Kaua'i Weekend - Part 2

Normally, I love waking up to the sound of rain.  By the last morning of our brief stay on Kaua'i, my cup had runneth over, quite literally, with the inches of precipitation that ruled our mini-vacation.  My mood was very melancholy while Jeff and I dressed to go out for breakfast.  With rain jackets and umbrellas, we walked a short way to a small cafe.  Just before getting inside, another drenching downpour began, so we rushed inside, thankful for an open table.

While waiting for our food, watching the raindrops streak the windowpanes, a semi-permanent scowl took over my face.  I was so disappointed that the rain would not let up and was sure that our flight to see the Napali Coast would be canceled.  Just prior to leaving the restaurant, the downpour grew in intensity, curtaining the road.  My phone rang at about the same time.  The tour company was calling to confirm our flight that was set to take off in two hours.  The kind lady on the phone comforted my fears by telling me that the radar reports the office had projected that the system was breaking up and should be moving off island within the hour.  I was hopeful.

On our way to the airport, Jeff and I stopped at a rushing waterfall that was easily accessible from the road and drove down a few country roads.  The clouds were, indeed, beginning to part.  By the time we pulled into the airport, most of the blue sky was visible, and the hot sun forced us to take off our jackets.

The Napali Coast must be seen from the air or a boat.  Since a bucket list item of mine was to see an active volcano from a helicopter, we chose to go the more cost effective route and take a small plane.  Wings Over Kaua'i garnered great reviews on TripAdvisor and was very easy to communicate with, so we booked through them.  From the first moments of our arrival to the final goodbye, the customer service was great.  The seating is computerized using each passenger's weight to properly balance the plane.  Jeff got to sit in the seat next to the pilot with me directly behind.  I was a little jealous but mostly really excited for him.

Jeff was put to work in the co-pilot's seat, going through the pre-flight check-list with the pilot.  I got a kick out of listening to the exchange on the headset.  Our pilot was nice enough and shared quite a lot of information throughout the flight.

The sight of the island from above is unique and highlightes the changing landscape, vibrant colors of the farms, and the picturesque coastline.  By far, the Napali Coast was the most scenic part of the tour and well worth the cost for the tour by air, which is a little pricier than a boat ride.  Photos can't do this amazing geologic wonder justice (especially with low level clouds nearby).  The cliffs rise thousands of feet vertically from the ocean, black and green against the surreal blue of the Pacific. 

 

Thanks to the rain I'd been cursing, dozens of new wispy waterfalls cascaded down the cliffs.  The scenery was so impressive.  Rounding the leeward coast on our way to the northern side, the mist over took the tops of the cliffs, giving it all a dreamlike feel. 

After our safe, smooth landing, Jeff and I were new people.  The fantastic tour cured our irritation with Mother Nature and set us up to make the most of our last hours on the island.  Driving counterclockwise up the coast, we made our way to the Kilauea Lighthouse, the northern most point in Hawaii (main islands).  The views were spectacular from this point.  While scanning the waters for whales, Jeff readied the camera. Being patient...and lucky...paid off.  We were thrilled to see fins flapping and water shooting from blow holes.  We saw at least three whales off the coast.  Though difficult to tell without zooming in, Jeff captured photographic evidence of a whale tail.  The day was just getting better and better.

Before leaving the north point, we walked around a wildlife refuge and saw thousands of birds and more gorgeous breaking surf.  About halfway back to the airport for our return trip home to Honolulu, we found a path along the coast to stroll.  Within easy walking distance was a shave ice stand, one of the best we've had even months later.  With ono shave ice in hand, we enjoyed our walk along Kaua'i's windward coast.  

The last day of our trip held my favorite moments of the entire time on Kaua'i.  I'm thankful that it wasn't a wash afterall.

Kaua'i Weekend - Part 1

A pretty wet day in Honolulu is reminding me of the soggy weekend we spent on Kaua'i in March.  The island is notorious for being wet, but "passing blessings" were not what we experienced.

Believing that we'd only have a couple of trips and a handful of weeks in Hawaii while Jeff was working here on a project, a long weekend to Kaua'i was booked.  It isn't far to the garden isle, just northwest by plane for less than a half an hour, and the amazing attractions are fewer than the larger islands.  Just in case we ended up back out to Hawaii for a longer vacation, we saved Maui and the Big Island for another time. The weekend was supposed to include a snorkeling trip, a plane ride to see the cliffs on the Napali Coast, a beautiful hike on the North Shore, scenic lookouts, a visit to the Waimea Canyon, swimming, and relaxing.  Unfortunately, torrential downpours cut our to-do list dramatically.

Rainy skies greeted us upon arrival on an early Friday morning that Jeff had "taken off" of work, though his trusty computer did not have much downtime.  Since it was so wet and chilly, the pool at the hotel was not enticing.  We decided to drive counterclockwise around the coast in hopes of taking in some of the magnificent scenery, having to reschedule our air tour of the Napali Coast. 

Too bad that much of the gorgeous cliffs around the island were hidden by thick clouds.  Several of the scenic lookouts left us imagining what we would have seen had the sky been clear.  Damp, grey, and long bouts of downpours left us crabby and uncomfortable, since we continued to try and experience the verdant island outside of the car.  A slow drive back to the hotel in heavy traffic lowered our morale even further.

Hot showers and long pants raised our spirits for dinner reservations Friday night.  Jeff offered, very kindly, to run and get the car while I waited in the lobby.  I was confused to see him exit the vehicle and hand the keys over to a valet.  Soaked pants up to the middle of his thighs was the first clue that it was raining too hard to make the trip out of the hotel.  He was so soaked through, even his rain jacket, that we had to go back to the room for a change of clothes.  Red wine with dinner did the trick to warm us up and turn our frowns upside down. 

Saturday morning started off wonderfully, though still soggy, with a trip to the southern tip and a highly recommended breakfast spot.  Jeff and I both loved Joe's on the Green.  I wasn't too hungry, so we ordered one meal to split.  With large portions of eggs, bacon, potatoes, pancakes, and toast, leaving the restaurant hungry was impossible.  Strawberry pancakes were available, a new one for me, so we ordered one of those and a traditional pancake (Jeff has yet to find a taste for fruit).  The kitchen accidentally served us two dinner plate size strawberry pancakes.  The waitress realized the mistake and promised to rush out a fresh plane one for the fruit-a-phobe and also suggested that I try the coconut syrup.  A couple of forkfuls into the cakes, I was unimpressed.  Everything else was very delicious.  At this point, Jeff twists my arm and pours coconut syrup on my cakes.  Having absolutely no option, I try the new combination.  Suddenly, I realize that more than half of the plate is empty.  I'm sure the coconut syrup melted the pancakes away.  I probably should've asked for my money back.  

Our car accelerated a little slower after our glutenous breakfast and was probably relieved when we stopped a couple of times to walk around the coast on our way to Waimea Canyon.  The rain continued on and off, fairly heavy at times.  A benefit to so much precipitation is that the waterfalls gush and with so much water, new waterfalls pitch in to move the water down the high, steep peaks of the cliffs.  

Waimea Canyon is a sight to see.  The deep valleys seem endless.  At any moment, I half expected to see a pterodactyl swoop below us or the head of a brontosaurus pop out of the canopy.  We snapped lots of pictures, counted and recounted waterfalls (I'm remembering 28), and bounced around a few of the paths.  OK, one of us bounced around; the other one walked normally.

By the time we began our descent, the temperatures were finally rising enough that we could peel our jackets off.  The rain held off, allowing us a little light hiking at different elevations and view the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" from multiple vantage points.

A stop for some great tacos included a call to find that our flight to see the breathtaking, rugged coastline was canceled again.  Wings Over Kaua'i assured us that if the conditions were good to go out the next day, our third and final day, we would not be disappointed in having to reschedule.  This is the activity we were most looking forward to and is a must-do on Kaua'i.  I tried to stay optimistic.

Day two of our trip ended with a short visit to the pool before more rain forced us to take a nap.  Dinner that evening at another of the hotel's restaurants included two guests.  Jeff's coworker and his wife happened to be on the island for a long weekend and stayed at the same hotel.  Matt and Erin's company was thoroughly enjoyable.  We laughed, ate, and shared a decadent dessert before calling it a night.  We went to bed with visions of parting clouds, blue skies, and shave ice.

Hula - Learning Ka'iliauokekoa

I've been a "hula sister" for a little over two months now and am loving it.  I'm the only new addition to the Thursday morning beginner class in so many months, but a few visitors have joined for a class or two.  The other hula sisters in the class, sometimes three, sometimes up to 5 more, have all been dancing for at least a couple of years.  Kumu takes the liberty to use this class for the more experienced dancers to work on dances slated to be performed, like at a huaka'i (hula weekend workshop) on Lana'i (I couldn't make it) and now, an upcoming performance at the Waikiki Shell.  The dances I've been learning are not simple dances, which has been challenging and very enjoyable, with no time to get bored.

Figure skating and a little bit of dance combined with a general love for choreography and music have enabled me to excel quickly.  But, the body movements are very tricky.  Plus, though I try and try, I just don't have naturally bendy knees.  Bendy knees are important.  I think it's got something to do with my femur being longer than my shin bones and some physics.  Pretty sure. Yep.  So, though I pick up the movements, timing, and remember the dances very well from week to week, kumu still has much to teach me.

The start of class, our warm-up, is a series of basic hula steps that we go through while kumu keeps the beat on the ipu.  This is where my brain and my body don't always work together.  Shifting weight, arms, legs, feet, head, direction, combination steps...a whole lot of concentrating.  We are all pretty sweaty in the first ten minutes.

Apparently, I am supposed to set my foot down flat in our basic hula step, but according to kumu, I'm not doing that...I remember so many similar times while coaching my figure skaters...I'd repeat that the knee must be straightened or a toe turned out only have an exasperated, "I am straightening my knee/turning out my toe!"  What an onlooker can see and what the person feels she is doing can be very different things.  Kumu doesn't see my foot setting down flat, but that is exactly what I'm trying to do.  I have learned not to argue with her, of course.  It's not my natural tendency to do so, but I have witnessed other girls rebutting, only to be put in their places by our feisty, 76-year-old kumu.  We all chuckle a little on the inside, and respect what she's teaching us.

Something of note: I say "girls" because that's how we refer to each other, as does kumu, but the ages include a couple of us in our thirties, one or two mid-forties, mid-fifties, and a couple who are 60+.  Everyone moves pretty well, especially two girls nearing mid-life.  Wow, I want to move my hips like they do!  Granted, they've been dancing for more than 10 years, but still!

Recently, kumu informed me (she didn't ask) that the halau (school) will be performing at the Waikiki Shell during some big hula festival and that I was included.  I was the only one who hadn't heard the news yet, and I was ecstatic! I never expected to get to perform in front of people! Hooray!

Our halau only gets a specific chunk of time to work with, and I believe that there will be 5 or 6 different dances all together, one by the keiki, one by my class, two by the advanced class, and a solo or other advanced number. Twenty-three of us will be wearing a purple muu'muu with white flowers on it.  This dress has been worn for past performances, so there are only a few of us that need to get it.  I tried not to laugh out loud when kumu told us that she'd put a call in to "her lady at the swap meet" then get back to us.  Too funny that our dressmaker has a booth at the swap meet at Aloha Stadium.  

Sung by my kumu, Ka'iliauokekoa is a love story from Kaua'i.  Three verses down, and one to go, I have a lot of practicing to do between now and early November.  The song is about 4 minutes long and quite lovely.  Most of the other girls in my class know the dance, or did know it last year, so this is more of a refresher.  The choreography transitions smoothly and illustrates the story beautifully, except for the motion to express birds.  I look like an albatross.  Too bad the song is about a little bird and not an albatross.  I haven't given up but have little hope of improving, as my arm length is not flexible. 

Pretty soon, Kumu will have us rehearse in front of a small audience, and also have at least one dress rehearsal.  It all sounds ducky to me, but I wasn't exactly sure what I was signed up for until I googled it at home.  The 20th Annual World Invitational Hula Festival is a much bigger event than I was expecting.  Halau from all over the world come to participate.  I noticed on the site that the event has been moved from the shell to the concert hall.  I'm a little sad to get this news, though I didn't confirm it with kumu yet.  The shell would be so much neater, but honestly, it'll be a fantastic experience either way.

Beginning this week, one hula sister, Luana, will be hosting an extra practice session at her house, so we can help each other learn and improve Ka'iliauokakoa.  Luana is a super sweet Southern belle who is probably more than six decades old.  She has definitely taken to living in the islands and with aloha.   

I cannot wait to get dressed up properly and perform with the halau.  In the meantime, my hips and feet have a lot of homework.

Sun, Sea Glass, & Frisbee

Jeff and I are not the spontaneous type, and that's okay.  We're both always making plans, lists, and doing far more research on just about everything than is necessary.  Our approaches are not the same, but nevertheless, we look before we leap.

Funny then, that we loaded up our beach bags and stocked the cooler, driving close to an hour (traffic) to our favorite beach on the windward side, Bellows, only to be greeted by thick clouds, a cool strong wind, and an angry looking horizon.  Not beach weather.  Even funnier is that we wasted two-plus hours in the middle of a Saturday doing this two different times.  I say funny because looking up surf cams here is one of the things kids learn before being potty trained.  Honestly, there are surf cams everywhere, since the surf on all coasts varies dramatically from each other and changes throughout the day.  The weather is extremely difficult to predict and also morphs from rainy, dreary morning to blue skies paradise and back again before ending with a breathtaking painting at sunset.  All we needed to do was look up a surf cam and save ourselves a trip and major disappointment.

Fool me once, shame on me.  Fool me twice...

So a couple of weekends ago we were really itching to go play in the waves at the most perfect beach I have ever been to.  While Jeff began gathering our frisbee, magazines, sunscreen, etc., I checked the surf cam.  Once Jeff saw the big grin on my face, he picked up the pace of packing.  After we'd both changed into our suits, we were off to take the Pali through the Ko'oloa Mountains.  This is an absolutely beautiful drive, especially when the cloud cover is minimal.  I take this route to Kailua every Thursday for hula, and never tire of the picturesque view from the tunnel overlooking the azure coastline.

Shot from a few miles south of Bellows.

Before making it to the beach, we paid a visit to the best plate lunch place around, Keneke's.  With styrofoam platter in hand, we made our way to the side of the road near the entrance to the park.  A short walk thorough a grove of trees leads to a most impressive beach.  Jeff staked the umbrella in the sand while I set up our short chairs and sheet.  Lunch was ono (good), a teri chicken, rice and mac salad plate with a fountain drink.  Super local.  The mac salad left me wanting.

Though this beach is gorgeous, soft white sand and all, it's rarely busy.  Today was like any other with a few families here and there, a college student or two, loads of dogs and toddlers.

While eating, we watched some nearby beach goers who were pulling something out of the ocean on a stick. Uh, oh.  I'd seen that trick before when a friend found and caught a Portuguese Man of War jelly several months ago.  The MoW out here are small, like the size of a golf ball or smaller, but that doesn't much change the fact that the sting hurts like the dickens (or so I've been told).

Since our lunch was finished, I wanted to walk a little and investigate.  Sure enough, they'd found a jelly, but it wasn't alone.  Thankfully they float, so spotting them in the water is pretty easy, if you're paying attention.  With several on the beach, I cautiously went into the water.  People joke about being afraid of sharks in the ocean.  Oddly, I've been snorkeling with a shark close by and didn't freak out, but the jellies are a whole different story to me.

Jeff and I splashed around and swam some, but I was completely distracted by looking for the jellies.  After about 15 minutes I spotted one in our vicinity.  A couple more dunks, and I was ready to get out of the danger zone.  Jeff and I made it back to the beach without incident and took a walk.  I saw probably 8 or 10 on our walk.  I found out later that the jellies are more frequent during tradewinds.  I'm guessing we'd been out there during Kona winds on most of our other trips, since we'd never seen so many jellies.  The 10-day-after-a-full-moon rule only applies to box jellies.  I'm more terrified of being stung by the box jellies sine they're much harder to see and don't float.  I've seen them in waters I wasn't planning to enter, which was really neat, but still a little creepy.

Something else we spotted while strolling in the sand was colored glass.  At first, we thought we'd stumbled upon a broken beer bottle.  There was too much glass and an array of colors to be a mess leftover from a party, plus it was frosty and had very rounded edges.  We'd found sea glass.  I filled my hands with brown, green, light blue, and clear pieces of beautiful sea glass.  This will be a nice addition to the sand and shells we like to collect from the beaches we visit.

Another quick dip to cool off was followed by a long game of frisbee before some lounging to cap off a fabulous Saturday.
 

I hope to make it back to Bellows a few more times before our stay in Hawaii comes to an end.  Typically this is my favorite place to body board, but the jellies' presence kept us from enjoying the waves.  All in all, it was still a very fun day at the beach and another perk of living in Honolulu. 

  Shot taken on a different day in late summer.  Super fun for all ages.

Happy to have enjoyed the beach without getting
up close and personal with a jelly.  

On to Waiola Shave ice!

UH Warriors Fans

A UH Rainbow Warriors' game is the place to be on Saturday evening on the island, fully decked out in black and green.  Football weather isn't the same as in the Midwest, which suits me very well.  Instead of having to choose coats, hats, and snowpants that allow for team colors to peak out, I had to prepare to roast in my black t-shirt for tailgating and the first hour of the game before wanting a light jacket for the strong trades after sunset.  I'm not sure who helped decide on the color BLACK for team colors in Hawaii?? 

Jeff had been looking forward to going to a UH game for a while, thankful that the first game of the season was to take place when we'd be on the island.  After making several stops at the Rainbowtique, Macy's, and Wal-Mart prior to game day, we both found shirts to wear but passed on the face paint. 

Tailgating is very similar to the Midwest and TN in that there is a lot of drinking, lounging, eating, talking, laughing, and of course, talk of sports.  One major difference I noticed was that many "camps" had buffets of rice, kalua pork, and other Hawaiian/Pacific Rim inspired dishes in leiu of burgers, dogs, and brats, though those options could be found here and there.  A couple of Jeff's coworkers join the masses who spend the day baking in the hot sun in the massive parking lots around the stadium to tailgate and invited us to hang out. 

Thankfully, Jeff compromised with me on a full day of football by watching it on TV for a while in the morning, then spending time outside to break it up, before going to the Aloha Stadium around 3.  Even though it's beautiful here 95% of the time, I still didn't want to devote the entire day to watching the pigskin get tossed around. 
 
After parking and walking a ways, we found one of the coworkers' camps, talked for a bit, and then made our way inside to watch the pregame festivities.  By the time we got inside, we were able to catch just the end of the chant the players do sometimes, the hapa (I think).  Apparently the chant goes by two names and is not done every time.  I was glad we'd made it in time to witness a little bit, and then we took our seats in the blaring sun.  Sweat was beading on our faces within minutes of sitting.  The people around us were holding up newspapers to the left side of their faces to keep the rays off.  The east and south side of the stadium were swathed in sunlight where mostly open seats could be found.  It was clear that the smarter, experienced folks purchased seats on the other two sides of the stadium, which were packed. 

With 15 minutes before the start of the game, we decided to walk around and get out of the sun to take pictures.  We found a much better, shaded spot where we could have a good view of the players rushing the field.  Besides the band, which was quite good according to my high school band member husband, the festivities also included a "surfing" cheerleader whose surfboard was held up by 6 strong male cheerleaders running down the field, and the Warrior Mascot who looked mean enough to kill.  What else would the band play but the "Hawaii 5-0" theme song; how appropriate.  During breaks in play, we noticed two bare chested students (males, of course) beating ceremonial looking drums on the north side of the field.

Kettle popcorn and a Diet Coke kept us in our purchased seats for almost the entire first quarter.  By the beginning of the second quarter, we found ourselves in the upper deck on the west side, under the glorious cover of a roof.  The section was not crowded, mainly consisting of families.  I liked the viewpoint much better, since I really have to see what's going on to care and stay engaged.  Shortly after sundown, I needed the light jacket I'd brought, but the evening was very pleasant.

The Warriors played an exciting game, keeping the huge crowd involved the whole time.  The final score was 34 to 17, a big W for the Warriors and a great way to spend a fall Saturday in the islands.