surf. We spent hours just sitting and watching.

Actually, the most fun was when we got in the water and tried to ride the waves...no boogie board...no surf board.  Just us!  I would watch the wave come in and brace my feet and bend my knees. Then it hit and I would try to swim/ride it into shore. I got pretty good at it, too.  Then when I least expected it, a big one would come along while the undertow or another wave was heading back out to sea. When that happened I lost all control. I went flying with the wave. Just when I thought I was under control, the undertow would hit again. One time I was literally thrown to the shore and knocked around like a leaf blowing in the wind. Arms, legs, hands, body all seeming to go in different directions!  I finally got to my feet and headed right back out to do it again.

This island was the best for rest and relaxation. We would go to the beach house and get chairs (free) and settle in on the sandy beach with water and a book.  Yes, and sun screen (50%)  It certainly is a magical place. No wonder Hanalei is on this island...the magical place where Puff the Magic Dragon lived.  You have to be a certain age to remember that song.

Tomorrow I will be taking you to a few of our favorite restaurants on this island. A hui hou (until we meet again) and mahalo (thank you) for traveling with me.

Slice of Life Day 9: Lanai (Patio) on Kauai

On today's travel journal, I am talking about our lanai, or patio, at the plantation on the island of Kauai.  On the first day on Kauai, we traveled a few miles to a grocery store near Poipu for some groceries. We mostly got breakfast food since we would be eating that meal at the condo each morning. We had gone in the afternoon and it was packed. The store was small so we had many encounters with other travelers!  I would recommend going early in the morning!

Our breakfasts were simple: Special K, yogurt, and tangerines. We took it to the table on the lanai and quietly ate. There usually was a worker cleaning the nearby grill, but that was all. We sat there and listened to the birds. They were everywhere in the Moir Garden. Once I was sitting there doing my quiet time and writing when a chorus of birds sang to me.

I looked up and there they were. Small doves perched on a tiny tree singing loudly.

The next thing I knew, there were about five or six birds in the tree.  All of them joining the chorus. It was beautiful. 

These wonderful new friends made my morning start off to a great beginning.  I zoomed my camera in so I could get a close look at one of them.

 

Sitting on the lanai, looking across the grassy lawn, I could see the steps leading down to the huge garden. This picture was taken from our lanai.

Another view from the lanai. The garden was everywhere we looked. I think you can tell why we ate our breakfast at the condo. With this setting, why go anywhere else. We spent more time there in the morning than we ever do eating breakfast back in Indiana.

 

Tomorrow's blog will be about the beach at our resort on Kauai. A hui hou (until we meet again.)





Slice of Life Day 8: Moir Garden on Kauai

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This is the 8th day of the challenge by Two Writing Teachers to blog everyday for the month of March. For this challenge I am reviewing our recent trip to Hawaii. Today's blog is about being on the island of Kauai, The Garden Island. We stayed in a condo at the Kiahuna Plantation Resort near Poipu.

This complex is set on a 35-acre garden setting with lagoons, lawns, and a gold-sand beach. As we daily walked through the garden to reach the beach or the front desk, we were amazed at the beauty. The former owner, Mrs. Moir, had started the garden when this was a sugar plantation. She had discovered that cactus and succulents thrived in the area's arid setting.  Many of these plants still survive along with orchids and bromeliads in a special section of the garden.

By 1948, these gardens had drawn international attention. The Moirs received many requests for garden tours and in 1954 they officially opened the gardens to the public.

As I took a picture walk on our last morning on the island, I was in awe of all the specific plants. Things were beautiful. This was the winter season and still everything was lush.

This is a picture of the resort's Plantation Garden Restaurant. Notice the large cactus growing right beside the building. The paths led in and out around all these beautiful plants.

There are also a variety of historical artifacts that Mrs. Moir collected throughout the years.  She converted this marble butcher table into a garden bench to use as a place to rest while doing her gardening.

We only spent three nights on this island, but we experienced so many amazing sights. Tomorrow I will share our own special lanai (patio) and the view we had. A hui hou (until we meet again)

Slice of Life Day 7: Kiahuna Plantation

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For the month of March, I will be blogging every day to fulfill the challenge by Two Writing Teachers.  I have decided my blogs this month will be about my recent trip to Hawaii. Today I am talking about the second island that we have visited: Kauai.

Our first day on the island was spent exploring. That started with the resort where we had our condo.  Kiahuna Plantation had a rich history. In 1930's this was a large sugar plantation. It was owned by the Moir family.  Mrs. Moir started her gardens as a hobby, but they soon turned into much more.

This garden now is the center of the plantation resort where we stayed. We would sit on our patio and look out at the beautiful garden. As we walked to the beach each day, we again would walk through the garden.

Eminent botanists who have visited this suburb garden have acclaimed it to be one of the most exceptional of its kind.

 

The home of the Moirs continues to be a hub of activity even today. It now serves as the main lobby of the Outrigger Kiahuna Plantation. This is where we checked into the resort and also ate in the resort restaurant.

 

 

Tomorrow I will share pictures of the Kiahuna Plantation's Pa'u a Laka Cactus and Flower Garden. A hui hou (until we meet again)

 

 







Slice of Life Day 6: Aloha Kauai

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For the month of March I have accepted the challenge by Two Writing Teachers to blog everyday. I have decided to use this format to share our Hawaii vacation. For Day 6 of the challenge I am talking about visiting our second island: Kauai.   Mahalo (thank you) for joining me!

We flew from Oahu to Kauai on a small plane and did this island hopping.  It only took about one half an hour for this flight. We made it to land by about 3:00. I was expecting to get some time to adjust to our new home before it got too dark to see it.  Well....that didn't happen. We went from the airport to the car rental place via shuttle. There was a large group of us on that shuttle. We were at the front of the line at the rental, so we thought we were going to be fine.  We did the paper work and went outside to wait for our car...and wait...and wait...and wait. Finally, someone came up and asked if we wanted to take a truck. We said NO! So we waited some more. We watched cars come into the lot, people jump out with suitcases, those cars then would move into the car wash and go out again with new vacationers. Yes, just about that fast.

Finally, we got our car. We took the directions to our condo and took off. No GPS.  But the island is small. It couldn't be too hard, could it?  It took us about an hour to get to the area where we were going to be staying. We drove through a round-about several times until we got the right exit. We did make it to the condo just as the sun was setting. We checked in and asked if there was somewhere around to eat. The clerk assured us that the restaurant right there at the resort was excellent.  We unpacked and came back for a light supper. Getting back to our condo, I hurried and turned on the tv so I could get my Bachelor fix while my husband took off to find a store to get some Coke and water.  After about an hour he was back. It was not easy finding stores around this island. Oh, yes, did I mention there are roosters everywhere running wild????

Our condo was darling. As we entered the front door we walked into a hallway. On the left through large pocket doors, was our bedroom. Across the hall was the bathroom.

Ahead of us at the end of the small hall, was the living room with large patio doors to take us to our porch. A very large tv was on the wall across from the couch.

In a little corner across from the living room, was the dining area. There also was a small bar area with a window into the kitchen.

We loved our condo already. Tomorrow I will share more of this beautiful resort and island. Kauai is called the Garden Island and we were staying at the perfect garden!  See you tomorrow!

Slice of Life Day 5: Good-bye Oahu

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This year for my challenge by Slice of Life where I will be blogging everyday for the month of March, I decided to use this time to revisit my trip to Hawaii. This is the fifth day and we are ready to say good-bye to Oahu where we stayed for three nights.

One of the last things we did on this island is to stop by Lapperts which was in our resort of Hilton Hawaiian Towers. We had stopped there every day to have a double dip cup of this wonderful treat. We had a few minutes before we had to check out of the hotel and catch the shuttle to the airport. Where better to spend our time!

The afternoon before we left we took a long Saturday night walk on the beach walk of Waikiki and through that little town. We had lunch at the Yard House. It was very windy that day, but we still ate on the patio so we could watch people walk by us. This is a picture of what we saw from our table.

This is a picture of Waikiki Beach. We had on sandals as we walked part of it. At one point a lady came up to us with her shoes in her hand and said, "Why do you have shoes on?" We laughed and told her she was right!

After our beach walk, we took another stroll through the little village resort. This is a statue that was in front of one of the stores. Each day we would walk by him as we headed for shopping at the ABC Store or a place to eat lunch. I just knew I had to have a picture of him.

 

 

One other experience we had was with the Maui Divers Jewelry. We saw these stores all over the island as well as other jewelry stores. The pearls and coral were mined there in the islands so that was the reason for so many stores. On the first day we were on the island and after our orientation, the tour shuttle took us to the "factory" where the Maui Divers gave us a tour. We saw a short film, walked through their work room where people were making the jewelry. It was very interesting. At the end of the tour, we went through a showroom with our personal sales person! She said we could have a black pearl for only $12.00. Just the pearl, not the setting. We said no, but several others got the pearl.  We then noticed that they were also getting settings for it. The settings were VERY expensive. I think the travelers were surprised!

With a last good-bye (aloha) to this beautiful, active island, we climbed into the airport shuttle. The driver was very interesting as he gave us a narration of the area as we drove through the streets. We took our suitcases to the Island Hopper airlines. Kauaii here we come!







Slice of Life Day 4: Climb Diamond Head

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For the Slice of Life challenge to write a blog everyday in March, I decided to write about our recent trip to Hawaii. Today we are taking a tour of the state monument: Diamond Head.  We had the tour scheduled for a few day when the tour company called us the day before and asked us to move the time to a later time of day. Trying to be nice, we changed it. Later we learned that our ride to the airport would be picking us up before we could get back from the tour. We had to cancel the tour. But that didn't stop us...we did the climb on our own!

We took a city bus (called The Bus) and made the hour trip to the park. I really had no idea what this climb would be like, but I was ready to try it. The .75 mile hike leads to the edge of the crater's rim.

 

The mostly unpaved trail winds over uneven rock and ascends 74 steps. Then it goes through a tunnel and up another steep 99 steps. Next is a small lighted tunnel to a spiral staircase (43 steps). The climb was long. As we passed people coming down, I thought, "Ok, I can do this!" It was a challenge.

The long tunnel had small lights at the bottom of the tunnel. It still was very dark. What an amazing sight.

From the summit both Waikiki and the Pacific Ocean can be seen in detail. It is a short, steep hike for a total of 762 feet. The walk down was much easier and faster, too. We found the bathrooms and a place that sold t-shirts. I had to have one that said, "I climbed the Diamond".  This was one of the things we did on the trip that I will never forget. The climb, the view and the challenge!