First Day in Kauai

Today the fam and I flew to the garden isle of Kauai, the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands. Rising at a rosey six AM, we drove down to the airport, parked the car, hopped a shuttle to the airport, and caught our flight to Kauai. The flight was ridiculously short, something like 35 minutes, and, unlike our last flight, everything ran super smoothly (prompt takeoff, great flight attendants, and no unhappy little ones), making it a rather enjoyable trip. At the airport, we grabbed our car rental from Dollar Rent-a-car, a brand spankin new vanilla Dodge Magnum. Talk about a beast! This thing has got a hood that just doesn’t stop, making it rather difficult to drive, but its got lots of space to stow our gear, which is a rather good thing. Anyway, we navigated through the capital of Kauai, Lihue, and made our way to the resort town of Pihue, which (gasp!) is the location of our resort.

Once in Lihue, we attempted to check in to the resort, the Kiahuna Plantation Resort, but were told that the room would not be ready until right around 3:00 PM. It was 11:45 AM. So, we did what any sensible people would do: got Mexican food! After some sopping wet burritos from this little hole in the wall place up the road, we checked out the surfing scene and discovered that the entire southern side of the island is reef break, making it rather dangerous to surf for beginners (Andrew and Dad) and rusty intermediates (yours truly). Abandoning our impulses to grab boards and run for the surf like 7 year old boys for first base, we decided to occupy a small portion of beach near our resort and work on improving our complexions from their ghostly white state. During our time on the beach, I rented a foamy (foam surf board) and paddled around a bit in the break water, but things were pretty flat by the time I was out there and I only caught a few odd waves (all of which I stalled or crashed on). Additionally, our time in the sun managed to turn every one of us into crispy morsels for pitying eyes to feast upon. In particular, Andrew and Dad burned their backs rather spectacularly, though I did my very best to keep up with their attempts at a whole body blush.

After the beach, we checked into our room and cleaned up a bit for some late afternoon adventuring. The place we are staying is absolutely spectacular, with views down to the ocean, gorgeous landscaping, and a rich history as a former sugar plantation and noted garden. A bit farther down from our resort, we visited Spouting Horn Beach Park, a lava tube that, when struck by approaching waves, produces great geysers of water and a fantastic whooshing sounds. Around the park were various craft dealers selling their wares and a few dozen wild chickens. For those that don’t know, Kauai is the last Hawaiian island where you can still find wild chickens in great numbers since it is the only island that has remained free of the Mongoose, an introduced predator that feeds on ground nesting bird eggs. Anyway, on the way back, we stopped by the grocery store and picked up some supplies then grabbed dinner at Plantation Gardens, the spectacular restaurant located within our resort. The restaurant is built within Moir Gardens, an amazing cactus and orchid garden that is simply stunning to walk through. Dinner was amazing with fancy plates of fish and prime rib being served in delicious sauces to an ocean view. Ah Hawaii. Good day overall. Tomorrow we’re going to do a bit of hiking in Kokee State Park, I’ll be sure the let everybody know how it goes. As for now, aloha.