Hawaii Diary: Double Feature

This post will combine Friday and Saturday on Kauai, so then I can say I'm finally done. Yay!

Photo: Fire Horse Leo

Friday

Friday morning we went to Tunnels Beach to do some more snorkeling. The beach is a snorkeler's paradise, known for its varied and well-protected reefs that run right up to the edge of the shore. The scenery is fantastic and the underwater landscape didn't disappoint. I spent over two straight hours face down in the water, managing only a mild sunburn. In addition to scores and scores of colorful reef fish, I believe I saw a barracuda, although it was not very large.

In the afternoon we went back to Limahuli Garden, which is one of several gardens and preserves in Hawaii operated by the National Tropical Botanical Garden. The organization is dedicated to preserving rare and endangered plants on the islands, as well as the historical sites where they are located. The Limahuli Preserve area is believed to be one of the earliest settlements by the Polynesians on Kauai, with some terrace walls dated to at least 700 years ago. The Garden features a self-guided tour with a very informative booklet, and winds through the historical taro terraces used in ancient times, a "plantation-era" garden with plants introduced in the last 250 years, a native forest, and a landscaped area with views up and down the valley. By the time we arrived, the afternoon had turned very gloomy. We managed to get through most of the tour before it started raining, but the light was very annoying for photography.

We then stalled for a while in Hanalei Town, doing a little shopping and grabbing a beer while watching the Red Sox lose in the ALDS. We had reservations for the Mediterranean Gourmet at the Hanalei Colony Resort, and were hoping it would clear up in time for some good sunset views during dinner. Didn't happen. The meal was pretty good but certainly not in the same league as Merriman's, and we felt we liked the Lighthouse Bistro (Sunday night) better, even though Frommer's gave the Lighthouse Bistro one star to the Mediterranean's two. Different tastes, I guess.

Saturday

We had to be out of our condo by 10AM, but our flight didn't leave until 9PM. There is basically no way to get back to the East Coast without taking one red-eye flight, so we decided we may as well do it on Saturday night and get the extra day in Hawaii. We wanted to play some golf on our vacation.

Golf is known for being an expensive sport, and resort golf even more so. There are only a handful of courses on Kaua`i, and several were closed for renovation when we were there, so the top ones that were still open were asking for almost $200 per round in the mornings and $125 in the afternoons. Throw in $50 for club rental (surely not a coincidence that this is also the round-trip cost for your extra bag on the plane), and you are talking some serious green. Not the putting kind.

The Princeville Golf Club, just down the road from our condo, is known for being a world-class design, but comments on the web made it sound like it was in terrible condition (for the price), insanely hard for mid-to-high handicappers and nearly impossible for amateur women (due to long tee shots), so we looked for alternatives. The Poipu Bay Golf Course has a similar pedigree (even hosting an off-season PGA event for many years, until Tiger won it four or five years in a row, and presumably made off with all the island's women), and was purportedly much more playable, so we thought we'd go there instead. Problem: it's back in Poipu, on the other side of the island. Our clever plan was to play on Saturday before we left, since the airport is down that way anyways. We are so smrt!

This plan backfired and so the day was almost a total bust.

On our way to the course, it started pouring rain again, and on top of that (or because of that) the traffic was awful awful awful, taking at least 30 minutes longer than expected to get 2/3 of the way there. We had a 12:30 tee time, and it was already 11:30 when we had about 15 minutes left to our destination, and we had to sign in, get clubs, and hope it's not raining in Poipu. We decided, sadly, that this had too good a chance to be a bad way to spend $350, and called to cancel the tee time. No problem for them, but no golf for us.

We ended up in Poipu anyways because Edith really REALLY wanted to try a Puka Dog, which is much tastier than it sounds. Remember that Puka means "hole" in Hawaiian, so it's basically a giant hot dog stuffed inside a bun via a hole in the end, along with some tasty sauce of your choice. There was also a big craft fair going on in town that afternoon, so we picked up a few Christmas presents, but we still had 6 or 7 hours to burn before we had to get to the airport.

Next stop: The Kauai Museum in Lihue, which was interesting enough to pass the time (I like museums, I read EVERYTHING, much to my family's chagrin) but not very large. There were two rotating exhibits, one on life during WWII for the Japanese-Americans on the island, and one on the history of Kauai's sugar plantations. They also had some permanent exhibits featuring local art, textiles, and ancient hawaiian artifacts, and other miscellany. In the OTHER BUILDING, which did not become evident to us until 30 minutes before they closed (at 4PM), was a substantial exhibit on the geography, natural and political history of the island. We only got to run through this room before they kicked us out. Boo!

Now with a little over 3.5 hours left to kill, we went back to the beach in Wailua and watched some kids play in the surf for a while. Then we saw something nearby on the map labeled "Keahua Arboretum" and drove up there. We got to what looked like the entrance, but a stream crossing was flooding the road, so we had to stop there. It started raining again and we finally just gave up and went to the bar for dinner. It was packed with University of Hawaii fans, watching the Warriors get trounced by Fresno State in a football game.

So, Saturday was kind of a failure, but at least our plane trip back was completely uneventful. We had a wonderful time and would desperately like to go back sometime, maybe staying in Poipu instead, and maybe with the grandparents so we can get some free babysitting. :) And play some golf with Grandpa Fisk.

Hawaii Diary: Tubing the Ditch

Photo: Hawai`i Magazine

I neglected to mention that on Monday, we sat through the morning group "orientation" at the condo complex, the purpose of which was to have the Activities SaleswomanDirector set us up on one or more island activities or tours. They did have a wide range of stuff available to meet all ages and tastes, from the "Kauai Movie Set Locations Tour" to the Lihue Community Theater's (or similar) presentation of South Pacific to Luaus to scuba lessons and boat tours. Everything also seemed more expensive than it should have been, except for the helicopter tour they were flogging which was ridiculously overpriced. ($250 a person? Really? Yeah it leaves from nearby Princeville instead of Lihue, almost an hour away, but still. We later saw someone in a shopping center kiosk offering one from Lihue for $109.)

We knew we were planning to hike on the Na Pali coast later in the week, but everyone said to take a boat or helicopter ride as well, so we tried to get onto a boat tour. Unfortunately, none of the boat operators had any interest in taking a pregnant woman, so we decided to try something else that sounded unique and wasn't too expensive: Tubing the Ditch.

For most of the 20th century, Kaua`i's biggest industry was sugar farming, with plantations covering vast swaths of the lowlands on the island. Many plantations dug irrigation ditches to route water coming off Mount Wai`ale`ale (the wettest spot on earth) to their farmlands. The last sugar plantation closed down in the early 2000s, but many of the ditches remained. One company, Kauai Backcountry Adventures, provides a tubing adventure down one stretch of the canal on Lihue Plantation.

Our adventure was booked for Thursday afternoon, so after snorkeling at `Anini Beach in the morning, we drove down to Hanama`ulu (near the Lihue airport), to the KBA headquarters. After signing some waivers and picking up some gloves and helmet/headlamps, we climbed into some WWII-era all-terrain Pinzgauer personnel carriers for the trek to the canal. Along the way, the friendly tour guides explained the history of the local plantations and how this plantation was now owned by Steve Case of AOL fame, a Hawaii native and the island's largest landowner. We also stopped at a photo op overlooking Wai`ale`ale Crater, but I didn't bring my camera since I didn't know whether or how I would store it while tubing.

After the 15 or 20 minute drive, we finally got to the tube launch. The canal water was chilly ("refreshing") but we got used to it in a few minutes. The water meanders slowly for several miles, through the hand-dug ditch surrounded by beautiful forests. Along the way, the canal passes through five tunnels (also dug by hand), thus the need for helmets and lights. We actually spent more time in the tunnels than outside! In the last tunnel, the guides asked people to turn off all their lights so that they can tell some ghost stories. After the tubing trip was (too quickly) over, we were brought to a swimming hole for a picnic lunch. A few people went swimming (on our day the swimming hole water was unusually clean, based on what I've read in other Internet reviews), but most people just ate and chatted with the other tubers. Finally we piled back in the Pinzgauers for the trip back to HQ.

This was a really fun experience, the only problem (if it really is one) was that the actual tubing is only about an hour long, and passes too quickly. A guide said they were working on trying to find a way to extend it, but further tunnels were too small and it would take a while. Regardless, we recommend the trip for anyone who wants to do something relaxing and different on one afternoon.

Hawaii Diary: Kalalau Trail

Yes, I am still working on this project.

Wednesday was going to be an "off day", but it was the first day in a week that didn't have any rain in the forecast, so we decided to change our plans and hike the Kalalau Trail and Hanakapi`ai Falls.

The Kalalau Trail is a hiking trail that hugs the cliffs of the Na Pali Coastline, typically a couple hundred feet above sea level (when not crossing a stream or something). It runs from Ke`e Beach park at the north "end of the road" and runs southwest for 11 miles to Kalalau Beach, which we saw from above on the previous day. The state of Hawaii requires that you get a permit to go past Hanakapi`ai Beach (mile 2 of 11), both to prevent overuse and to have an idea of who is on the rugged and remote trail in the event of some kind of emergency. We were just on a day hike to Hanakapi`ai Falls, so this was no problem.

The first two miles are heavily used by all kinds of hikers, from flip-flop wearing beach visitors, to day hikers, to overnight campers. We saw dozens and dozens of people trying to pick their way along the very muddy trail either in pretty inappropriate footwear, or trying to keep their formerly white sneakers from getting too messy. It was worth dragging our hiking boots from home just for this trail.

Hanakapi`ai Beach, nestled between two cliffs at the mouth of Hanakapi`ai Stream, is a beautiful rest stop at about mile 2 of the Kalalau Trail. In the winter the beach is mostly gone due to heavy wave action, but in October, it was wide and sandy. We stopped here for lunch and took some pictures. We then ventured another two miles inland, up Hanakapi`ai Stream, to reach Hanakapi`ai Falls. The path was surrounded by guava trees for most of the length, and many of the trees had dropped a prolific bounty of fruit -- meaning the whole trip reeked of fermented guava. While this actually sounds kind of interesting to me, the smell can be kind of overwhelming, especially if you have a hypersensitive pregnancy nose. Or so I'm told.

Hanakapi`ai Falls, er, falls over 120 feet[1] into a large pool amid a lush green amphitheater. The weather had been pretty much perfect all day, but when we got to the falls, it was cloudy and started sprinkling. We watched a few groups of people swim around the pool before heading back.

On the return trip we took note of some evidence of when the valley was settled by natives. Aside from the guava trees which were introduced, there were several stands of bamboo along the trail, and unfortunately many hikers had scribed their initials or other graffiti into the stems. We did see some dated from the early 90s. There was also the remnants of an old coffee operation, including an old coffee pulping machine that is used to remove the outer casings from the coffee cherries.

The rest of the return trip was uneventful, although it was hot and we sort of ran out of water on the last 2-mile leg. The hike is highly recommended -- just bring your boots. Our car was rudely parked in at the Ke`e beach overflow parking lot, but we managed to get it out with some careful maneuvering. Rumor also has it that breakins are frequent in this lot, but we had no problem.

Dinner was homemade BBQ chicken breasts at the condo. We didn't go out every night.

Lots more pictures here.

[1] "over 120 feet" == Technically correct, the best kind of correct. My detailed map/guide of northwestern Kaua`i says 120 feet. Other Internet "sources" say 300 feet or more. It seemed higher than 120 feet to me.

Brian's Photo Tips, Volume 1

When taking an arm's-length self-portrait, remember to zoom out first.

Hawaii Diary: Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon is one of Kauai's many natural wonders. Stretching for over 10 miles from north to south, and over 3500 feet deep, it's highly reminiscent of the Grand Canyon, just not as big. Waimea Canyon State Park lines the western edge of the canyon, and at the north end, Koke'e State Park stretches another 4 or 5 miles to the north and east, covering the plateau at the top of the Na Pali coastline ridge. Unfortunately, with the steep mountain range along the Na Pali Coast preventing direct travel by car, we had to nearly circumnavigate the island to get there -- a 2 hour drive (over 70 miles) just to travel 11 miles, as the crow flies.

Our plan was to drive to Koke'e State Park, stopping at the canyon overlooks on the way, and then hike one of two loop trails: one went out to the ocean (halfway down the Na Pali coastline) and back, and the other ventured into the Alaka'i Swamp, giving us a taste of a remote rainforest near the wettest spot on earth. We couldn't decide which we preferred. While the coast loop would certainly have better vistas, the Alaka'i Swamp had the potential to be a more unique experience.

The weather was looking pretty good as we made our way to the canyon mouth on the south end, although it got cloudier as we continued north. There are numerous overlooks along Waimea Canyon Drive as you ascend the western canyon wall, with incredible views. Sadly, my photos show much more haze than I remember, and I apparently need to learn how to better use my camera's panorama feature, since there are all kinds of weird light and perspective distortions going on in the series I took. Anyways, we stopped at 3 or 4 overlooks, but I was getting nervous since more and more clouds seemed to be rolling in. I knew, based on our experiences earlier in the week, that rain clouds were likely to start rolling in at any time in early afternooon. If we didn't get going, we weren't going to see anything on either of our planned hikes..

We made our way toward the end of the road, which is home to the Kalalau Beach Lookout and the trailhead for the swamp loop. The lookout was beautiful, it was sunny at the shoreline and and we were just under the cloud deck that formed as the moist ocean air was forced up the valley wall. You could actually watch this happening. As we proceeded to the trailhead for the Alaka`i Swamp loop, we ascended into the clouds and everything was completely socked in. The parking lot at the end was also completely full, and overflowing well down the road. We decided to turn around and take the coastal loop.

As we parked at the other trailhead and started down the trail, it continued to get more cloudy. It was clear that if we didn't hurry, we weren't going to see anything, and a hiker coming the other way told us it was clouding up fast. We booked down the 3 mile Awa`Awapuhi Trail in just over an hour, and got to the viewpoint with about 5 minutes to spare. We only just barely got to look down into the Nu`alolo Valley before our viewpoint was also completely fogged in. There was nobody else there, and it was really rather serene and tranquil -- except for the helicopters buzzing around us every 10 minutes. We ate our lunch as the mist enveloped us, while listening to the helicopters zooming in and out of the valleys below.

After lunch we decided to turn back to the car instead of completing the loop, since there was nothing to see in the fog anyways. Good thing, too, since it started pouring rain after about 15 minutes. The rain was off and on for most of the climb back, through the muggy rainforest. We got back to the car and decided to try going back to Waimea Canyon, hoping the weather would be better further south and inland.

Sure enough, it was, and we followed a combination of trails to a cliff overlook, and the top of Waipo'o Falls. After following a gravel road for a while, we used a combination of the Cliff, Black Pipe, and Canyon Trails, to get to the falls. The route is very interesting, with the first section through the woods and then the next session along the top of an open ledge, with excellent views of the canyon. These 800-foot falls are visible from many of the Waimea Canyon lookouts, but the only trail goes across the top. Before the stream makes its plunge over the falls, it wends through a lush and tropical garden full of ginger plants. The flowers and fragrances were lovely, even if the plants are considered invasive and are taking over the whole area. There is not much to see of the actual falls from the top, but there is a great view of an interesting natural rock formation on the shoulder of the Ka`ou ridge.

Since it wasn't obvious where to cross the stream, and it was going to be getting dark soon, we decided to head home. Rather than stopping for dinner on the way, we drove home first to get cleaned up. For dinner we tried Pau Hana Pizza in Kilauea, next door to the Lighthouse Bistro and recommended in several guidebooks. There were a couple of tables outside, but not much of a dining area, so we decided to get takeout and bring it back to the condo. The menu had some interesting flavor combinations, and the pizza was generally pretty good, but kind of expensive and not terribly memorable.

Reminder: Edith and Brian each have more photos and videos in their Flickr albums. There's no room for them all on the blog!

Hawaii Diary: Queen's Bath, Lighthouse, Waterfalls, Merriman's

We packed a whole bunch of random stuff into Monday.

Among the places suggested by the lady at the snorkel shop for first-timers was Queen's Bath, a tidal pool not far from our condo (not my photo -- borrowed from Flickr). Queen's Bath seems like a good place to get swept out to sea and drown in the winter, but in the summer at low tide, the pool is clear and calm. The snorkel lady described it as a "fishbowl", uninteresting for advanced snorkelers but an decent place to get started. The pool is down another steep dirt path that was very muddy, since it had been raining for a few days. When we arrived there was nobody in the pool, but a few people standing around it warily, wondering how to get down to the edge and whether to obey the numerous warning signs. Eventually one intrepid swimmer blazed the trail for the rest of the group.

Learning to snorkel is not hard. At first, it is easy to panic and hyperventilate a little bit, since you're not used to breathing with your face under water. However, once you get used to it, it feels pretty natural. The Queen's Bath was as advertised -- more or less a fish bowl. It's not very big, but there were several interesting species of fish, some of which were obviously used to interacting with people (you have to mind your fingers a bit).

We stayed there for maybe 90 minutes and went home to grill some hamburgers for lunch. Our friends A and C had strongly recommended Merriman's Restaurant on the big island for a fantastic 5-star dinner. We didn't have time to get to the restaurant while we were there, but I saw on their website that they had a new Kauai location, so we decided to try and go on Monday night. I called at lunchtime to make a reservation, and it was surprisingly easy, considering how popular the big island location was rumored to be. I asked for dinner for two at 7:30 and they said "sure, no problem."

We planned out a few things to do on the way there during the afternoon, since the Kauai location is in Poipu, on the south side of the island, an hour from our condo. First on the list was a return to the Kilauea Lighthouse, which was open until 4 PM. The lighthouse marks the northernmost point in Hawaii and was operational from 1913 to 1976, when it was replaced with an automatic beacon. It is part of the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, serving primarily as a bird sanctuary for a variety of land and sea birds. There are hundreds of birds, of at least a dozen different species, that regularly circle around the cove next ot the lighthouse, including boobies, albatrosses, shearwaters and nene.

We spent at least an hour at the lighthouse, including a ranger-led "tour" which consisted of walking over to the edge of the overlook and having an informal but very educational discussion about the various birds that nest nearby. There is also a small museum about the lighthouse, and several excellent views of the coastline.

After the lighthouse we stopped at the 'Opaeka'a Falls overlook, which was nice enough but not very exciting. Then we made our way to Wailua Falls overlook, which is several miles up a side road, through an old sugar plantation. You can get closer to these falls, and I thought it was a more scenic area than 'Opaeka'a Falls. There was also some very interesting sun/cloud formations in the west, as the sun started to set. Since we were reasonably well-dressed for dinner, we didn't try to make our way down to the base of the falls using the "illegal" path.

After we had our fill of the waterfalls, we continued to Poipu, but we were still at least an hour early for our 7:30 reservation. Our map referenced something called Spouting Horn Blowhole, and we went to check it out literally just as the sun was setting. The blowhole is kind of neat, spraying into the air with each large wave.

We still had a little bit of time to burn and we drove around the Poipu area, which is probably the biggest resort area on Kauai. It was surprising to see several large condo projects under construction (some in the very early stages), considering the real estate downturn. The whole area felt much more "commercial resorty", in the style of Hilton Head or Myrtle Beach, than the area around our condo in Princeville. It was not over the top, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. We found ourselves wishing there was a little more going on up on the north side.

We stalled for long enough that we felt we could go to the restaurant and have a cocktail at the bar before our reservation for dinner. Merriman's Poipu is in a brand new shopping malllifestyle center that is mostly vacant, but starting to fill in. The restaurant is on the second floor and you climb up a grand staircase to reach the maitre d' stand. It's 7 o'clock and we say we just want to have a cocktail at the bar, and they look kind of confused, but bring us over to the bar. As we walk over to the bar it's clear why they are confused -- the room is not more than one third full. After discussion with the bartender over a couple of excellent mai tai's (one real, one virgin -- all fresh-squeezed juice), he explains that they'd just opened three days ago.

Even though it was obvious that the staff was still learning the ins and outs of running a restaurant (we were seated near a waitstaff terminal, so we could see some stuff going on behind the scenes), they were doing well, and there were no problems at all. The wine list was extensive and the manager/sommelier (not sure which) was knowledgeable and helpful. The menu is designed around the idea that as many of the ingredients are sourced from the islands as possible, ideally from the same island as the restaurant. The bartender said that Peter Merriman was still working on his Kauai connections, but there was a ranch just a few miles away that was providing lamb and beef, for example.

Sadly, it's taken me so long to write these blog entries that I don't really remember what we ate, besides our entrees. We shared some kind of salad appetizer and then Edith had some braised beef, while I had a lamb dish that was so good that even Edith liked it. We also had a dessert that involved a cake(?) and some kind of homemade ice cream. I know that doesn't make the meal sound very exciting, but the food was all terrific and we had a great time. There are some sample menus on their website if you want to get an idea of the rest of the cuisine.

After that my designated driver drove us home. :-) Lucky for you, dear readers, the next few days are full of hiking excursions that will probably lend themselves to photos better than text.

Hawaii Diary: False Starts

Sunday we tried and failed to go to several different attractions around the north shore of Kauai, because they were all closed for various reasons. We did get a better feel for where things were, but nothing particularly notable happened. I am pretty sure I can still write over 500 words about it.

We started off Sunday wondering if we could find the nearest beach to our condo. There was no direct beach access from our condo area, and the nearest beach we saw mentioned in any guides or maps was Hideaways beach. We decided that we just wanted to walk and scope it out, rather than spend the morning there, but I don't remember why. It ended up being a 15 or 20 minute walk from our condo, and hard to find since the access was hidden at the end of a parking area within another condo complex. Only a "private beach access" sign gave any sign that it was there.

A steep and slippery walk down the cliff ended in a small picnic area, with a short dirt path down to the actual shoreline. It was an attractive and secluded beach with nice views, but it was hard to tell how good it would be for swimming. There were many rocks on near the shore, and it was hard to see whether there was a good reef for protection against waves. The view across Hanalei Bay was excellent, and there were some surfers way off in the distance.

After returning home and eating lunch, we tried to go to Limahuli Gardens, which is on the northwest corner of the island, near the end of the road. The road (Route 560) is mostly narrow and winding, with at least a half dozen one lane bridges between Hanalei and the end. It's only 7 miles and about 15 minutes to drive, but it feels longer. After finally getting to the gardens, we found out they were closed on Sundays. D'oh! Should have called first.

With that plan busted, we decided that maybe it would be a good time to get snorkel gear for the week. Several people had recommended that we try snorkeling, since it is easy, low-impact, relatively cheap, and very fun. The condo activities coordinator pointed us to the local adventure supply shop, with rates of around $25 per week. However, Edith found an ad in one of the activities guides that claimed to have rentals for $9 week. We were pretty sure this was a teaser offer, but after calling them and having the woman rattle off 4 different options, all of which sounded cheaper than $25, we decided to go down and talk to her. Only problem was that it was in Kapa`a, 30 minutes away including the island's worst traffic, but we figured we'd add the Kilauea Lighthouse onto the itinerary on the way home to make it worth it.

The $9 offer was indeed a teaser, it was for the really basic, K-mart quality package. After explaining all the different types and how to get started, she eventually talked us into getting one of their better packages, again for $25/week. After all of this discussion we went to the lighthouse... which was closed at 4PM. We took some pictures at the overlook, but more on the lighthouse in a future entry.

Just as well that the lighthouse was closed, since it started raining again and we had to retreat to the car. We drove down to `Anini Beach, which was recommended to us for learning to snorkel and decided to go back later in the week. We headed home and tried to figure out dinner.

Our choice was the Lighthouse Bistro in Kilauea. Some Internet reviews seem to be mixed, but Frommers gave this restaurant a good review, and we had a very good experience. I had fish for like the third time in 4 days (ginger crusted Ahi, I think) and Edith had the Bistro Chicken (chicken with mac-nut and panko crust, with mac-nut pesto). Both were tasty and nicely presented. They had music on another night when we were in the same shopping plaza. We recommend it.

Hawaii Diary: Travel Day

Saturday we were to leave the big island for Kauai. We'd been in the tropics for three days and hadn't hit the beach yet, and we had a little time before our flight, so we tried to find a beach somewhere north of the airport. There were several turn-offs from the highway that looked promising, if we had more time or a 4x4 instead of a sedan, but the one we tried to get to was going to take too long. Recommendation: if you want to go to obscure beaches or other remote spots anywhere in Hawaii, spend the extra $$$ on a Jeep or other similar vehicle. You can walk or crawl your sedan in many cases, but it'll be easier if you have the right car. We turned around and ended up driving all the way to Waikoloa, where we eventually got to the "beach" at the Waikoloa Hyatt Resort. The Hyatt seemed like a nice place, but not really our thing, a little too Disney World-y.

Thanks to the wonders of modern airline travel, we had to waste a huge chunk of our day traveling, even though it's only about 250 miles between Kailuha-Kona and Lihue airports. Between the rental car return, check-in, security charades, flights, layovers and rental car procurement at our arrival, it took almost five hours. We flew on Mokulele Airlines (who?), a small Hawaii inter-island carrier that had recently (2008) gotten into serious regional jet passenger service. Their corporate history was complicated, but I was eventually convinced that they were legit. They got positive reviews on the web, they offered flights at the time I wanted, and for the same price as everyone else ($99). The flights were completely uneventful, which is perhaps the highest praise you can give an airline these days. Bonus points for attempting to serve me a coffee on the second leg between Honolulu and Lihue, where we spent about 20 minutes in the air. Mokulele subsequently merged with go! Airlines right after we left, who has mixed reviews, so who knows what the service will be like in the future. Doesn't matter much to me anymore, though. By the way, I love the big green courtyards inside the Honolulu Airport.

I would like to take this opportunity to complain about Alamo Rent-a-Car. We were stuck with them for the week on Kauai because they are one of the random vendors you may receive on Hotwire. Most of the Hotwire alternatives would be considered upper-class car rental agencies, except for Alamo (who is universally hated on the web), and I took my chances when the lowest rate was I could find was through the hotwire.com website.

I didn't explicitly mention that our Budget Rent-a-Car experience on the big island was fair, fairly painless, and trouble-free, but it felt that way at the time. The line was short when we arrived (10PM on Wednesday) and they didn't give us the hard sell on the usual rental car add-ons. The Alamo experience was much less pleasant. It started with a 20 or 30 minute wait in line at the counter, although if I'd known better, I would have used the self-checkin kiosk that was hiding in the corner. The counter agent was vaguely sleazy and gave the hard sell on every potential add-on. Approximate conversation:

Agent: Would you like to add any additional drivers?
Me: Is it free to add my wife?
Agent: It's (some ridiculous amount) extra, Hawaii state regulations.
Me: Oh, on the big island it was free.
Agent: [pause] ... They must have added it on to the rate.
Me: Whatever. I'll drive alone.
Agent: Would you like the collision damage waiver?
Me: I decline everything.
Agent: How about the [blah blah] waiver?
Me: I decline everything.
Agent: How about the Loss Damage Waiver?
Me: I decline everything.
Agent: Are you sure? If you have an accident, it could cost you hundreds of dollars.
Me: I decline everything. My AMEX covers loss damage.
Agent: It's a good deal1 If you have an accident, we have to ship the car to the mainland for 6-8 weeks and it's a couple thousand bucks.
Me: I decline everything!!! My card covers this!!
Agent: Most credit cards don't cover this.
Me: #@%#@!! I DECLINE EVERYTHING!!!!!!!111oneone

Finally he acquiesces, and sends me to the lot to pick my car, since I supposedly have my choice from the available mid-size cars (since that is what I booked). The mid-size row is empty except for a blue Chevy Cobalt that has more dings, scratches, and missing interior plastic bits than either of the 7-year-old cars that we own at home. Seriously. Not to mention that a Cobalt is not what most people would call "mid-size". Arguing with the lot staff failed to accomplish anything, and not being willing to wait another 30 minutes (at least) in line inside, I took about 30 pictures of every ding, scratch and missing part, and X-ed out the entire "pre-existing condition" diagram on the rental agreement. The guy in the booth at the lot exit (DO NOT ENTER -- SEVERE TIRE DAMAGE) was not amused when I complained, but I didn't think he would be. He did sign the stupid form, though. The car ended up being fine (if slightly underpowered on the uphills), but this is was not a warm fuzzy experience. Avoid Alamo, or Hotwire if you're not feeling lucky.

After all of this, we eventually left Lihue Airport for our condo in Princeville, a destination on the north shore of the island that blurs the line between town and real estate development. It's about 45 minutes from the Lihue airport. My parents were generous enough to give us a week-long condo rental for our honeymoon, courtesy of RCI and our timeshare weeks in Hilton Head that we no longer use. I won't go into the RCI swapping shenanigans that resulted in our landing in Princeville, but we ended up with a unit at The Cliffs at Princeville for the week. We were assigned to a second-floor condo in building 3, on the mauka (mountain/non-seaward) side of the property, which was recently renovated. The interior was very nice inside, except for a severe lack of lighting at night. We wondered if a table lamp was missing or something. The rest of the grounds at The Cliffs were very nice -- decent pool, ocean view (if you walk across the property) and the usual set of amenities for a complex of this type. The staff was friendly, especially the overly enthusiastic Activities Manager, and we were very happy with the accommodations.

We hit the local supermarket to stock up on provisions for the week, and after looking at a couple of local dining options, ended up at a completely generic and unremarkable bar and grill at the Princeville shopping center. I can't even remember the name. I don't know if it was allergies or jet lag or something I picked up from the planes, but I was not feeling so great, and we weren't feeling very adventurous for dinner. We crashed right after that.

Hawaii Diiary: Kona Coast

After spending half of the day before on the road, we decided to stay in the Kona Coast for our second full day on the big island. We first hit Pu`uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, formerly known as the "City of Refuge", but renamed to the Hawaiian name in the 1970s. The park rests on a lovely peninsula about 30 minutes south of our hotel.

In early Hawaiian times, warriors who were defeated in battle, or others who broke kapu (ancient laws), could find refuge in the Pu'uhonua, which is an area surrounded by a Great Wall and protected by the spirit of Chief Keawe`ikekahiali`i o kamoku (his friends called him Keawe). Consider that battles were to the death in olden times, so if you were losing, you ran for your life. The kapu were a set of laws forbidding various activities involving the Chief, or having some other spritual bent, and violating the kapu also meant immediate death. In either case, if you were able to evade the angry mob coming after you long enough to get to the Pu'uhonua (either by scaling the 10-foot high and 17-foot wide wall, or by swimming across the bay to reach the beach), you would be safe, since the Pu'uhonua was considered to be sacred ground. You would then be absolved of your sins by a priest and allowed to leave freely. It's not clear how the angry mob was supposed to know that you were saved, but whatever.

Next to the Pu'uhonua are the Royal Grounds, used by a series of chiefs and kings several hundred years ago. The grounds originally housed a bunch of thatched buildings, freshwater fish ponds (for food), and the royal canoe landing. Many of the buildings are now gone, although the National Park Service has recreated several of them in full size or scale models. The royal boat ramp was popular with green sea turtles. Not sure if the turtles were prosecuted for breaking kapu in ancient times, but the canoe landing was traditionally reserved for the chief only. Everyone else had to use a different one up the coast.

The park was attractive and educational, but not very big. We finished the self-guided tour in about an hour or 90 minutes. We planned to have lunch at The Coffee Shack, on Route 11 just south of Captain Cook, but there was a traffic jam approaching the restaurant, and eventually we were forced to turn around by emergency workers. It looked like there was some kind of accident at or near the restaurant. We made our way around the problem using very twisty back roads, and eventually landed at the Nasturtium Cafe for lunch. This small roadside restaurant (and I do mean roadside -- the front outdoor dining area is right next to the road) specializes in "healthy gourmet", with lots of organic-type stuff, all made from scratch. Considering the roadside accommodations, we opted for the new indoor space in the back, which was much quieter, if perhaps not quite in its final design. Anyways, the owner (also our server) was very friendly and lunch was very good, even if I can't remember what we had. I think I had a buffalo burger. Edith decided that salads are always better in Hawaii than back home.

Kona is well-known for its coffee, and after lunch we visited the Kona Blue Sky Coffee Company in Holualoa. The Twigg-Smith family has been growing all their own coffee on 400 acres for several generations. We watched an informational video while guzzling lots of free samples (B only), and the shop manager gave us a tour of their garden near the visitor's center. Unfortunately, there was not much of a legitimate tour going on while we were there -- no visiting the actual orchards, or activity in the roasting room. The coffee is quite good, though. Holualoa is also home to a collection of art galleries, which we spent an hour or two strolling through. A few were closed for some reason, maybe because there weren't many shoppers around on his Friday afternoon, either.

That completed our planned agenda for the day. Good thing, too, because we were feeling a little wiped, either due to delayed jet lag, or a caffeine crash. We went back to the hotel to take a short nap, and when we woke up, there was a beautiful sunset setting up. We wandered up and down the shore (and onto the neighboring golf course) for a while. I think my new camera takes very good pictures in "sunset mode"!

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, we were quite pleased with the Sheraton Keauhou Bay hotel. The location, right on the water, can't be beat, except if they had a sand beach and reef for snorkeling on site. Our room was reasonably large and recently updated. The bar/lounge was a comfortable place for some cocktails, open to the outside, with several levels of seating so that everyone can see out to the ocean from their table or couch. There is a patio area attached (where weddings probably occur), and there is manta ray viewing from the patio after dark. The hotel shines spotlights into the water, which attracts extra algae blooms, which attract the rays. We weren't able to see any, but there were several boats full of divers exploring the area after dark, so I assume it's working.

The entire hotel seemed to be trying to be kid-friendly. There was a movie night in the courtyard, the awesome pool, and other activities available. Kids seemed to be welcome in the bar, since there were a number of families there along with us, with no issues. This kid-friendliness is good or bad, depending on your point of view, but considering our situation, we viewed it as a good thing and would be happy to go back if we could get another deal.

Sadly, we couldn't stay longer. We ended up just grabbing a bite in the bar for dinner and crashing again after doing some packing. We had to leave for Kauai on the next day!

Hawaii Diiary: Volcano

Sorry this took so long. We packed a lot of stuff into this day, and there were a lot of photos, and I guess I like to write (and/or I need an editor). For those of you with short attention spans, here is the Twitter-friendly version: "We drove, we saw petroglyphs, we walked on a volcano (it rained). We drove, it rained, we saw lava, we ate dinner, we drove." Is that less than 140 characters? Now go look at my pretty pictures (more than I posted on this entry) and bad amateur video.

We woke up on Thursday to find that our "garden view" hotel room actually overlooked the pool, with the ocean in the distance. The hotel's two pools were large and connected, with grottos, kiddie beaches, and a water slide. Very impressive. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to enjoy it. More on the hotel in a later entry.

After grabbing coffee and a muffin, we left for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a third of the way around the island on the south side. Even though it was only 80 miles, it would take about two hours to drive there. The road is only two lanes, with some towns and winding sections. We were delayed at the start by the traffic jam going into the school, but made pretty good time once we got through the first 30 slow miles. There are some very scenic parts of this drive, especially northeast of Naalehu, and not much else.

The weather was looking good until we reached the park entrance, at about 4000 feet above sea level. The most popular part of the park rests on the southeast shoulder of Mauna Loa, stretching from the area around Kilauea Caldera down to the ocean. This shoulder, combined with the predominant northeast winds, means that it is rainy and tropical on the east side (and on top), and dry and desert-like on the west side (which we just drove through). We brought our raincoats, but only shorts and no change of clothes. I hoped we wouldn't get too cold or wet.

An unfortunate part of our trip was that we were only spending two full days on the big island. One of those days would be for seeing the volcano, and we knew that wasn't really long enough to give it a fair shake, but we would at least get a taste of it. The more accessible part of the park is a road around the Kilauea Caldera (Crater Rim Drive), and a road that threads south towards the ocean, through a series of old crater sites on the way (Chain of Craters Road). Here is a map. (1.8MB PDF) However, half of Crater Rim Drive was closed due to volcanic activity in the caldera, which was spewing toxic fumes in the air, so the tour was mostly reduced to an out-and-back trip. Aside from the Kilauea Caldera activity, there was also an active eruption at the Pu'u 'O'o site on the eastern edge of the park. This area was also closed, but it was a long hike from the road as well, so we were never going to have a chance of seeing it anyways. There was some lava flowing into the ocean from Pu'o 'O'o, but the best (and only officially sanctioned viewing spot) was outside the park and accessed from the east side in Kalapana, which is about an hour's drive. This meant we had to plan to get out of the park by about 4:30 at the latest, since the sun set at about 6:30, and we wanted to get to the lava viewing before then. My plan was to start at the entrance and work our way down to the ocean, seeing the sights along the way. Then we'd leave for Kalapana.

It was almost 11 AM when we arrived. After picking up some lunch items at the Volcano general store, we stopped at the park visitor center, where we learned that there would be a ranger-guided hike around and through Kilauea Iki Crater at 1:00. This was a hike we wanted to do anyways, since it was a chance to get out and explore some stuff in only a couple of hours, so we rearranged our schedule to be back at that time.

We first drove most of the way to the end of the Chain of Craters Road, and the weather cleared up nicely as we approached the ocean. There is a cliff along the way, which is covered with the remnants of lava flows from the 1970s. We stopped at the Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs. Here, each generation of the ancient Hawai'ians would carve symbols in the lava rocks and deposit the piko (umbilical cord) of their kids in the pukas (holes), hoping that the spirits would bless their child with a long and prosperous life. This is supposedly one of the largest and most concentrated areas of petroglyphs in Hawaii.

After viewing the petroglyphs, we worked our way back towards the Kilauea Iki. We stopped at a few of the old craters, and checked out the Thurston Lava Tube, a big tunnel formed by hot lava during a previous eruption. We got to the trailhead to meet the park ranger for the tour just before 1PM... and it started raining.

We joked with the park ranger about how great a day it was for a hike, and he agreed (seriously) that it was a better than average day, since it wasn't a torrential downpour. Like I was saying, I guess it rains a lot there. We did get pretty wet over the next few hours, but the ranger still wove some good stories. It eventually stopped, and even cleared up a bit, as we entered the crater for the return half of the loop. The ranger did have some interesting talks, explaining the different types of volcanoes found around the world, the difference between indigenous and endemic species in Hawaii, and describing the Kilauea Iki eruption of 1959, where lava spewed hundreds of meters in the air. Nothing that exciting was happening on the day we were there, but we did get to walk on the surface of an active volcano, and the steam vents were still satisfyingly steamy.

Our guided tour wrapped up at about 3:30 or 4, and we had to make a decision about what to do before heading for the lava viewing. We ended up leaving right away since we weren't sure exactly how long it would take to get there. We got most of the way to Hilo (where we had to turn right to head south to the viewing area) faster than we expected, so we tried to go to the Lava Tree State Park. The park is mostly gardens and some lava formations. As soon as we got there, it started raining again, and it was a torrential rain that made us wonder if we'd get to see anything at the lava viewing. We ran back to the car, and we slowly made our way south. Driving was difficult in the heavy rain, but it stopped by the time we got to the coast.

The towns of Kalapana and Kaimu were pretty much destroyed in the lava flow of 1990. The former state highway, which previously connected with the end of Chain of Craters Road (in the National Park) was overrun with lava and severed, and now the state highway on the east side serves as the access road to the lava viewing area. Some parts of the access road were covered with lava, which were crudely graded and paved over with a single lane of asphalt. A few houses were luckily spared here, and people still live there. One property was for sale -- not sure if it's a good deal regardless of the price. The road finally ends in an improvised park area, where the local government has tried to bring some order to what surely used to be chaos. There are parking attendants, a series of vendor tents hawking fruit, photography and flashlights, and an information booth.

Once you have parked, there is an almost half-mile walk over old lava flows to get to the viewing area near the shore. Reflective pylons and tape are used to try to guide people along the way, which would obviously be difficult to do in the dark. The actual viewing area is predictably disappointing, since it is at least another quarter-mile from the action, with screaming kids and mobs of people jockeying for photo position. All you can really see is a giant plume of steam, with a red glowing area and an occasional explosion of lava into the air. I don't know how to describe it, it sounds boring, but it is really a unique and captivating experience. We were mesmerized for about 45 minutes, until it was dark, and made our way back to the car. It was interesting to see the side of the mountain glowing red in spots, as the lava flowed down from Pu'o 'O'o.

For dinner, we stopped at Kaleo's in Pahoa. It's off the main road in the town center, but not out of the way, and worth the trip. There was a good jazz trio playing, featuring three multi-talented musicians: keyboard/bass (keyboard)/vocals, alto sax/soprano sax/flute, and drums/chairs/walls. The menu was modern and original, the food was fresh and well-prepared, and it was all very reasonably priced. I think I had a grilled ahi entree with rice and tasty grilled veggies, and E had a Thai chicken curry of some sort. For dessert we had a really tasty banana thing where the bananas were fried in tortillas and topped with a cinnamon sauce and vanilla ice cream. Thanks to C+K for the tip, this place was great!

The only downside was that we were still almost 3 hours from "home". It was a long and lonely trip, with little traffic, spotty radio, and a sleeping passenger. Still being a bit jet-lagged, I probably should have gotten some coffee to go, but it didn't occur to me until it was too late. We stopped at least once to walk around the car, to try to stay fresh. It was good to finally get back to the hotel and crash.

This was a good day, but if I had to do it again, I would try to spend at least two days in the park area, or if I were really pressed for time again, try to find a way to stay in Hilo (or one of the small inns in the town of Volcano) so less time is spent driving. I would also love to get a closer view of the active lava flows, which is obviously discouraged by the authorities, but not illegal, as far as I can tell. It seems feasible, as long as you take some reasonable precautions.

Future postings will mostly be shorter than this. I hope. I mean, there's only so much I can write about the Honolulu Airport, but we'll see. Am I blogging or writing my memoirs?

Hawaii Diiary: Day 1

I will now proceed to torture you with more Hawaii trip stories that are not actually about Hawaii.

The plan was to depart Boston on Wednesday, September 30, and spend an entire day getting to the Kona Coast on the Big Island. That's a big downside to Hawaii as a destination for east-coasters -- it takes an entire day to get there or back. It explains why so many people on visitor logs were from California and Arizona. We would spend Thursday and Friday on the Big Island and depart Saturday for Kauai, where we would spend another week.

We left our house at 7:45 for a 10:55 flight. That seems early, and we are both kind of insanely paranoid about air travel, but we also had to expect to fight through traffic for up to 90 minutes to get there (I think it ended up being about an hour). I also wanted to leave enough time to park at an off-airport parking lot, since Central Parking at Logan is now a ridiculous $24 per day. Over 12 days, that is a buttload of money. I had read a few good things about PreFlight Airport Parking, only about 2 miles from Logan and almost half the price. The experience was very positive: we arrived at the lot, the van followed us to the car, the very friendly driver helped with our bags and handed us a "newspaper" (USA Today). We were inside the terminal in probably 7 minutes.

The flight boarded on time, but the departure was delayed because the plane's GPS system was malfunctioning. Always a good feeling. I guess we left 15-20 minutes late. Weather was clear for almost the entire flight, so I was able (from my window seat) to track our progress, and we didn't need the GPS. Most of my announcements of our location to Edith were met with smiles and nods. The highlight was when we flew over the Grand Canyon and Page, AZ (pictured above), site of our excellent slot canyon adventure in 2007. It was a good flight; we had nobody in the seat between us. I admit I was That Guy and booked the window/aisle seats, hoping the middle wouldn't get filled.

Landed in LAX with a 2 hour layover, and stalled for a while before looking for dinner. Options were disappointing: generic Tex-Mex (On The Border) and... something inspired by generic Tex-Mex? (Chili's), or Burger King. We chose On The Border. It was unremarkable, but I downed a couple of margaritas so I could maybe sleep on the plane, and they weren't bad.

My plan was thwarted when I was seated next to an older hippie dude named Dennis on the next leg of the trip, and he liked to talk. He was an interesting enough guy, and it was more entertaining than staring out the window at the ocean for 5.5 hours, but I ran out of stuff to talk about after a while, and just wanted some quiet time as it got closer to midnight EDT. Before that, I learned about how he retired to Hawaii, has turned his high blood pressure ("230 over something, been that way all my life") into extra Social Security disability payments, and has managed to live in Hawaii virtually tax free as a result of this status. Good deal if you can get it. He also talked about how he managed to have a car collection of at least 4 or 5 cars, a plantation of cotton (?), mangoes, guavas, papayas, bananas, avocados, macadamia nuts, coffee, the rest of the produce department, and a home with (apparently) about a half-dozen freezers, all on a half acre south of Keauhou. This, after he couldn't afford a houseboat since the slips in the harbor were too expensive.

We finally landed, on time, at about 8PM local time, or 2AM EDT. The Kona airport is kind of weird and feels a little bit like a trip back in time. There are no jet bridges, you climb down the old staircase-on-a-truck and walk across the tarmac to the gate area. Most of the terminal is exposed to the outside, with some basic structures to keep the rain/sun out of some areas, but not much in the way of walls. Under these shelters are wooden benches that constitute the waiting area at the gates. There is one traditional cafeteria-style restaurant. The overall layout might best be described as "rambling", with the gates, checkin and baggage claim areas all stretched along several hundred yards of access road. It took us a while to find the right baggage claim, not realizing we'd have to walk out of the gate area (the "airport" as far as we knew) and down the road. We learned that the Ironman Triathlon was scheduled for October 10, and training had already begun. There were quite a few intense-looking athletes milling about the claim area, surely wondering where their multi-thousand-dollar bikes were.

If you can believe it, the rest of the day only got more dull from here. I had picked up a package from Orbitz for a mid-size rental from Budget, and a "mountain view" hotel room at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay (4/5 stars), for $160/day, which seemed like a good deal at the time. We picked up our rental car (a Pontiac G6 that more than met our needs) without any problems. It was a 15-minute drive to the hotel, and they gave us a "garden view" room, which we learned the next day was basically a free upgrade. We crashed in bed.

Coming up: Volcano! And Brian looks like a drowned rat. (It'll be a few days until it's posted.)

Hawaii Diiary: Prologue

"There's a prologue?!" -E

I think that all nine of our regular readers already know that we recently took our honeymoon, 14 months late, in Hawaii. Edith has put me in charge of blogging the experience because I "care more about details" or something like that. I'm not sure if that was a compliment or not. Anyways, I thought I would go with day-by-day coverage (hopefully, posting one day every few days), and try not to bore you with too many details.

If it's too detailed, you can just look at the pretty pictures! I took almost 600 pictures/videos, so it's (still) going to take me a few days to prepare each batch for each entry. All of my photos were taken with my new Canon PowerShot SD960 point-and-shoot. I can't post all of the interesting ones here, for size and aesthetic reasons, so I recently started a Flickr account that will have all the good photos from this trip.

I had a lot of reservations about Flickr as a viewer. I wasn't too fond of the photostream interface, although my recent discovery of collections and sets made me happier. But once I set up an account, I liked the organizer tools, and $25/yr for unlimited storage (think backups) seemed like a fair deal. Also, many of my friends are using it, so I get to feel like I'm doing something like "social networking" without being social, or networking. Later, after these trip reports are all done, I will probably upload a bunch of older stuff from my archives, so don't be surprised if you see a bunch of random old crap in my photostream.

Edith also has a Flickr account. She took some pictures on this trip too, but not as many as I did. I don't know what she plans to do with them, but she says she'll put links to both our galleries on the left sidebar.

This photo was me attempting to be arty and patriotic or something, while waiting around in Logan Terminal B. I don't think I succeeded, but I like to have pictures on my bloggings. It was hard to get the timing right on this shot, when I could only hear (not see) the planes accelerating before they came into view.