January 4th... the last day for real...

On our last morning on the island, D and I woke early, made some coffee, and headed out in the pre-dawn for some photo opportunities.

I finally grabbed a shot of one of those gigantic frogs... the random slipper is in the frame as a size reference.  That is a man's slipper, so now you have an idea of the size of these monster frogs.

Pre-dawn sky with crescent moon.

Long exposure sunrise.

The sun begins to creep over the landscape, lighting up the Sleeping Giant.

We spent the morning in the room, I began to sort through our stuff and separate out what was staying in storage and what was coming home with us.  We still wanted to pick up a few souvenirs, so we went across the street to Safeway and the ABC Store to get our final items and gifts for people, as well as some basics that we wanted to store in the condo for our next trip.  For lunch, I was craving some decently sized fish tacos, so we headed into Kapa'a and decided to give Paco's Tacos a try.

I was a little concerned about this place because they do offer breakfast all day, which means a lot of eggs in the kitchen, and they use one big griddle to cook the food.  However there were no other customers at the time, and the chef said he would cook my fish on the furthest end of the griddle, (eggs are always kept separate anyway, but he ensured me my food would be the furthest from anyplace that egg might have ever touched)
We all shared some chips and salsa while we waited for our lunches.

I had the 3 taco special, each taco came with a generous filet of grilled ono along with fresh shredded cabbage - salsa and lime was available on the side.  Lunch tasted great, but due to the egg situation I would only feel comfortable eating here if there aren't any other customers around to potentially order eggy foods.  (As an aside, Tiki Tacos uses separate pans for their fish, so I'm much safer eating there in the future.  They are also a little closer to the condo, putting them just about within walking distance)

When we arrived back at the condo, G and I spent some time in the pool enjoying the warm day and relatively empty pool area.  After some swimming and a bit of time in the hot tub (to soak my sore foot) I showered up and wandered the grounds with my camera.  My intention had been to capture some of the foliage, however the low tide caught my attention.  The tide was so low off the beach that the reef - normally covered by several feet of ocean - was completely revealed to the point of being able to walk on it and poke at the tide pools.  The low tide also created a small, protected, sandy pool area for wading, so D got G out of the pool to come down to the beach and play in the ocean.  Meanwhile, I wandered with my camera and enjoyed the rare view of the ocean floor.

A spear fisherman taking advantage of the low tide

He came ashore with several octopi, G was fascinated by them and even reached out to pet one.  It suctioned to her finger for a few moments.

On the way back to the room, I caught a photo of this tree because it looks like a dragon head to me.

Since I had already showered, I started packing for our flight home while D and G showered up and got ready for dinner.  The plan had been to have dinner onsite, starting at 5:30.  We figured we'd be done eating around 6:30 and have plenty of time to pack before we needed to leave by 9.  Then we started chatting with our waiter, Henry, who had been so pleasant last year (and is also originally from the Bay Area, and has a sister in Capitola, so of course we had a lot of discussion about the old Monterey Bay Area)

we had a lovely table outside, with a direct view of the ocean

Our last dinner on the island... for this trip.

Henry treated us to a little appetizer made from shaved carrot, mashed okinawa sweet potato, a bit of persimmon, and I think it was onion blooms on top?  It was a very interesting mix of flavors.

D and I shared this appetizer of sashimi bruchetta, which is basically poke on toasted bread.  This was our first official taste of a poke... it was delicious... I can't wait to try more next time.

I ordered the beets-5-ways salad again, along with the grilled catch of the day, which was mahi mahi.

Between the multiple courses, the drinks, and the conversation, our dinner lasted until nearly 7:45.  We had a truly mad-dash scramble to pack everything... and we are still confused as to how it is we could leave so much gear behind (fins, snorkels, D's hiking shoes, masks) and yet have *less* room in the luggage.  We really didn't buy that much stuff... but we eventually managed to wedge all our stuff into our baggage, load it into the car, and hit the road for the airport.  Just as we began to drive out, it began to rain.
We seemed to be the last people of our flight to arrive at the airport, and after the getting through the confusing set of security lines (first scan your checked bags for fruit, then go to the other end of the lobby to check your bags and print boarding passes, then go back to the beginning for the security check, then be screened for fruit on your carry-ons on your way to the gate) we parked ourselves in front of a fan by the door to the plane.  Our flight was delayed in boarding due to the crew being stuck in a broken down van, but they eventually arrived, we boarded and we even took off on time.

Though it was an overnight flight, I hardly slept on the plane.  It felt like every joint in my body was swelling, and my left knee began to throb like crazy (probably due to the uncomfortable way I was seated, and because my leg dangles off the seat due to me being so darned short)  So I stayed up and watched "Martian", and dozed for maybe half an hour before we began our landing.  We arrived in Seattle at dawn, but the day was so heavily foggy and misty that it looked like 5 p.m. all day, which combined with the lack of sleep really left me feeling out of sorts. 

But we are home safe, with lots of notes to take for next time... like...

find out where we can find beach reports, not just weather reports

plan ahead to have more meals at the condo - while some things (like milk) cost more than the mainland, all kinds of fish are incredibly well priced in the markets 

Make several stops if we're going to the canyon, to avoid the carsicky feelings of being on a curvy road for 2 hours.

wash the inside of your snorkel mask with toothpaste before using it, it helps prevent fogging

Find some prepacked poke that has ingredients listed (there seems to be poke counters in almost every grocery store)

Tiki Tacos for the win!

Lighten up the camera gear load... maybe get a lighter bag that also has more convenient access

find out if there are hiking trail condition reports

tether the remote to the tripod so you don't chuck it into the river

long exposures with ND filter should be no higher than f/10 to avoid dust spots showing from the filters

and the big one... start packing the day before you need to leave for the airport, because it WILL take longer than 2 hours, and though the airport is smaller, the multiple security checkpoints take longer, so early arrival is important.

Sunday January 3rd... the last full day and night

Having had a few days with relatively late starts out the door, we decided to make sure our last full day would be enjoyed to the fullest, so we gathered our snorkel gear the night before and woke up early for a drive down to Poipu.  Once again, the forecast had called for clear blue skies, and once again it was wrong... we drove south under heavy clouds, just hoping to avoid rain.  When we arrived at the parking lot in Poipu we found very few cars in the lot, and we were all feeling a little hungry anyway, so we headed down the road to a restaurant named Red Salt, located inside one of the hotels on the beach.  D and G enjoyed their eggy breakfast dishes while I stuck with the standard oatmeal.  At the hotel, the oatmeal is part of their continental breakfast bar, so I added some fresh island fruits to my plate.

I don't generally prefer papaya, but it is quite a lot tastier with a little lime on it!

After a relaxed breakfast, we drove back down the road to the beach parking lot and set ourselves up above the tide line.

Still no bright sunshine, but the temperature was mid-70s and the cloud cover kept us from frying, so no complaints!

G and I headed to the more protected side of the lagoon for some snorkeling in relatively calm waters.  We found the water to be MUCH clearer than Lydgate had been earlier in the week... probably due to the fact that this area is all rock under the surface, so no sand is kicked up by waves, however foot protection is required to prevent injury.  G and I stuck with watershoes for this.

G giving me directions underwater

Moorish Idols

Moorish Idols and Convict Tangs

Christmas Wrasse

We encountered several convict tangs

The prize of our snorkel adventure!  The humuhumunukunukuapuaa!  The state fish of Hawaii!

This appears to be some kind of goatfish or catfish, although I can't find an exact match with these markings online.  

I'm also unable to find a direct match on these guys, they appear to be freckled hawfish, though the sports are a little short.

This is another type of humuhumu... a picasso triggerfish.  This is probably my favorite as far as markings.

"That way!"

Raccoon Butterfly Fish

Orange spine unicornfish

Moorish Idols, Convict Tangs, and a Saddle Wrasse

After a bit of snorkeling with G, D wanted to try the deeper and slightly rougher side of the beach.  G opted out due to the waves, but I made an attempt to head out.  The water was less clear on this side, due to the sandier beach entrance, and the depth.  It was largely the same kinds of fish, just larger versions of them.  One of the first things I saw was an eel, which I was unable to photograph, but it did inspire D to swim to deeper water, and it cemented G's decision to stay on land.

There are actually three fish in this photo - can you spot them all?

Large moorish idols hanging out around a particularly interesting rock

Spotted Boxfish - so cute!

An even larger Humuhumunukunukuapuaa!  

The waves picked up while we were out, which I was surprisingly OK with as far as floating along with the flow of water, but then I realized we needed to swim against the current in order to get back to the sandy side of the beach where we'd entered (since I didn't want to exit near the rocks for fear of hitting one with the wave movements) so when I felt sufficiently waterlogged, I grabbed a quick vido of the moorish idols hanging around their rock, then turned back for the difficult kick back to shore.



Sorry if you get queasy from the movement, I was bobbing on the surface.  I was actually quite entertained by watching the idols being swept back and forth by the same currents pushing me around... it was quite peaceful until I was pushed too close to the shallower reef.

The swim back to the sandy area was tiring, and we didn't quite feel like packing up to leave the beach just yet, so D and I decided to find a market for snacks.  We were seated on the beach right near the entrance to the Marriott, so we started there, finding a small market within the grounds which had a nice variety of drinks and snacks to pick from.  The pre-made lunch selections were lacking, however, so after we dropped the drinks off at our beach site, we walked the other direction to a deli down the street.

Brennecke's is both a deli/shave ice stand, and a full service restaurant upstairs.  We didn't feel like being in a restaurant, so we popped into the deli to order some sandwiches and a hot dog for G.  I usually have trouble ordering sandwiches due to the problems with cross-contamination of condiments, but I only have to briefly explain my allergies to the staff, and they took it upon themselves to get a clean cutting board, fresh loaf of bread, fresh pack of ham, and fresh cheese from the chill, AND the guy stayed on the opposite side of the kitchen (technically the shave-ice service side) to make my sandwich, wrap it separately, and bag it to keep it separate from everything else in the kitchen.  I think of all the care the folks on the island have taken with my allergies, this impressed me the most.

We enjoyed our picnic lunch on the beach while watching people paddle board and surf the waves.  While we were gone, G had spotted some humpback whales breaching really close to shore.  We missed that show, but after about 10 minutes of eating, we started seeing spouts further offshore, and were treated to a show of whales slapping their fins and breaching some distance off.  We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach, and as the sun came out, the beach gradually filled with people.  The surf was also rising, so we decided to bag the idea of any further snorkeling, and instead headed into the Poipu shopping area to once again seek out our own beach towels.  (Up to this point we had been using the condo's pool towels on our beach adventures)  Most of the towels were either highly overpriced, or decently priced but felt like tissue paper, or were simply rather ugly.  Having lived in Santa Cruz, our experience was that surf shops would carry a large variety of large, lovely beach towels, so we were really confused by the lack of towels on Kauai.  I began to wonder if it was possibly because Santa Cruz is cold water, and Kauai is warm.  With a quick google search, we found discussion boards where people recommend the thinner towels on Kauai due to the high humidity, because thicker towels will stay damp "forever".  So the weather and conditions do have something to do with the lack of big beach towels, it seems.  For the most part, surfers I observed on the island seem to use a beach towel to dry off their face and that's about it... there isn't much of a need to bundle up like there is on the mainland.  As we drove past Lihue, I joked that "maybe we should just try Macy's at the mall.  They sell towels."  Sure enough, there a lovely line of Martha Stewart beach towels in the men's swimwear section, so we picked up a set there.  It only took 9 days of searching.

On our way back, we stopped off by the end of the Tree Tunnel road so that I could attempt to take a picture.  I also grabbed a shot of these vines, though I don't think the photo does the scale justice.

Due to traffic, it was very difficult to get a photo of the tree tunnel without cars in the shot, and nearly impossible to get a good framing of it.  The epic nature of this road can only be truly appreciated from the middle of the road, which is not safely possible during the day with heavy traffic.  Last year I took a shot by sticking the point-and-shoot out the car's sunroof, frankly I think that is a better composition.

Back to the condo, we cleaned up and debated about dinner choices.  None of us were feeling very picky, and D and I were both kind of sushi'd out by now, so we decided to go across the street to Lemongrass.  This is a restaurant that we had presumed was Thai, based on the name and decor, so we had previously just discounted it as an option.  I looked at the menu online, however, and discovered that they are "Asian fusion", so they have curries, but they also have ribs, pork, and pasta. We were able to get a table almost immediately, and the waiter took great care in checking ingredients for me so that I could order a safe dinner.  I had the grilled catch of the day, which was mahi mahi, over jasmine rice with veggies and a citrus/papaya sauce.  It was quite good.

G was very happy with her coconut shrimp.

The portions were great, the service was prompt, the food was tasty, and they had live music... I have no idea why the average Yelp review is only 3 stars currently, but D added a review to try to help boost their ratings.  I think they deserve it.

It had been my intention to begin packing after dinner, but I did little more than run some laundry and start to shuffle a few items around before I decided to head to bed.

Saturday January 2nd

Our resort has a spa near the front entrance, and after much shopping around in Kapa'a for bike rentals, we remembered that the on-site spa had advertised rental bikes in the past.  So in the afternoon of the 1st we called down to reserve a few bikes for us to use the next day.  It turned out to not only be one of the least expensive options, but also the most convenient, as we were able to specifically reserve a taller bike for D to use.

The Kapa'a Bike Path is a work-in-progress.  So far there are about 7 miles of paved path completed, with more to come in the near future.  Our resort is located nearly in the center of the path... about a 2.7 mile path leading south to Lydgate, and a 4.1 mile path leading north along the coast.  This morning we opted for the path north, which we picked up about a half mile north of the resort.  Almost all of the rental bikes for rent in town are Cruiser style, with either no gears or a maximum of 3.  The spa rents out the no-gear style of cruiser, which worked just fine for us as the path only has very minimal hills to climb.

Stopping at a viewpoint a few miles into the ride.  It did take me a while to re-learn how to use foot brakes.

The view as we rode back south to the condo... it was a cloudy morning, which made for a pleasant riding temperature.

Back at the condo, we parked our bikes right on our lanai and headed over to Oasis on the Beach for a quick lunch.

They do make one of the best mai tais on the island, however a post-bike-ride-mai-tai can make one rather sleepy.

These are nachos made with okinawa sweet potatoes and melted grueyer cheese.  Very tasty!

My lunch of fish tacos and fries - grilled ono this time. While they were quite tasty, they portions are just not the same as some of the other taco stands in town.

With the combination of exercise, sun, and fresh air... and mai tais... D and I were both feeling sleepy after lunch so we all went back to the condo for a brief nap.  Once awake and refreshed, we returned the rental bikes, gathered up our camera gear, and headed out to find some photo opportunities.  We decided to give Smith's Family Botanical Gardens a try, as they are the closest garden to the condo, they are the least expensive (at $6.00 a person), and they are one of the few gardens that doesn't require a reservation or guided tour situation.  Unfortunately we only had an hour to spend on the grounds... I had thought they would stay open longer, but I guess they close the gardens and clear everyone out before re-opening the gates for their luau nights?  We made the most of our time, however... and quickly discovered that not only is the place teeming with birds of all kinds, but you can purchase cracked corn at the front gate to feed the birds.  

And as soon as the birds see the bag of corn in your hand, they come running.

This peacock actually walked up behind D and nearly grabbed the bag of corn right out of his hand.  

Will pose for corn.

This bird was *not* interested in corn, and in fact retreated into the marsh as I approached with my zoom lens.  He is an 'Alae 'ula, an endemic and endangered species numbering in the low 100's on the island.  This is a HUGE find for my semi-organized birding life list.

While I'm photographing rare birds, G is having her Disney Princess moment feeding doves.

Smith's Tropical Paradise offers some lovely landscape views

While the Nenes are also endemic and endangered, they are most definitely not shy.

I sat on the ground and this Nene came so close to me that I couldn't get his little face in focus.  He had the cutest little honk!

I tossed some corn a distance away so that I could focus on the Nene.

Another Disney Princess moment for G, this time feeding Nenes.

Sleeping Giant with the Edge 80 optic

This duck is not in my birding book, but as best as I can tell it is a domesticated Muscovy Duck, and must be a "pet" of the gardens (similar to the peafowl)

G and I managed to follow the path all the way around the gardens, though we ended up at the far end right at closing time, so we were pressed for photos.

I stopped to quickly get a shot of these flowers, which remind me of fireworks.

Young banana trees in the fruit garden area.

Taro

The canopy was amazing, I wish I'd had more time to capture the majesty of it all.  Perhaps next time.

D had made reservations for us to have dinner in downtown Kapa'a, amidst the scheduled arts and crafts festival which takes place on the first Saturday of every month.  We arrived a bit ahead of our reservation, which gave me just enough time to do a little shopping in the local fabric store, Vicky's Fabrics, before walking down the street to Bushido Sushi for dinner.

D and I shared a plate of nigiri before dinner, as well as a "small" order of edemame (which was *still* too much edemame)

My main course was the grilled mahi mahi, a generous portion which I shared with G.

After dinner we enjoyed meandering around the art walk, which included many craft booths, and a whole street blocked off for food booths.

I meant to go back and get a frozen banana from this cart, but became too side tracked by all the booths.

I spent some time talking to a local photographer, who had been impressed by G's ability to name just about every tropical fish he had a photo of (thanks to her Wii scuba diving game)  I made a mental note of the typical viewpoint photos he had up for sale, as well as his creative cropping of some locations.  I realized that in a lot of my photos I had been attempting to fit the entire landscape into the frame, however there are plenty of beautiful compositions to be had on the island that did not necessarily have to include absolutely everything.  So for future reference, I should consider using my 50-135 zoom to compose some smaller but still lovely landscape images.

After the art walk we made our way back to the room where we relaxed with a couple of movies in the background while I backed up and edited a few photos.