(Sorry it is taking me so long to get the updates going... been spending mornings photographing the sunrise, which cuts into computer time, and my body is still on west coast time so I'm exhausted by 9 p.m. here. Also, as I worked on this post I noticed the photo uploading is dragging ass to spite the good wifi connection.)
Our first full day in Kauai began
slowly. My internal clock was still on west coast time, so I woke up
shortly after 7 am local time feeling as though I slept in past 9. I
heard the birds calling just after sunrise so I rolled out of bed,
grabbed the 300mm, and wandered around the grounds a bit.
Kolea – Pacific Golden Plover. These
guys are everywhere in the complex and not particularly shy around
people.
After a slow start, and a little more
unpacking, we decided to head out to find breakfast. We drove into
Kapa'a and found a popular looking place right on the main road,
Kountry Kitchen. Though their menu was huge, the choices for me were
limited to fresh fruit and toast. (The waitress was kind enough to
bring me the bread package so I could read the ingredients myself, so
she got extra points from me for that.)
After breakfast we headed back towards
the condo. We found a natural food store across the street and
stopped in to pick up some coffee and snacks for the room. Back at
the condo, D was still feeling the lack of sleep so he laid down
while G and I headed to the pool. The pool here is a “lazy river”
- which is narrow but long and winding. I greatly prefer it over a
regular rectangular pool... I'm really a poor swimmer so a slow
doggy-paddle from one end to the other of this place is a pleasant
and interesting workout. The layout also means the chairs around
the pool are tucked in nooks and crannies, so even when there are a
lot of people by the pool, all the seating is pretty private. The
pool has several waterfalls (which feel GREAT on the shoulders!), one
cave, and two waterslides. After a couple hours, D came and joined
us at the pool, and G and I tried the waterslides. That was my first
time on a waterslide ever!
With the late breakfast and pool time,
we decided to just snack for lunch and head out for an earlier
dinner. We only have two pre-determined reservations for this trip,
and one of them was the luau Friday night (we figured we would hit
the culture ground running right at the beginning of the trip)
Normally people book the buffet dinner, however buffets are such a
problem for me that we opted to just book the show and have dinner
on our own on the way there.
We ran into some traffic on the way out
of the complex, and got a little lost on the way to the restaurant
(the rental car's nav system jumps the gun on telling us when to
turn) but eventually we made our way to Duke's Canoe Club at the
Marriott in Lihue.
First impression: The grounds of the
Marriott are STUNNING. I had no time for pictures as we were running
late, but the magnitude of these gardens are beyond anything I've
ever seen. This gives me high hopes for the botanical gardens on the
island!
Our waiter was extremely helpful in
steering me towards food that I could eat – it seems that mayo is a
popular ingredient in sauces here, so he had the kitchen put together
a simply grilled piece of fish for me. It is a white fish called
monchong, which I highly recommend if you can find it. They brought
me a wine/butter sauce on the side, but it was entirely
unnecessary... just plain grilled with salt and pepper was plenty of
flavor with this fish.
After dinner, we headed up the road a
couple miles to the Luau Kalamaku. It was after dark when we
arrived, however I understand the grounds at this place are
incredible so it is on our list of places to visit and wander during
daylight hours.
I'd booked us with premium seating so
that I could get photos of the show.
G at the table with her fruit punch... the blue rock behind her is the stage.
I should pause here a moment and
mention... the inspiration of this vacation is to celebrate my 40th
birthday, though we had to book the trip ahead of my actual birthday
due to the timing of G's school vacations. For years I have been
saying that I wanted to spend my birthday out in nature taking
pictures, so what better place to go than the Garden Island? This in
and of itself is a grand way to celebrate, but D went even further
and surprised me by upgrading my photography gear a week before our
trip. He spent a great deal of time researching the features of
camera bodies and lenses, and I was astonished when a brand new
Pentax K-3 and 31mm f/1.8 lens arrived at the doorstep for me. I had
a little bit of time prior to the trip to familiarize myself with the
new gear, and now am diving head-first into shooting.
Back to the luau... this was my first
time really using the 31mm. This is the fastest lens I've ever
owned, and in addition to the low-light capabilities, this puppy is
just the clearest thing I've ever shot with. I'm not sure what kind
of magical glass they used, but quality is impressing me immensely.
Here are just a few of the shots I took
during the luau show:
The fence is up for safety... I'm contemplating how long it will take me to photoshop that out.
G and I had a photo op with a few of the performers.
After the show we headed back to the
condo, where my west-coast-time-zone brain fell promptly asleep.
Gorgeous! The resolution on the low light images is phenomenal. Worth the time to 'shop the fence out, I think.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the gardens, et al.!!
Cheers,
K2