2023 Kauai, Hawaii - June - Day 7 - Final day in Kauai.

 Well, all good things (temporal) usually come to an end.  And today was our last day on the island.   For a travel day, it was pretty nice.  I’m writing this at 6 AM PST in a Priority Pass lounge in Seattle.  Our flight from Lihue to here was good.  I think I slept 3+ hours which is a rare thing.   Anyway, we began our day slowly getting packed as we had to vacate at 10 AM.   Because we had reserved a hospitality suite we planned to check our bags at the desk and then go to the beach.   Do we did that a bit early and went to Anini Beach…again.   I had read that I had snorkeled in the wrong place the first time.   And that was correct as the snorkeling closer to the marina was much better but you had to swim a very long ways out to get to the reef.   But the fish were plentiful and I think I saw 4 turtles.  I thought one turtle was a rock and when I swam up to it I was surprised it was a large turtle just lounging there.  Pretty fun.  We stayed on the beach until noonish.  The girls wanted shaved ice.  So we drove to a strip mall by our condo but it was closed.  So we drove to Jo Jo’s in Hanalei, but it had no ice cream to put in the bottom of the shaved ice.  So that was a no go.  We decided that we would hit Jo Jo’s in Waialua as we drove to the airport later.  

We returned to the Wyndham Bali Hai condos where we stayed to swim and lounge around until the hospitality suite was ready.  This suite would allow us to shower and get ready to go home.  The nice girl gave us two hours there instead of one.   We played corn hole, swam and played cards until 2 pm.   We then got the room and all showered. We still had an hour or so before we needed to leave so again, another game of cards.   We have fun playing cards together.  

After leaving the suite, we had 3 stops to make….food, shaved ice and get gas before we returned.  It all went like clock work.  We ate in Kapaa town at a food truck park.  They had Mexican (tacos, quesadilla).  I had Pad Thai at a Thai truck.  It was all really yummy.  We then headed to Jo Jo’s in Wailua.   We found it easily but the traffic was a bit slow.  The shaved ice was great.   We will MISS that!   We found a gas station easily and soon the car was returned and we were playing cards again in a cafe waiting for our flight.  

The trip was pretty amazing.  I think we did most every thing we wanted to except driving the Waimea Canyon road.   We will get that another time.   Now Denise and I turn our focus to our 18 month mission.  We leave June 29th.  

Thank you Kim and Ilene for another wonderful trip together!!!!

Some pictures:

Last picture of our rooster friend.  

Under the trees at the beach. 

The happy snorkeled!

The happy loungers!

A boat coming into the small, sandy, marina.  

Food trucks!

Last shaved ice on this trip!

Card games in the airport cafe.  

2023 Kauai, Hawaii - June - Day 6 - Napali Coast By Boat.

 Aloha!  Last normal day here.   The rooster did his job and woke me up around 5 am.  But after awhile fell back to sleep.   Yay!   

We got up and ate breakfast.  But before showering we played a round of cards….Fingers.   I think I lost there too.  I never win at card games.   While Ilene and Denise got ready Kim and I went for a walk.  We took DVD’s back to the registration desk and while there I asked what people do when they have to checkout at 10 am but don’t fly until the evening.  The lady was awesome and said that we could reserve a hospitality room for an hour to shower and get repacked.  That was good news.  So we will hit the beach one last time before we hit the road.   

We left the condo around 10 am.   We first went to the Kilauea Lighthouse.  Unfortunately the bird sanctuary and path to the lighthouse were closed.  So we were able to see it from a distance.  It would have been nice to get closer.  

After that we headed back to Poipou Beach where we ended our night last night.  One of the check off items was to get a Puka Dog.  And they were sold there.  The hot dog had special fruit relishes on it along with a specialty mustard.   It was tasty.   Denise and I split one as they were pretty good.  

Our next stop was in Eleele where our boat tour of the Napali coast was going to embark.   We booked on the  Licky Lady through Kauai Sea Tours.  It was a 5+ hour trip.   It was a beauty trip.   The sea was fairly mello for this area.  We saw dolphins and sea turtles.   But the coast was amazing.  I’m always amazed at the beauty of the earth.   We also saw an Island Air helicopter pass over us coming out of one of canyons.     We also saw a pretty cool military base area.  It would be fun to be stationed there.    To end the trip we floated in the sea to watch the sun set.  

It was a wonderfully relaxing afternoon and early evening.  I hope you enjoy the pictures!

2023 Kauai, Hawaii - June - Day 5 - Flying Over Kauai

 The big day arrived today.  Sorry kids…your inheritance is gone.  It was HELICOPTER day.  Denise has wanted to take a helicopter ride forever.  So why not on Kauai.  Well the hour flight did not disappoint.  We left the condo around 9 am.  We had to be there at 10:15 am for an 11 am flight.  It was a 6 seater but we booked for just the 4 of us.  Denise and Ilene were in the front and Kim and I were in the back with lots of space.  Helicopters are amazing as they can rise, stop, slide down….all crazy feelings as the pilot does this.  To see this island from the air was amazing.  To see the clear water with the cliffs of the Napali coast was breath taking.  To fly down the Waimea canyon was so cool.   And you can’t count all the waterfalls.  They say a new one forms every 20 minutes.  We flew with Island Air.  The pilot was not too personable.  But the communication was only one way.   If we wanted to ask a question, we had to yell quite loud.  Nonetheless, it was an amazing experience.  

Next stop we made was Costco for a Costco dog.  Cheapest thing on the island.  We were in a hurry to get to the next stop….the Groves Plantation. 

The Groves Plantation tour was a 2 hour of a former sugar cane plantation.  They no longer farm sugar cane on the island.  So the tour was a history lesson about the Wilcox family who originally bought the property and farmed it until they no longer farmed sugar cane.  The main guy was an engineer and did some amazing things for the times.  Anyway, they had all kinds of vegetation.  Mango, Macadamia Nuts, Avacados, bananas, papaya and more.  The tour got a bit long as it ended around 3:15.  

Our next stop was at Duke’s, a restaurant on the water.  Our reservation was for 4:15 pm.  We were early.  So we killed time at a little mall and then waiting at the restaurant for a table.  It was a nice location to eat.   A bit too pricey for me though (I know you all are surprised!)  

Our next stop was a beach named Poipou.  It was a 30 minute drive.  We were told it was a place to see sea lions, turtles and see the sunset.  Well, it was a nice beach but small.  Way too many people because it is a resort town.  And at the time of day it was, not good for snorkeling due to high waves.  But we did see a sea lion and 3 turtles…2 on the beach and 1 in the water.  Anyway, I was bummed that I could not snorkel.  

We are now making the hour and 10 minute drive back to the condo in Princeville.   Great day!

A bunch of pictures: