Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Caves

Just when you think there are few things to do that are "new" on this island, a twist on the already checked list happens. Sunday, we got to go on a zodiac adventure thanks to Captain Shawn who owns the boat, a beautiful tricked out 26 foot Zodiac with twin engines and all the bells and whistles you need to get there fast and safe, and back again. The only catch was that I had to bring lunch for everyone, but I do that anyway . . . what's 7 more sandwiches?

At 8am we set out from Port Allen on the west side, going North past Pacific Missile Range to the NaPali.


These guys escorted us all the way there.  At this time of the early morning  the dolphins are sleeping. They turn half of their brain off and are conscious just enough to come up for air and follow the herd, and stay out of the way of the boat props while they sleep-swim along with it. 


The sea turtles are an endangered species. Because of that, they have no fear of humans, and don't hesitate to swim close to check out the snorkeling humans.


Captain Shawn took us into every cave along the NePali we have ever ogled from the vulnerability of our own fiberglass boat. This one goes into a cave that's ceiling has fallen, thus it's name "Open Ceiling Cave". If you've ever seen the movie, "A Perfect Getaway", a major scene was shot here. For $20,000 dollars you can hire a boat to bring you in here to get married on a rock in the middle of the cave and have a helicopter fly over and drop flowers on your heads. Turquoise blue water, huge black walls and a sun roof make this cave one of a kind! 


Going into the blackness of the Waiahuakua Sea Cave was the most fun of all. It is second on the list of the world's longes sea caves. It is 1,155 long dark and spooky feet which ends with a waterfall gushing through a hole in the ceiling. Like the Pirates of the Caribbean only "real" and better!





We came out of this cave to find snorkelers without a dive flag, very dangerous!




My family with an arch in the background big enough for helicopters to fly through. 
The pictures distort the true size of the cliffs which are amongst the tallest in the world 
at over 3,000 feet.





Reef fish everywhere.And everywhere. 
They liked Doritos but not Lays' potato chips my son concluded.



Meanwhile back on the boat. 
The days always seem short out here, even in the middle of summer.


Saturday, July 13, 2013

One Tough Poodle

This is SourIre our standard poodle.



Only we can't pronouce his name properly so we call him Siri. He was named by our friend Emi who was fresh off the plane from living and working in Haiti for two years and living with us while she recovered from the war zone of extreme poverty. Siri was right off the plane from California where we had rescued him from an animal horder. Sourire means "smile" in French. Siri likes to smile and sneeze when greeting someone, but the French word for sneeze was not pretty, thus Sourire came to be. Small children think he is baring his teeth when he smiles but he is being friendly and sneezing, expressing his unique-ness.

Two days ago he did his most challenging hike. He wears a back pack on long hikes so he can carry his water and his snacks, like the rest of us. The main highway (two lanes with one lane bridges, it's Kauai) ends at Ke'e beach at the North Shore and you can drive no further. It is here that the trail head begins which will take you for an 11 mile journey through some of the most beautiful, lush, tropical cliffs in the world, over looking a hundred shades of blue, hundreds of feet down to your right. If you are terrified of heights you will not like this hike. Our hike was to the Honokapi'a stream at mile 2, and then turning off the trail and following the stream up to the falls on the falls trail, another 2 miles.  It included lots of boulder hopping, and several river crossings. Did I mention Siri is terrified of water?  The hike was good therapy. Notice the pink toe nail polish? Luna my daughter takes pride in demasculating this poor guy, (as if neutoring wasn't enough) by the end of the hike, there was very little polish left. 

This morning I saw he was sporting a spiderman cape. What a good sport Siri! Summer break will be over soon.





We don't have freeway over passes on Kauai so with limited options, graffiti is usually carved into trees, rocks, plants, or bamboo. 






The Honokapi'a falls are a welcome sight after leaving 4 miles of grueling trail behind you. The water comes straight off the mountains beyond the cliffs and is very, very, cold! 

Unless of course you are from the mainland.






There they are, my two babies happily absorbing it all, 
and some other people who blazed by us on the trail up here.



The euphoria of washing off the sweat has warn off, and Luna is feeling the chill.



After a refreshing brain-freeze swim, the kids are ready to head back. 





One pooped poodle . . . . . and 3.96 miles back to go. Luna decided to carry his pack for the return hike, after all she had painted his toes pink and watched him try to walk on water to avoid it for the 4 miles in.




In the 4 weeks since we returned from our vacation in Alaska, both kids have outgrown their hiking boots. Luna realized before we left on the hike that her boots didn't fit so she wore tennis shoes. 

Sol discovered at the falls after 4 miles, HIS boots didn't fit. There is Sol in the distance,  at the 7.5 mile mark of our hike, taking another agonizing step. I tried to be clever and took out my Swiss Army knife cutting the end of his boots off since he said they felt too little. He was offered the options of going barefoot or wearing Roxy sandles Luna had brought, but opted to stay in his boots.
At the end of the trail, it wasn't just length but width that left some nasty blisters on his cute, large feet. 

So much for passing those boots on to anyone else.





Tuesday, July 2, 2013

The Pier



We spent the day last Saturday in Hanalei entertaining friends with it's lazy summer spell. The pier was recently refurbished to it's original charm. I first saw it sitting in my living room back on the mainland watching "The South Pacific" VHS tape I had purchased, after my parents moved to Kauai in the late 80's. The sailors dancing around the pier with Bloody Mary just did it for me and before I knew it the soundtrack theme was on my telephone answering machines outgoing recording. The beckoning began about then I'd say.



Mitzy my alter ego.





These drummers were there at sunset. 
The kids were dancing to their Tahitian drum rhythms 
 in order to get Oreo cookies for dessert.



At any given time in the day, people are leaping off the end of the pier into happy oblivion.
Here is my daughter Luna doing just that. 


Monday, July 1, 2013

In Search of the perfect umbrella drink


Under my  Old Navy sundress exterior burns the hot coals of a food snob. Exchewing the jugs of pre-mixed MaiTai's tourist pick up by the cart load at Costco, visiting Mr. B and I treked off to the best market on the island to search for Trader Vics Mai Tai ingredients. 
Side note: Living on Kauai, means most days you are literally waiting for a ship to come in. A trip to the market often renders your ride home with a bag full of improvisation. Case in point, that day the market was out of Orange Curacao, we came home with blue. So, the Green Flash was born. To distinguish it from the drink we had just plagiarized we switched out mint leaves for Kafir lime leaves, which gives it a nice kick. We drank far to many of these that week, because they are so pretty. We DID indeed see the greeen flash at the beach one day and it was delicious!

The Green Flash

  • 1 limeshopping list
  • 1/2 oz blue Curacao
  • 1/4 oz simple syrup
  • 1/4 oz Orgeat syrup
  • 1.0 oz Dark Rum
  • 1.0 oz Light rum
  • fresh Kafir lime leaves for garnish

  • Cut LIme in 1/2 and squeeze over   ice.In a Double Old Fashion Glass...
  • Add spent lime shell to glass (this adds oils from the skin..important.. and common with many Trader Vic drinks)
  • Add remaining ingredients... and fill glass up with enough Shaved ice to fill
  • Mix well
  • Garnish with mint spring and a fruit stick