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.

Friday January 1st

To spite my late night, I did wake up early enough on New Year's Day to wander down to the beach for a photo of the first sunrise of 2016

We had a slow morning of waking and breakfast in the room, then gathered up our beach and snorkel gear with a plan to snorkel up near Ke'e Beach on the north end.  It was a nice drive up the coast, and we stopped at a viewpoint over the taro fields near Hanalei.

I had attempted here to do long (30 second) exposures using the ND filters.  I discovered that flat grey clouds on a flat grey sky do not make for a very interesting long exposure, as there is not enough contrast to show the cloud movement, it just looks like gray sky.  In addition to that, my longer exposures had a terrible amount of very sharp looking lint showing up from the filters.  I later figured out that the lint was showing up due to my choice to shoot at f/22... whereas shooting at f/8 renders most of the lint so blurry that it doesn't show up in the shot.  That may not make sense to many people, but I'm making a note of it here for my own reference in the future, and I might do a longer blog post with photo examples later in my regular blog.

On to lunch!  As we arrived in the town of Hanalei, a rain shower passed through the area so we ducked into a parking lot and looked around for a place to eat lunch.  We were parked right outside a place called Hanalei Gourmet, so we decided to give that a go.

Their mai tai was a little sweet, but tasty with the extra lime.

I had the nachos with grilled marlin, which sounds odd but was quite tasty and added a bit of "healthy" to an otherwise unhealthy lunch choice.  Also, jalapenos are my favorite.

After lunch, we spent a little time in the surf shops adjacent to the restaurant.  I found a pair of flip-flops (called "slippas" on the island) which actually had enough arch support that I could wear them without hurting my right toes, so I picked those up for future beach-going.  Once we felt our food was digested enough, we continued down to the end of the road for Ke'e Beach.

We passed by the Maniholo dry cave, which had heavy machinery moving boulders just outside of it, while the interior was filled with people wandering about.  I commented on how I was happy we managed to get the shots of it that we did last year while it was empty.  This was clearly a busy time of year to be in any "tourist" spot on the island... the parking lots were all filled to the brim, and the sides of the road leading up to the beach were covered in parked cars.  We managed to get a spot decently close to the beach entrance, pulled our chairs out of the back, and walked up the road to the lifeguard stand... where we discovered that the swimming and snorkeling areas were closed due to dangerously high tides.  It was very windy and the skies were threatening additional bouts of rain, and G really wanted to play IN the water, not just sit in sand.  I thought perhaps there would be interesting photo opportunities, however the ironwood tree trunks - which had made for very interesting subjects last year - were covered with sand, and everyone coming down from the Kalalau Trail looked miserably muddy, and most were injured, so we decided we would pack it in and find another beach.

On our way out, though, we drove over the bridge which spans a small creek adjacent to a botanical garden.  D and I decided this would be a great spot to practice long exposures.  G opted to sit in the car and play on her phone rather than come out for photos, so we parked next to the creek and D and I made our way down onto the boulders with tripods and cameras in hand.

Here is where I made the mistake of raising the center post of my tripod, rather than setting the legs longer for a more stable stance.  I realized my tripod was a little off kilter, so I kept my left arm out to catch it just in case it tipped during the shot.  As I'd feared, the tripod did begin to tip, but rather than wrap my left arm around it (as I had planned) I instinctively also nabbed the post with my right hand, which had been holding the remote until I opened my hand to grab the tripod, at which point I chucked the remote into the drink.  I believe my exact words were, "SHIT!"  D, for his part, did try to dig around for the remote, but it landed right between two large boulders in fast moving water.  Thankfully it is entirely replaceable, and we did have a second (slightly smaller and more difficult to deal with) remote that we were able to share for the rest of the shooting.  But lesson learned, set the tripod legs out and tether the damned remote.

I have since ordered two replacement remotes, just in case.

I finished up my creek shooting and headed back to the car, where G had discovered several red-crested cardinals on the hill next to where we had parked.  I pulled out my zoom to grab a few shots.

From here we wandered up the road looking for a beach.  We decided to stop off at this stretch of sand where we'd spent some time last year... there is a creek that runs out to the ocean on the left side which seemed to give a decently protected entrance into the water to at least wade a bit and/or float around without worrying about the extreme waves crashing on the main beach.  Here, D tried to give G some pointers on the timing of using a boogie board

I had entered the water briefly, but the water was cold and the wind was high so I opted to just enjoy the warmth of the sun and sand.

Now that I'm home, I'm able to look up the name of this otherwise unlabeled beach... it turns out it was Lumaha'i Beach, which is one of the least safe beaches on the island in terms of swimming (due to it being completely unprotected by reef or cliff)  but it is one of the most beautiful beaches to look at.  Also, this was the shooting location for "South Pacific", so that's pretty cool.  Visually it was one of my favorite beaches to visit, though the surf was so high that day that the mist coming off the waves looked like smoke blowing over the beach.  Due to the salty air, I left my big camera in the car that day.  But I did shoot this video of the waves...

On the way back home, as we climbed the hill over Hanalei, I noticed some amazing sunbeams shooting through the clouds, so we stopped on a turn-out to grab some photos.

After such a long day of misadventures, we all felt salty and sticky and none of us wanted to be in a restaurant, so we ordered pizza from Bobby V's just outside the resort and settled in for a movie-and-pizza night.  Ironically, we watched "A Walk in the Woods".