We were able to see some sights at the next lookout including a little piece of Ni'ihau island, however, as suspected, the other lookouts were fogged in.
Had it not been fogged in, we would've seen this:
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| taken during Nov 2009 Kauai trip |
Afterward, we drove back into town and hit the Farmers Market in the Kukui Grove shopping center. It was a bit hard to find as it was hidden in a sunken parking lot next to Kmart. There were lots of vendors selling fresh vegetables like eggplant, bok choy, squash, tomatoes, lettuce, and also fresh fruit such as papaya, rambutans, longans, and citrus. We bought some fixings for salad as well as papaya and longan. This was Valentine's Day 2011...not exactly romantic, but it was good to spend time with family.
Tuesday was a lazy day in paradise. We just relaxed at the Waiohai; Sheri and I spent some time at the shore laying out, with the parents playing mahjong in the villa. Sheri had been very good during this vacation and waking up every day at 7am to work out. I slept in as usual. (though I kept waking up at 4am due to jet lag) Ed and Angela did a helicopter ride this morning! They had won a 2-for-1 discount at their timeshare meeting. According to them, it is a "must-do". I'll try it out one of these days.
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| view from my lounge chair |
On Wednesday, Sheri and I woke up real early to drive over to Port Allen to meet up with Ed and Angela for our 8am Napali snorkel sail with Holo-Holo Charters. The tour included continental breakfast, deli lunch, beverages (including beer and wine). During the sail would be opportunities for whale watching. Maui is apparently the best place to whale watch in the Hawaiian islands, but Kauai gets some whales too. I was looking forward to this as I wanted to see whales breaching. The parents stayed behind since they didn't want to get sea-sick, not that they didn't mind playing mahjong all day anyway!
There were reports of sea-sickness in reviews, and I also read of people getting sick from taking Dramamine itself, so I was wanting to try my luck with not taking any meds, as the worst I had ever felt was a terrible headache and slight nausea on a very rocky ferry between the UK and Ireland many years ago. But Ed convinced me and Sheri to pop a pill, so we did. I didn't get sick, so I cannot say if the pill worked or not. I only saw one kid get semi-sick, but he recovered pretty quickly and was found riding the trampolines on the way back to the harbor, bouncing up and down. Not bad that 1 out of 35 got sea-sick. I was expecting more.
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| no lack of food here, even with 35 people on board |
I wasn't sure how the food situation would be, if there would be enough for 35 folks, but there was plenty to go around. Either that or people were afraid to eat in case of sea sickness. The blueberry and cranberry scones were really good, as well as the banana bread. I think I inhaled 1 of each scone and 3 pieces of banana bread.
The nice thing about this tour was that we were on a catamaran that could truly sail. It used motors for a while to get out of the harbor, but once the sails were up and the motor turned off, it was quiet, with only the sound of the wind and the waves. The Ultimate Kauai guidebook did not recommend this boat ("Leila"), but I thought it was perfect. Even Ed and Angela thought this boat was good, compared to the "recommended" bigger catamaran they took to Ni'ihau, which did not have a sail. I also liked that you could lay or sit on the "trampoline" portion of the catamaran and watch the boat surf on the waves.
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| Thanks goes to Sheri for crowning me the "Holo Ho" |
We sailed to the Napali coast, with scenery that cannot be seen on land unless you hike the Kalalau trail the whole way. I've only hiked as far as the waterfall. (the picture at the top of my blog was taken from the Kalalau trail) The views were breathtaking and we saw several whales breaching, along with a mom and calf too! We also saw a school of bottlenosed dolphins approaching the boat head on, as well as spinner dolphins popping out of the water. It was hard to take pictures of these events, not to mention that my camera battery died halfway. :(
The waters were calm enough for the catamaran to approach the cliffs really close. Sometimes, it was so close that I thought we'd hit shore! Angela was really happy that we were able to get close, as their last sail on the big catamaran could not approach the shore. Thanks to Ed and Angela for the next couple of pics as my camera had died:
There were a couple of beaches along the coast, and as they are very hard to get to without hiking the trail, we had the pleasure(?) of seeing a naked man walk back to shore from the water's edge. How appetizing! The boat stopped at one point, allowing us to do a 20-30 minute snorkel, for swimmers only. All equipment was provided, except life jackets, though they had "pool noodles" for people to float on. Ed and Angela brought their own lifejackets and gear. I forgot my snorkel gear at the villa, but the equipment provided worked fine. I didn't see a ton of fish, but saw a sea turtle. After snorkeling, we turned around and sailed back, stopping after a while to have a deli lunch. There were baguettes and whole wheat bread to choose from, as well as different meats such as ham, roast beef, turkey, and all the fixings, including pasta salad. There was plenty of food for everyone even with sandwiches being piled high. The booze came out, so people were interested in imbibing beer after beer after beer. We also got home-baked chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
The trip back to the harbor was pretty bumpy, as the sails went down and the motor was running full steam. I think some people started to feel slightly sea-sick from all the ups and downs, but no one blew chunks, at least that I saw (or smelled). We returned to the harbor 1.5 hours later than I expected (the tour was supposed to be from 8am to 1pm) so we would have to scramble to get ready for the Smith Family Luau that night.
The Ultimate Kauai guidebook recommended Smith's and the Luau Kalamaku at the Kilohana Plantation. Smith's was more "traditional" and Luau Kalamaku was "Cirque"-like, so I went for Smith's, as a few people in our party had never been to a luau before. We got a $10 discount by purchasing the tickets online, and as an added bonus, if you stayed at a property near Smith's, they'd come pick you up for free. The Pono Kai was on the list, so I decided to meet Ed and Angela there and let Smith's take care of us. We were a few minutes late to the Pono Kai lobby as there was rush-hour traffic, but I had overtaken the Smith's bus (plus it had turned into the parking lot of another property) on the main road, so I knew we'd be able to make it. Even if we missed the bus, we could drive the few minutes to the luau. But it was a good idea to take the bus, as it dropped us right at the front of the entrance, and there were hostesses stationed there to cattle us into the right lines. The operation was pretty efficient and seamless. Since I bought online, I waited in a very short line to sign a receipt. We were informed that we had our own reserved table as we were a party of 6 or more, cool! We then were directed to the photo line, where we received nicely made shell leis (not the usual ones you get) and took a picture with two hula dancers before getting herded into trams which took us on a short tour around the property. There were peacocks abound as well as different kinds of foliage and floral displays. The tram dropped us off at the front of the imu ceremonial area where kalua pig had been roasting underground for 6-7 hours.
After a brief introduction by one of the Smith family members, two young men blew conch horns and then proceeded to dig the pig out of the ground. After the ceremony was over, we made our way to the dining area. There was live music going on. One by one, tables were directed to hit the six all-you-can-eat buffet lines off to the side of the dining area. It was also all-you-can-drink, with stations where you could grab watered down mai-tais, fruit punch, or water. There was a bar in the back if you wanted beer or hard liquor.
The buffet consisted of starters such as cold salads, lomi-lomi salmon, poi and breads. No ahi poke. :( There was purple Hawaiian sweet potato, regular mashed potatoes, fried rice, and stir-fried vegetables as sides. Entrees included kalua pig (what was cooked underground), teriyaki beef, sweet and sour mahi mahi, and chicken adobo (which I didn't have, but was not a favorite amongst the group). Desserts included haupia (a coconut milk jello-like pudding), rice pudding (which was apparently also cooked underground with the pig), fresh fruits including papaya, and coconut cake. I always give poi a chance when it is available, and surprisingly enough, I really liked the poi at Smith's as it was very fresh! Usually when I have poi, it has the consistency of thick purple paste with a sour flavor (old poi). It went well as a dip for the teriyaki beef and also the kalua pig. After the feast, we moved to the theater to watch hula dancing, plus performances based on Tahiti, Philippines, China, Japan, and ended with an exciting fire dance. We took the shuttle back to Pono Kai, and drove back to Poipu from there. What a long day! Tomorrow, we're headed to the north side of the island for beach time and possibly surfing lessons...
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