MAHALO, POP!

Thanks to my dad's careful money managing & generosity I was able to treat Darrin, Charley, Lou & me to much of our recent Kauai vacation. My hope is to instill the "travel bug" in my granddaughter & make this an annual adventure to various corners of the world.

Our first lunch in Nawiliwili Harbor at Kalapaki Beach Hut after arriving on Kauai. The crowds at the airport & the traffic heading out of Lihue caused Charley to declare, "This is not what I expected." Fortunately, once we moved further from the congestion into the tropical surroundings, she was feeling much more in an island mood. The first of several shaved ice treats probably helped, too.

We rented a two bedroom condo at Poipu Sands just a block from the ocean. It was a short walk to Shipwreck Beach & about a half mile from Poipu Beach. Charley was ready to dance with her plumeria flower in her hair. We had a huge plumeria tree just outside our door.

Our girl was enjoying her first afternoon in Hawaii!

Charley wanted to go to Hawaii for the past couple of years. When we asked her what she wanted to see or do in Hawaii, she had two primary requests - drink out of a coconut & see fire dancers. Our first full day we made them both happen!

The woman at the fruit stand helped us choose a coconut with lots of water in it. The heavier it is, the more water.

After finding her machete, the woman whacked the top off & Charley was drinking away. She thoroughly loved it!

As she drank from her coconut, Charley exclaimed, "This is the true spirit of Hawaii!" 

Gaga & Louie (Charley's new name for Lou) had a sip but Charley & her dad drank the whole thing which had at least a couple cups of water in it.

Since none of us are big meat eaters we decided to forego the luau dinner & just signed up for the evening show which is supposed to be the best on the island. It didn't disappoint.

Here we are all decked out in our Hawaiian outfits heading to the luau show. You'll notice we are all sweating profusely, especially Gaga. The humidity had me sweating like an NBA player. Charley & I stuck our heads in the freezer quite often since there was no air conditioning, just fans.

Pele emerging from the on stage volcano at the Smith Family Garden Luau show.

Some of the various dancers from all over Asia & the Pacific Rim who entertained us with their native dances.

First the women twirled & waved their fire sticks or ropes all around making interesting designs for the camera.

The grand finale was the male dancer who did all kinds of tricks with his fire. Charley was afraid he would get hurt but he managed to survive okay. It was pretty impressive.

After the show Charley had her photo taken with some of the dancers. 

The weather in the tropics can change several times a day making it a little difficult to plan for things. But we did our best to work around "the liquid sunshine" as Lou called it. Our first attempt to see Waimea Canyon was met with clouds that obscured the views of the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific". But we did see it later in the trip!

Charley has developed a real affinity for shrimp. She ordered it literally at every meal we ate out. And when we cooked at home, we made Bertoli shrimp scampi. That girl can put away the shrimp!

We ordered the 10 shrimp plate for Charley. Darrin said, "She won't eat 10 of them. I'll share with her." Those shrimp were gone in minutes! Darrin ate rice, cole slaw & half of my fish & chips. 

Shrimp! This time Darrin wisely ordered his own plate of shrimp.

We did pick a great beach day at Poipu Beach - the best swimming beach on Kauai. Our condo provided beach toys, chairs & boogie boards so off we went.

Beach Day! We set up camp here first but soon moved since the ocean floor was really rocky & Darrin found us a patch of shade. Notice the Monster High ghouls lined up enjoying the sun (click on the photo to enlarge it). Charley brought 6 of them & their luggage in my clear backpack. They had just as much fun as we did!

Our shady spot on Poipu Beach.

Darrin & Charley playing in the ocean. She loved it & had a great time swimming in the warm ocean water. She has been used to barely putting her feet in the San Francisco ocean & having them be freezing cold.

Louie & Charley playing in the ocean. Darrin was trying some further out boogie boarding so I sent Lou out with her since I figured Gaga would be lucky to save herself let alone Charley, too.

A view of the beautiful Poipu Beach in southern Kauai.

Lou trying the boogie board. He got pretty good at it after awhile.

Darrin would get Charley laying on the board then give her a shove when the wave was about to break. She really enjoyed it.

Darrin was the expert having tried it before a few times. He was briefed by someone on a past trip as to how to "catch the wave'" at the right time.

That afternoon Darrin, Charley & I strolled around the grounds of our Poipu Sands condo to check out the foliage & beautiful surroundings.

Shipwreck Beach was to the left of our condo & much smaller than Poipu Beach. 

There were the biggest snails I've ever seen slowly meandering around the grounds. The shell on the left was about 3" long! The other one was over 2" - crazy! On an overcast day like this one, the snails were everywhere. Fortunately we didn't see any cane spiders that can be around 2" across!

This looks like some type of Bird of Paradise flower but it had regular petals, too. 

The hibiscus were all over in lots of colors. They are such beautiful blossoms! When Charley first heard the name she thought they were called "hi-biscuits". Too cute!

But the most amazing thing I saw on our walk was my gorgeous granddaughter standing in front of our condo!

The next morning we began our day with the Wailua River cruise to the Fern Grotto. It had been 45 years since I was there for this excursion & almost that long since Lou had done it.

The river cruise is operated by the same family that produces the luau & show. Just about ready to head down the river. They play live music, sing & have a couple of hula dancers who get everyone up to teach them some simple moves of the traditional Hawaiian dance on the way to the Fern Grotto. Both Lou & Darrin get some photo credit on this post.

Our boat at the dock where we disembarked & took the short walk to Fern Grotto.

Charley & Darrin enjoying the mellow cruise.

Fern Grotto. Hurricane Iniki in 1992 damaged the ferns & destroyed the walkway to the cave. Prior to that visitors could walk into the grotto.

On the walk back to our boat, I took a few photos of flowers I hadn't seen before.These purple ones were really tiny - about 1/4 inch each.

Another totally different flower.

At first I thought this bloom had not yet opened but after looking at some others, this may be all there was to it.

Not sure if this is a gecko or some other lizard but it certainly matched the leaves behind it's head.

We continued up the east side of the island to Princeville & Hanalei for some beautiful views. Since it isn't too far to get anywhere on Kauai, we decided to head up the western side one more time in the hopes of seeing Waimea Canyon.

Kilauea Lighthouse is located on the north shore of Kauai within the Kilauea Point Wildlife Refuge. Unfortunately the refuge wasn't open the day we were there so we were only able to get this shot from a distance. Spectacular setting!

We ate our picnic lunch at Anini Beach near Princeville where we saw a few kite surfers.

Of course, we took a detour off the main road to view Wailua Falls. Apparently, it was featured in the opening credits of the old TV show "Fantasy Island".

And finally, we decided to once again head to Waimea Canyon on the other side of the island. This time we were rewarded with the brilliant colors of the scenic canyon. Just the very tops of the canyon walls were in the clouds.

At the end of the road, the final lookout gave us a glimpse of the Napali Coast (on the right). The entire coast can only be viewed by boat or helicopter. There is a somewhat treacherous 11 mile hike that can reach parts of the Napali coast, too.

On our final evening Darrin treated us to a delicious farewell dinner at Keoki's Paradise, a beautiful setting with Hawaiian singers, a lagoon, tropical foliage, tiki torches & of course, excellent company! Thank you, Darrin!

Our table at Keoki's Paradise. Charley's drink came in a pineapple. She drank from a coconut & a pineapple on this trip! And, yep, she ordered shrimp! 

The view of the lagoon from our table.

The next morning after a wonderful trip together, Darrin & Charley headed back home to the East Bay while Lou & I continued on to Oahu for a few days. The photos & descriptions of Oahu will follow in my next post. A fantastic time was had by all! Aloha!