Visiting the Garden Isle: Day 2, Part 2 – Beach Time and Sunset
After we finished our hike on the Kalalau Trail along the Na
Pali coast, I changed into my swimsuit in the parking lot with the help of my
super handy Undress (seriously, check it out – this thing is magic –
www.theundress.com) while Chris fended off the chickens and roosters intent on
molesting us. Thanks to his previously
stated plan to wear board shorts pretty much everywhere for everything, Chris
was all set for the beach, after a quick change from trail running shoes to
flip flops.
We made a quick stop at a market in Hanalei for canned beer
(I can’t believe we forgot to buy that on our earlier Foodland adventure!), and
we proceeded to nearby Waioli Beach Park for a picnic lunch in the shade.
Ready for beach time!
Cheers!
Our lunch spread
After lunch, we tossed/recycled our trash and found a nice
spot on the beach to catch some rays. Chris went for a quick dip but I just stuck my
toes in, as the riptide was pretty strong, something common to the beaches on
this side of Kaua’i. Some shots of
Waioli Beach Park:
Pretty, right?
You can see the St.
Regis resort in this shot,
which was located next to our home at the Westin.
The sun was strong, so we lasted about an hour in the glare
before we packed up and headed back to the Westin, stopping en route to buy me
a new sun hat in Hanalei; sadly, my official Race Mom hat (so named because it
is commonly used while I spectate/sherpa triathlons for Chris and the gang) bit
the dust on the beach, so a new one was needed ASAP. We also made a
quick stop for ice cream back in the Foodland plaza at Lappert’s, a local
island institution. While researching
the trip, I read one particular blog about how the author ate Lappert’s ice
cream every day, and the quality of our treats revealed this to be a solid
plan. While we didn’t quite make it every day, we did end up there more than
once, to our happiness.
Once we returned to the hotel, we checked out the three
pools available, settling on one of the smaller ones on the side of the
facility, mainly chosen because it was designated the “quiet” pool.
Lounging poolside -
that’s a dove on top of the umbrella.
After a few cocktails (this phrase will come up a lot in
these vacation posts – I should probably create a macro for it), we made our
way back to our room to start getting ready for the afternoon’s entertainment –
a sunset golf course tour at the nearby Makai Golf Club. Located in the same complex as the Westin and
the St. Regis, the Makai Golf Club was super close and took us only a few
moments to reach in the car. Although
they will certainly be happy for you to pay a large amount to actually golf
there, they’ve figured out a few good ways to raise money other than greens
fees, which is quite smart. One of these
options is allowing tourists to rent a golf cart for a few hours as the sun is
setting, setting them free along a guided path with markers and stunning vistas
of the surrounding area. Like the
Westin, the Golf Club is located along the bluffs on the northern side of the
island, and it really is gorgeous.
We checked in, paid our cart fee, grabbed some drinks at the
bar (drinking while driving a golf cart!
Shiny!), and headed out on the course behind an attendant who got us
started in the right direction.
Playing follow the leader
Getting ready to start our tour!
Mountains in the
distance
We followed the signs and information in the pamphlet we
were given, stopping first at the plumeria forest alongside one of the holes.
Picking plumeria
Lovely!
In addition to having lovely scenery, the location of the
golf course on the coast makes it a haven for birds of all sorts, including the
state bird of Hawaii, the protected Nene goose.
According to the lady who checked us in for the tour, the Nene is
actually a variety of Canadian goose that landed in Hawaii and got cut off from
the rest of the species; given their isolation (they just live in Hawaii), they
evolved into a different species completely, and they’re smaller than their
Canuck cousins. There were lots of them
all over the course, and given our obvious habit of taking shots of birds on
this trip, we grabbed some pics:
We also saw a few other types of birds on the course,
including what we initially called a red-headed step-jay. This is not actually what this bird is called
(it’s a type of cardinal), but the name stuck:
Digging in a hole
The third main type of bird we saw on the course was
actually not a chicken (WHAT?!?! I know,
right?). Instead, it was a family of
albatrosses. They were magical. There was a nesting pair with a fuzzy little
baby, a few other adult family members, and our favorites, three adolescent
males who were learning the steps for what they would later use as a mating
dance. They were awesome. They let us drive right up to them on the
cart path, and they’d gather in a circle, clacking their beaks, fluffing their
wings up, and raising their heads straight up in the air to let out a
hysterical bellow.
Below, some pics:
Oh wait, that is a chicken. Sorry.
Mama or Papa near the baby
Baby albatross!
The three males in
their circle
More shots of the three dudes – they were so awesome to
watch:
Chris also took a video with his phone, so you could see
them in action and hear the noises they made.
Hopefully, I’ve figured out how to embed this properly. If it works, be sure to put in your
headphones and/or crank up your speakers.
You really need to hear this:
If this doesn’t work,
let me know,
and I’ll post the video on Facebook or something.
It’s so worth it.
Eventually, we stopped obsessing over the albatross family
and continued touring the golf course, taking in the stunning backdrops:
One of the cart tunnels under the road
Manta Ray Mountain again!
We drove down that!
Potty break!
Looking east toward the northeastern corner of the island.
The Kilauea Lighthouse and Nature Conservatory are barely in the shot.
Aniki Reef
Our check-in lady mentioned that we wanted to be at the
final stop on the tour, the iconic 7th hole around 6:30 to see the sunset from its best vantage point. We ended up there an hour earlier than
necessary and since we didn’t really have anything else to do, we just
stretched out on the green, taking pictures and chatting while we waited for
the show. From our vantage point, we saw
all sorts of cool things – the albatrosses flying out to find food for the baby,
fish jumping in the ocean, waves crashing, and spiders starting to build webs
to catch their dinner. It was so lovely
and peaceful. Our point also overlooked
Queen Emma’s Bath, so called because when Hawaii was still ruled by kings and
queens, Queen Emma loved to come swim here, something locals and visitors still
enjoy:
Looks nice to me!
Of course, we took around a billion more pictures to help
pass the time:
Pineapples!
Industrious spiders
Obviously, we were waiting for a while.
Eventually, we’d waited long enough, and the sun set in
quite a lovely manner, just to the right of the mountain known as Puff the
Magic Dragon (well, his head). Behold:
As darkness encroached, we took the cart back to the pro
shop, handing it back to the gentlemen on duty; we then headed back to Hanalei
town to eat dinner at a lovely little place called Postcards. Postcards is pretty well known in Kaua’i, and
a few folks were waiting outside, but we were able to get a table right away
since it was just the two of us.
Postcards is housed in an old post office (hence the name), and it’s a
quaint little place serving only seafood and veggie cuisine. Chris had a fantastic wasabi crusted seared
ahi fillet, and I had a pasta dish with goat cheese Chardonnay sauce with tons
of veggies (it originally had shrimp, but I asked for that to be left out)
which was also good. We highly recommend
it for a slightly nicer dinner on the island!
We hopped back in the car for the short drive back to the
Westin (killing a small roach in the car – thankfully, the last we found in the
car on this journey – we killed three in the car total, naming it forever as
the Roach Coach) and hit the hay once we got to our room, as we had an early
morning coming up.
On the next blog post, we sail the open seas! Well, we ride on a boat that is sailing the
open seas!
Later!
Amy
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