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.
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