The Sam and Sean Show

Inside the cave looking out.

Yesterday was our last day with the Sandovals, our transition to the North Shore, and our boat trip along the Na Pali coast. It was sad leaving Lawai Beach, as we had so much fun there but the whole gang arrived in Hanalei ready for our next adventure.
We'd booked a boat trip with snorkeling from Na Pali Catamarans. To get to out boat a couple of young kids took us out in a powered canoe. Our first surprise was that our "catamaran" was just a twin-hulled fishing boat with two rows of back-to-back padded benches Our second surprise was that the young kids who shuttled us out were also our captain and crew. Gulp.
Our crew, Sam and Sean, quickly started their comedy schtick. They had a corny joke for almost every sight. Their explanations of island history, marine biology, and ocean activities and culture were probably 40% made-up, 40% humor, and 20% fact. We didn't mind. It was like riding the jungle cruise at Disneyland and expecting to learn about African wildlife. (One of Sean's better lines was about the boat's head, "It's like Vegas. What happens down there, stays down there.")

Open ceiling cave

The one thing where Sam was clearly a professional was on maneuvering his boat into and out of water caves. He could turn the ship on a dime and we never came close to the cave walls despite the waves and currents that rush in and out if these caves.
We entered about four caves and motored to entrance of several more. The views of the Na Pali coast were breathtaking and the waterfalls were going off due to the recent rains (see the Smart Decisions post). Considering we signed up for a snorkeling cruise, that was the worst part of the trip. The reef was large but not really much to look at and there were fewer fish than at our "Beach House" reef in Lawai.
The reviews on Yelp were decidedly mixed on this tour. However, we really enjoyed ourselves and recommend the trip to out readers, as long ad they know what they're signing up to do.
After our cruise we had to say goodbye to the Sandovals, who's vacation was over. We really enjoyed our time with them and we will miss them. Of course, as we are now checked into the St. Regis Princeville, laying poolside with pool drinks, I'm sure we'll survive.


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Location:Hanalei,United States

Smart decisions and foolish endeavors

Friday was planned as our Waimea Canyon hike day. However, beginning Thursday night the south side of Kauia was hit by a series of tropical rain showers. This continued off and on through Friday morning. Since it was our last full day on the south side of the island, the hike had to be today or on our next trip. So while planning our day at the Poipu Starbucks (brief aside: it's brilliant that the Poipu Starbucks opens at 5:00 a.m. to cater to all the jet lagged West-coasters and everyone who hasn't been able to adjust to island sleep hours), Luella said "It's going to be muddy and slippery. I might fall. I don't want to go." [Smart decision] and I said, "Okay. You join Alicia, Jeff, and Gabby on their activities and I'll drive to Waimea Canyon and go on the hike." [Foolish endeavor]

Flash flood on the side of the road

While the weather was okay on the drive to Waimea Canyon, around 1,500 ft it started to rain. Then it started to rain harder. You can it on the picture on the right.
As I drove higher up the mountain, I thought I might drive above the weather, as often happens on Haleakala on Maui. Unfortunately, that was not the case and I finally ran out of road at the Pu'u o Kila Lookout. This was the trail head for the Pihea Trail to Alaka'i Swamp, which happened to be the hike that I most wanted to make. It was still raining but I went for it anyway.
The hike turned out to be more of a controlled slide (downhill), a slippery scrample (uphill), and a bit of tarzan mixed in (as crossing mud pits required grabbing tree branches and trying to swing across). As I encountered hikers on their way back, they were either covered in mud or moving extremely slowly. Everyone kept saying it got worse further up the trail.

Tree branch for grip and swinging.

At this point, Luella's prediction was 100% accurate - It was raining, muddy, slippery, with occasional falls.

One of the steeper pitches to scramble.

After about a mile, I finally reached the actual Alaka'i Swamp. In this part of the trail, the park service has installed a raised boardwalk. This made progress much, much easier. Including the boardwalk, my pace was less than 2 miles an hour so I didn't get as far as I had hoped. On my return hike, I was rewarded by some clearing skies and impressive views of the Kalalau Valley. 

Boardwalk made it much easier

Kalalau Valley during a brief clearing sky

I was able to get off the trail in time to make it back to the condo to clean up for a nice dinner at Tidepools Restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Kauia. 

Surfergolf or Surfershop

Picture perfect day

Without a big activity planned for the day, I initially planned on Surfergolf II. In the morning, I found Chava (see earlier blog post) and for $20 got a surf board for 3 hours. I also confirmed an earlier thought that Chava will say anything to make things sound better than they are. Examples: I checked out the surf before I found Chava and saw that it was smaller and less consistant than Monday. But one of the first things Chava said was, "It's much bigger today." Then while taking a break, during which time the surf had dropped to almost nothing, Chava remarked, "It's high tide so the surf will start getting better now." Unfortunately, you can't BS a guy with an iPhone who's naturally skeptical. Sure enough, high tide was 90 minutes away, which meant it wasn't getting better any time soon. He also recommended that I stay away from the next break east, "It's only two feet deep and has lots of sea urchins." So as soon as he left, I went to the next break and surfed some nice waves for another 30 minutes. In the grand scheme, it's no big deal that Chava "Tells it like it's not," I also lied to him when I said that I'd been surfing a dozen times.
While I surfed, Luella made plans for the rest of our afternoon. So instead of Surfergolf, I ended up with SurferShop as we headed to Kapaa to shop for tchotchkes, gifts, and souvenirs. Alas, being the good husband, off we went. We found some good stuff. One of the more interesting places was a bamboo store that sold bamboo timber of any size for crafts all the way up to construction size timbers. I thought that was cool. I could easily imagine Luella designing some piece of furniture that I would have to build out of bamboo. Sadly, this place is much further than our local Home Depot.

Banyan tree's outside of Keiko's Paradise

We finished the day at Keiko's Paradise. According to our guide book, this place is either loved or loathed for it's over the top fake polynesian decor. Having been weaned on the Royal Hawaiian in Laguna Beach, I loved it. I even had the ribs and chicken just like the RH in LB. We had a great table with a view of some spectacular banyan trees out front. The Hula Pie for desert could literally feed a family of six (as the next table demonstrated). Fortunately, they had a "Chef's Bar Menu" size that "only" had about as many calories as my LoseIt app said I could eat the whole day. You're not in Kauai often enough, so LoseIt had to be spurned.

Down time

At the midway point in our stay in Poipu, our bodies (and good vacation convention) dictated that we have some down time. So while the picture is of an endangered monk seal taking a nap on the beach, it could have been us. After breakfast we took naps. After lunch, we went exploring and found Maha'ulepu beach (aka Shipwrecks) which seemed like a good place to take another nap.

By mid-afternoon, we were recharged and visited a Farmers Market on the way home. There we bought a mango for $4. As I tweeted at the time, I'm fine with supporting local farmers, but do we have to pay for his Lexus?

Luella also bought some fresh shrimp, salad, and green beans that she transformed into a gourmet dinner. (Thanks Luby!)

Before dinner, my frenetic vacation style was back so I was able to sneak in a sunset run.


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Location:Lawai Rd,Poipu,United States

Never to old to discard long held self-convictions and Surfergolf

On Tuesday morning I (Luis) took a private surf lesson. I rationalized the touristy nature of this exercise by convincing myself (and hopefully my readers) that it's no different than a golf lesson - an expert with a good eye for the sport tells you all the things you're doing wrong. Unfortunately, like golf lessons, you inevitably try to fix every flaw on every wave (or swing). My instructor was Chava Greenlee, a professional surfer, surf-school owner, and motocross rider who competes in Surfercross (Day 1 Motocross, Day 2 Surf competition at San Onofre.)
So after watching me get up on a few waves, Chava suggested that I change my stance from "Goofy-foot" to "Regular-foot." Now, I have a 35-year history of goofy-footing, going back to my first skateboard, through snow-boarding, and surfing. And Chava was asking me to mix it up? As you can guess from the title of this post, regular stance was a success. My takeoffs were generally smoother, which made for better take-offs and riding more waves. Who knew? Maybe now I'll start to vote Republican too! Nah, the Republicans are "Goofy-brained" right now.

In the afternoon, Luella and I completed our version of "Surfergolf" with a round of golf at Poipu Bay Resort Golf Course. I really enjoyed the round. The course was in excellent shape and the rough was tightly mowed (just like us "Resort" golfers like it.) The course offers great views of the cliffs to the east of Poipu, Shipwrecks beach, jungle mountains to the north. and 180 degrees of ocean to the south.

We wrapped up the day with drinks and appetizers at the Grand Hyatt Resort. It's a pretty amazing property. We had front row seats for the Torch Lighting Ceremony. But this also meant we had no overhead protection when the beautiful rainbow morphed into the tropical rain. Still, a running for cover from a rain storm during vacation, always makes for fond memories.  

Non-native plants and other creatures

Tuesday morning was our kayak trip up the Wailua River. The trip included a hike to Uluwehi Falls (ironically aka "Secret Falls" but the crowds tell you otherwise.) Having had our introductory kayaking lesson a week ago with our friends in Newport Harbor (Thanks Deidre & Tim!), Luby and I were old hands.
As the only navigable river in Polynesia, the Wailua is broad and slow moving. It was easy to imagine the rivers in "Love in the Time of Cholera" looking like this when GGM's book was based 100+ years ago (Mental note: When I produce the remake of the movie, since the first version was so universally panned, use this as a shoot location.) Paddling upstream was actually much easier than facing the headwinds on the downstream paddle.
In a few miles, the river narrows so that the jungle canopy meets overhead and the kayak "steerer" (me) had to try (unsuccessfully) to keep the "stoker" (Luby) from running right into hanging vines. You can imagine how that conversation played out.
The jungle hike up to waterfalls was slippery and full of lots of flora and fauna descriptions and stories  from our river guide Renee. She is with Kayak Wailua (Thanks Nora for the recommendation.)
Everyone at Kayak Wailua was fun and friendly. We really liked our guide, Renee. Like most guides, she was full of facts, trivia, answers, explanations, and opinions. We'd read in our guide book that a lot of what local guides tell you is either incorrectly passed down or just plain made up on the spot. We learned a lot from Renee, but I couldn't help wondering if she was just making stuff up. I know I would, if I were a river guide.

Renee clearly loves Kauia and is really protective of the island. She particularly disdains non-native, invasive plants and animals. Of course, she's okay with non-native tour guides (as she is from Indiana by way of Brooklyn). Oh well, we all have our inconsistent beliefs.

The waterfall was spectacular. The water was brisk but not freezing cold. Standing under the falls (hoping not to be hit by a falling rock) was a rush.
The entire trip was 5 hours and a great value for the price. We wrapped up the day with snorkeling at Poipu. Great fun.

The Old and the New

On Sunday, we attended Mass at St. Raphael's, the oldest Catholic church on Kauai. The first Mass was celebrated on Christmas in 1841. The church building, seen to the right, was dedicated on October 24, 1956. While our Mass was held in new church building, very modern open-air Hawaiian style, daily Masses and 7:00 a.m. Sunday Mass is still celebrated in this building. It is impressive that the building has withstood 150+ years of this rainy place. 

From the old to the new, our next stop was the new Wal-Mart in Lihue to stock up the condo with food and supplies. We've talked with some "locals" who feel that Wal-Mart is destroying local commerce and local farmers (hardly a fresh accusation). The local farmers are fighting back by strongly promoting farmers markets. We also did our part by buying some things at Living Foods. This place is a "Whole Foods meets Hawaiian food prices." They actually sell a dozen eggs for $9.00+. In this case, we had to opt for the Wal-Mart eggs. 

After some snorkeling at the Beach House reef, we cleaned up and had dinner at Merriman's. This restaurant is also new in Poipu. They specialize in locally caught seafood and locally grown vegetables and produce. Our meals were spectacular. The ambiance and views were great. If you ever eat here, try to get a table on the veranda. We weren't able to but if we had, here would have been our view. 

Half hour before sunset. The ocean view is to the left. 

Naming Chickens

Okay. Enough social media rants. Our Hawaii trip started off much better than our last trip. Not only did we make it in time, we were able to stop at the Hubers for some of my mom's buñuelos before heading to LAX. We made our flight as did all our bags.  Always a welcome sight when your golf clubs are headed up the luggage belt.

Our flight was uneventful other than the 65 children on board. I got to sit next to George (dad) and Georgie (4-year old with 35 toys for this flight alone). I spent the flight reading, napping, and retrieving characters from "Toy Story" that had dropped (been thrown) under my seat. 

Awesome view on its own but better from upstairs. 

Our condo in Lawai is spacious but on the first floor. Consequently, what could be an awesome view is a small ocean peak-a-view.

As Cecilia knows, Luella and I play a modified game of "Punch Buggy" on our vacations. The idea is to pick something common to the location we're visiting, e.g. nuns in Rome, etc. For our Kauai trip we decided to create the "Punch Chicken" game. Every time someone sees a Kauai feral chicken, they can the pop the nearest person on the arm. After beating each other's arm senseless in the first few hours of the game (in other words, the feral chickens are everywhere), Luella decided she would rather give each chicken a name based on their looks and personality. So that's our new game, create meaningful names for all the local chickens. With that, I present to you Justin Timberlake Chicken. 

Social Media Overload

Welcome to our travel blog for our Kauai trip in July 2011.


Since our last travel blog in 2008, a lot has changed in the social media world: Facebook has exploded, Twitter, FourSquare, Instagram, Google+. So while this is my first blog post of this trip, I've been updating every thing else with absolutely no plan or purpose. Think of a quip? Tweet it. Snap a photo? Instagram? Arrive at a cool restaurant? FourSquare. All the while pushing out to Facebook, but never consistently. Consequently, I haven't a clue as to the best social media strategy for documenting this trip. Should Facebook get everything? Nah. Too annoying? Should Instragram get all the pics? Nah. Distribution too narrow. So I haven't figured out the best strategy. If anyone has worked out a good plan, please add a comment. For now the blog will contain the detailed itinerary, and the long-form musings. All the other platforms will get what they get.
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