It was time for part 2 of our trip- we had scheduled a flight to the island of Kauai. It amazed me how open all the Hawaiian airports were- very airy, big windows, mellow, buildings that look like huts. It's too bad that this one happened to have a big bump in the blacktop as we crossed the street, and I happened to be wearing my new Hawaiian slippers. That equaled a combo that sent me and my suitcase sprawling on the ground with a badly scrapped elbow. (Well, me, not my suitcase.) I was able to get a bandage from a shop. A security guard even came over and made sure I was okay when he heard I'd fallen.
We boarded our plane- Hawaiian Airlines. The flight attendants wore Hawaiian floral print as part of their uniforms. Derek commented that the coffee they served was actually good as opposed to what you usually get on an airplane- the advantage of being on an island known for its coffee farms. I will have to take his word for it as I generally don't like coffee.
When I looked out the window, I saw the most beautiful, distinct, real rainbow I had ever seen. It stretched all the way across the sky. The flight was short- less than an hour if I remember correctly. When we arrived, we rented a car and headed out to find our next home away from home- a bed and breakfast called Marjorie's.
We immediately noticed a difference between Big Island and Kauai. Kauai gave us better weather and a more rural environment. There was basically one main road with a frustratingly low speed limit. Roosters strutted everywhere. Apparently, a hurricane once destroyed the pens of many that were being held in captivity, and they just took over the island. We picked Kauai because we had heard it was one of the most beautiful of the islands. I had my own reasons for choosing this island- it is the setting of Lilo and Stitch as well as Kanani's books in the American Girl series, not to mention the filming location for South Pacific.
Even with a GPS, we had some issues finding the place. We turned into a small residential street with no signs indicating a place to stay. We kept circling around the area where the GPS indicated it was and finally gave in and called the owners. It turned out that we were in the right place. The owners just chose to be more private by not having a sign. We pulled into an extremely steep driveway and had some difficulty getting out of the car due to gravity keeping the doors shut.
Moreso than the previous place in Volcano Village, we really felt as if we were being welcomed into someone's home. We met the woman of the house whose name was actually Alexis not Marjorie. That really cracked me up being that my mother-in-law is a Marjorie and my sister-in-law is an Alexis!
Whereas our last hosts left us to our own devices once they brought our breakfast, Alexis proved extremely chatty giving us so much information about our surrounding area I could barely keep up. She also showed us a room filled with things we could use- a washer and dryer, boogie boards, snorkel gear, beach chairs, etc. Our room had slippers and bathrobes we could use and a welcome tray with fruit. There was a large patio outside with lounge chairs and shell necklaces in case we wanted to have our own luau. The patio had a gorgeous view overlooking the lush green island below and plenty of crowing roosters. Directly below us was the pool.
We lounged for a while and then decided to see some of the island before the day ended. I had been fussing about not having had much beach time on this trip so we headed to the nearby Popui Beach. Now *this* was what I was expecting to see on our honeymoon! We parked our towels in a pile on the shore. I took off my glasses too in case I wanted to dunk my head.
The water was a bit chilly, but I didn't mind. I was thrilled to finally be in the ocean. We sloshed through the water and traveled a bit down the shore. Then we noticed a small crowd of people watching something in the sand- a lounging monk seal! It was so cute! It mostly held still but would occasionally twitch or make noise. A wildlife specialist came out and taped off an area with a sign that said not to disturb the animal. Of course, without my glasses, the seal looked like a greyish brown blur. Therefore, I bolted back to our pile of stuff to grab them so I could see. We saw around 3 monk seals before the day was over.
Once we dried off and de-sanded, it was dinner time. We chose a burger place in a nearby shopping center. My burger had pineapple on top- yum. We topped off the night with gelato- can't go wrong with that. The next day would be time to really explore our new island.
