Blue Planet Journey

After 4 days on Kauai, I’ve experienced a number of places and activities, none dealing with roosters, helicopters, or golf.  Along with Tessa, Jordy, and Caroline, we’ve hiked and snorkeled our way to some interesting sites.  I’ve learned more about Kauai’s features, hardly anything about what life is like for Kauai’s non-vacationing residents, and a bit about myself, particularly about my risk tolerance. Just prior to our visit, it rained, a lot.  In fact, the Kalalau Trail into the Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park was closed when we arrived due to heavy rain (later we saw that parts of the trail needed to be rerouted because of landslides), and the Hanalei River was coloring the Hanalei Bay a muddy brown from the runoff.  That meant a number of trails were potentially Slip’n Slide rides on the cliffs. I mentioned in a previous blog that we were always seeing signs or getting verbal warnings in eastern Australia to watch out for stingers (box ...

Caroline taking a plunge in the Queen’s Bath. When Hawaii comes up in casual conversations on the mainland, a question that always seems to be asked is, “Which is your favorite island?”  Unofficially, Kauai tends to come up on top, followed by Maui, with Oahu being a distant third. Time to give Kauai a try! This is my fourth visit to Kauai, but my first unscheduled trip.  Three were fairly specialized and unique.  The first trip was in 2000, when we noticed an ad in the Honolulu Advertiser for spots on a 7 day cruise around the main Hawaiian Islands.  As I remember the story, Lions Club International was having their annual convention in Honolulu, and the organizers had booked a US-flagged ship, the  SS Independence , for both the pre- and post-convention tours, but there had been delays in marketing the cruises.  Thus, in the 11th hour, the ships were severely under-booked, and there was a fire-sale to fill spots.  Caroline, Katelin, Wesley...