25^th – 28^th June

Our flight with United was good. The service was good, the people were nice, and the seats were decent. We had paid for an upgrade thank goodness because the seats at the back of the plane were quite squishy, kind of like being hog tied.

No one was dragged from the plane and there were no fights between passengers. Excellent.

To top it off we arrived in Hawaii early, how often does that happen?

Then it all went a little pear shaped.

The captain informed us that the customs documents we were all required to fill out had not been given to them and would have to be handed out and completed on the plane before we could disembark the aircraft.

Some passengers were getting a little fidgety about that.

But we were promised that someone would be at the gate the second we landed so there would be no delays.

We land and are still early. Another aircraft is still at our gate, so we have to wait for them to depart. The early margin is decreasing.

After a small wait we pull into the gate and the captain, who does not seem to be having a good day, announces that we have pulled into the wrong gate and needed to be pushed out and then onto the right gate.

More grumbles from those around us. Our connecting flight had loads of time so we were not stressed and if anything we were quite amused.

Eventually we were pushed back from the wrong gate and made it onto the correct one. Only for the captain to make another announcement that the paperwork had not arrived at the gate as promised so there would be another delay.

I am sure the captain was thinking “you have got to be f*cking kidding” but he sounded very relaxed.

We all filled out the paperwork and made it off the plane without anyone losing their temper and we had lots of time to get to our next flight.

We walked across the terminal, it is really long and drawn out, but it was nice to walk around after sitting on the plane for so long.

We arrived in Lihue, Kauai, and the weather was amazing. The views as we landed were stunning, like Rarotonga but on a bigger scale.

We landed on time, got our bags, and headed to the car rental.

The lady who was serving us, Dollar Rentals, was lovely and very efficient, then boom. All the power goes out, just for a minute, but computers don’t like that. Not at all. Halfway through our check in all the computers needed to be rebooted, the reconnection to their system didn’t work, and we (with a bunch of others) were left waiting.

Their computer tech came along, took one look and was like “its fine” and leaves again. Ha, ha, brilliant. I’m sure he was a mechanic that was hauled in to fix them because he has a computer.

The cause, evidently, was someone had driven into a pole outside. I wonder if they were driving one of the rental cars.

Not long after the systems were up and working, we had our car and were on our way. The lovely lady must have upgraded us for free after seeing our luggage. Great service.

Our accommodation was only 12kms from the airport so we made it there in good time.

The place is perfect, overlooking the beach, a pool outside, air conditioning, everything you need to relax and enjoy yourself.

We popped across the road, got supplies including FRESH FISH, from the supermarket and settled in for an early night. The time difference was really messing with us. That and we knew, that Hawaii meant we were nearing the end of our holiday.

So sad 😦

A few details about Kauai, it is expensive. To buy food at the supermarket you really are left marvelling at the cost. We are guessing this is probably due to the majority of the food being imported. However, a bit of research shows that the median price of a single-family home was $528,000, a 40% increase over 2003. That’s quite a growth spurt.

However, even though food can be expensive there are massive discounts for locals and, on average, it is cheaper than Hawaii main island.

Jason can confirm the beer, Longboard, is awesome and well worth drinking. Far superior to anything he found in the UK, other than Guinness in Dublin of course.

Kauai – 26^th June – Wahoo Island Fun

The island is home to thousands and thousands of wild chickens, think Rarotonga chickens times 1000. They are everywhere, but, unlike the Rarogtongan chickens, they do not crow all day and all night.

Also, they seem to be quite road smart as we did not see very many splattered on the road.

We wake up to a beautiful day. We can get used to this sunny shite! Me especially, Jason is not overly thrilled with the humidity. The air conditioning unit is getting a work out. We went out during the day and he left it pumping. The floor was too cold to stand on.

Anyway, I had booked us a half day tour that included a trip around Na Pali, snorkelling, speed boating, lunch, and general fun.

I had actually forgotten what it was and for some reason I thought we were actually river rafting. Rather than sitting on a little raft speeding through the sea.

Two warning items accompanied the safety briefing.

1. This is not suitable for anyone with a bad back.
2. This is not suitable for anyone who has recently had surgery.

We just looked at each other, shrugged and hoped for the best. I mean it’s been months since his surgery and his back has been really good.

We were on this inflatable boat, not big, and there were 12 of us. We were taken through the safety briefing, always hold on, keep your feet tucked under the raft, let them know if you want a life jacket.

And we were off, damn fast, two 115 horse power outboards doing their thing. It was amazing how much speed you get up to. There were a couple of kids on the boat, both under 10 and brother and sister. Brother was nearly beside himself, tears, eyes squeezed shut, holding on for dear life, his sister was grinning and squealing with delight. Funny how diverse one family can be.

I am definitely in the latter category. I could only really hold on with one hand anyway so may as well throw caution to the wind and lean back to touch the water as you zip on by.

Our captain, Captain, was great, he knew his stuff and knew his boat. We rode the wake of bigger boats skimming back and forth, leaning front and back (well I was anyway). All the time marvelling at the beautiful scenery zipping past.

Kauai has been used as a backdrop in many Hollywood films, and it is easy to see why.

It looks like something out of Jurassic Park with steep cliffs, wild terrain, and no way to reach these tiny, stunning beaches other than via boat.

There is a hiking track through Na Pali State Park, it is 22 miles round trip, but you can hike to the beautiful little beach and have someone pick you up. Even so, 11 miles was more than we had time and were prepared for. Apparently it can be challenging in parts.

Back to our boat ride.

On our way out to our snorkelling location we stopped and watched green turtles as they cruised past the boat, the youngest around 5 years (you can tell this because it is the size of a dinner plate), and dolphins, so many dolphins its amazing. They were surrounding us.

The time of day, mid-morning, indicated that it was “romance time”. So Neno, our guide, was telling us that this is their time to be “intimate” whenever we could see the white belly of a dolphin (they were so close you could touch them) they were having some fun!

What do you say to that?

We left the dolphins to their “business” and carried on our merry, wind-swept, fear inducing ride!

Another 10 minutes or so we stopped to have a quick dip. The water is like a bath. Beautiful, warm, crystal clear, and refreshing. As we climb on the boat Captain is warning “watch your fingers, you don’t want to break them on the ladder”.

“Yeah a broken finger would really suck when you are on holiday bro”, I say as I waggle my neatly bound fingers (insert ironic face here).

Back on the boat and we continued along and see more dolphins, they are everywhere, so cool, they come within inches of the boat as we sit and watch. You are so tempted to slide into the water with them, but they are clearly getting jiggy, so we move on.

It is good to mention that our local guide Neno is fabulous, he tells us all the local stories and myths, the history and the progress that has happened around the island. What a great accompaniment to the thrill seeking tour.

We eventually reach our snorkelling spot. I don’t need to be told twice, boom. Into the water, time to explore.

Jason and I head out as far as we are supposed to go, and on the way see a lot of fish that are familiar due to the snorkelling we have done in Raro and Fiji. Then we spot a shark, not big, but definitely a shark (thanks Jaws, snorkelling will never be the same ha, ha).

Then another shark, they are studiously ignoring us, so we continue on our way.

As we progress Jason is furiously waving at me, whilst trying to stay completely still (not easy), and points in front of us. To where a rather large seal is swimming across our path.

Ummmm, it is important to note that seals in NZ mean “get the f*ck out of there” they are notoriously grumpy and are known to attack if approached.

So, being the sensible people that we are, we promptly retreat and head back to our tour guides.

Apparently the Hawaiian seals are very few, about 1300, so we were very lucky to see one. AND, they are very friendly. I wish we had known that beforehand because it was so amazing to see one, only 6 feet from us, and would have been better to see it closer.

All in all a very successful snorkelling trip. Time to get back on board and head for home.

On our way out the surf was relatively flat, not a lot of wind so the sailing/speeding was very smooth.

Not the case on the way back. The wind had picked up and the waves were bigger and the ride was fabulous. I was really enjoying myself. Holding on with one hand, it was like a mechanical bull. There were a few others with gritted teeth but most of us were just loving it.

Not a dry face on the boat, sea spray everywhere!

It felt like a really long ride back. The wind, waves, bumps, and craziness. I must admit, I really loved it. But I think it broke Jason a little.

We arrived back safe and sound and it was only 1pm. The whole day was ahead of us.

Neno had told us about a drive up the Waimea Canyon, as we were down this side of the island, we thought “well, whilst we are here, it would be wrong not to”.

We jump in our stunning little rental car, which is not stunning but is practical, and head towards the canyon. BTW, there are so many convertibles on this island its incredible. The majority of them are rental cars.

It is only 25 minutes to the top of the canyon, but you need to stop and take photos along the way because the views are amazing. It is like someone has taken the Grand Canyon, shrunk it, painted it a darker shade of red, and put it on Kauai.

Really beautiful! And well worth the drive up to the top. We did a couple of little nature walks, but the temperature was soaring! We were not prepared for any decent sort of walk so we kept them all pretty short.

The sky is beautiful, the view beautiful, the drive… frustrating in a shitty automatic and a 25 mile speed limit. All the same, glad we did it.

PLUS!!! Jason decided he would like to try driving on the “dark side” of the road. So I got a break!

He did really well, see, he could have driven through Italy, France, and Switzerland.

As mentioned earlier there is a part of the island you cannot drive to, so what would be considered a ring road on other islands, is a crescent road on Kauai. And we thought we would take the time to drive to the end of that crescent road – whilst we were here.

And what an exciting drive it was. No, it wasn’t, it really wasn’t, not at all.

It turns out that Kauai is home to the U.S. Navy’s “Barking Sands” Pacific Missile Range Facility, on this side of the island. So as we are driving as far as we can go we end up at the gates. Hmm, time to turn around quickly and head back.

No doubt we are on record somewhere haha.

As we had continued to head to the south west we had gone a long way from our apartment and it was an hour to get back. On the way we decided tonight, we would find a restaurant and eat out. But right now, we needed a snack. The Fish Shack – we are coming for you.

A quick visit to the Fish Shack, they were closing, we are loaded up with three types of poke (raw fish dish) and a complimentary tray of sushi, we head home.

All this time on the water, driving about, and sightseeing, we were shattered. Luckily our restaurant of choice was only 500 meters away.

So we sat on the balcony ate poke, had a cold drink, and just chilled.

I had booked us into the Wahoo Seafood and Grill. Unfortunately, as I had done a couple of times before, I got the date wrong and booked us for the next night. Luckily the concierge of the restaurant was very understanding and they set us up a table on the deck.

The food was nice, but I was just full and tired, so doggy bag was ordered and we were back to the apartment and in bed before 1000pm! With the 6 hour different from New York, our brains and bodies were taking a hammering – it was actually around 400am YAWN.

Our sleep was glorious. Tomorrow. Fishing.