 1 We arrived in Kauai from Honolulu on Saturday, where we met up with Billy and Becky who had flown in the day before. Grabbing lunch on our way up to Princeville, we discovered that Kauai helpfully provides identification signs for the endemic flora. The Noclimb Tree is found nowhere else in the world. |
 2 Time to stock up the fridge at the condo. Mmmm... what to get... yes! Miles of aisles of spam! |
 3 Yet more tasty goodness in the frozen case..... brains.... porkishly delicious.... |
 4 I love mochi and I love peanut butter. The freakish iridescent purple hue is a little off-putting though.... |
 5 Becky and Max heading out for Mother's Day brunch on Sunday morning |
 6 Torch ginger outside our door |
 7 Bill and Becky enjoying the heavy surf at Lumahai Beach on Sunday afternoon |
 8 Roadside memorial, Hawaiian style, across the road from Lumahai Beach |
 9 Becky arranged for the four of us to have lomi lomi massages Monday morning at Auntie Angeline's in Anahola. In the 15+ years we have been going to Kauai we had never been there before. It was the most sublime and healing massage experience we have ever had. Two masseueses work together on each person, from a steam bath, to a salt scrub, and then to the massage itself. |
 10 Aloha signs guide the way to Auntie Angeline's |
 11 Plumeria blossoms scattered about scent the air near the entrance |
 12 The entrance to Auntie Angeline's which somehwat resembles a ramshackle Swiss Family Robinson collection of cabanas, decks, and huts amidst the foliage. |
 13 Spiritual contentment after the most awesome lomi lomi massages evah |
 14 Mike Keale plays Monday nights at Tahiti Nui (the bar from The Descendants). Guaranteed that at several points during the set, the waitresses stop their waitressing and do the hula. |
 15 Mike Keale with Koko Kaneali'i on bass, Mike's wife Linda doing the hula |
 16 Mike Keale holds court Monday nights at Tahiti Nui in Hanalei. Koko Kaneali'i on bass and the Tahiti Nui waitresses take a break to do the hula. |
 17 Wednesday night was the first really good sunset since we'd been on island. Beautiful light show as the sun sets over Hanalei Bay with Bali Hai (Mt. Makana) in the background |
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 20 The next day, Maxine took this double-rainbow photo while golfing the Makai Course |
 21 Chef Justin Smith's outdoor farm-dinner dining experience Kauai Ono had moved since the previous year from Hanalei to the grounds of the Princeville Ranch. |
 22 Same food-truck kitchen and dining tent, just different ambience |
 23 Kalua pig with hand pounded poi, on top of sauteed taro leaves |
 24 Beef short ribs topped with Okinawa sweet potato |
 25 Yummy mango chocolate flourless brownie |
 26 Picture perfect day at Anahola Beach Park |
 27 Lots of families and kids, but lots of wide open space to enjoy the day. Billy showed me how to take panoramas with my tablet, et voila! |
 28 Awww... Billy is so supportive... |
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 30 With my sudden new ability to take panoramas with my tablet, opportunities abounded. Couldn't resist taking a few from the upper areas of the resort, this one was more mountain-side. |
 31 And this is the Hanalei Bay Resort pool area, looking out and down towards Hanalei Bay in the distance |
 32 Chef Jean-Marie Josselin had just recently opened a restaurant in Kapa'a called JO2. The reviews were phenomenal and we agree, probably the best fine dining on the island. |
 33 Sunday night we headed over to Tiki Iniki, Todd and MIchelle Rundgren's relatively new tiki bar, for dinner and drinks |
 34 Libations and tiki glasses waiting to hold them |
 35 The happy crew for drinks and grindz at Tiki Iniki |
 36 Bill gets his flaming zombie on |
 37 Max's dessert is flaming also, the waitress had to add extra rum (what a shame) to get the proper effect |
 38 Monday afternoon it cleared up, so I drove up the Kapaka St. towards the Powerline Trailhead to find more panoramic photo opportunities. I got this shot of Hanalei Valley and wildlife refuge from a clearing off the side of the road. |
 39 Tuesday was perfect for a day at Anini Beach |
 40 The crabs were also digging the sun... |
 41 ... and the sand |
 42 Okay, it seems I apparently reached the limits of my panorama abilities. I took this one standing in waist deep water, but the geometry is distorted and makes the long stretch of sand appear like an isolated point. |
 43 Tuesday night almost-sunset from the lawn at Hanalei Bay Resort. Just after this photo, the sun dipped behind the clouds, but it was pretty while it lasted. |
 44 After the almost-sunset, we headed back to Tahiti Nui in Hanalei for dinner and Kanack Attack- Darryl Gonzales and Koko Kaneali'i, with a friend doing the hula |
 45 Thursday evening we took the Makai Golf Course's "Sunset Tour". A first for us, but we had so much fun we will definitely do this again. The idea is you rent golf carts around 5pm, they stock the coolers with ice and water, you supply your own libations and snackage. |
 46 You have the carts until just after sunset at 7:15 and they provide a little map with the best vantage points and photo ops. Pretty cool and awesome views! |
 47 Billy gets remedial lessons on driving a golf cart, good preparation for the retirement community |
 48 Speed bumps for those that engage sport-mode |
 49 Billy and Becky on the fairway |
 50 A stand of plumeria trees surrounded one of the greens |
 51 With the golfers and their errant balls off the course, the nene's had free reign. They only had to avoid the roaming drunk sunset viewers. |
 52 Big water hazard |
 53 Billy and Max are having fun |
 54 Getting prepped for sunset |
 55 The St. Regis on the right, with Hanalei Bay and Bali Hai behind |
 56 Baby albatross nesting on the course |
 57 And momma albatross keeping watch |
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 59 Sunset golf babes looking for birdies |
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 61 Watching the sun set old school style! |
 62 Friday was our last full day on island and it turned out a bit rainy, so it was not destined to be a beach day. We had lost a few orchids in the last couple of years, so we started scouting out places that would ship to the mainland. Yelp turned up Orchid Alley in Kapa'a with rave reviews. We were puzzled though, since it was on the main drag and we had never noticed it before. Turns out, it is indeed literally an alley, sandwiched between two other building and barely noticeable unless you are looking for it. |
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 64 The alley between the buildings is sheltered by plastic sheeting and filled to the brim with orchids of every imagineable variety |
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 66 Max makes the shipping arrangements for the orchids we selected. They arrived several days after we returned home. Having shipped many over the years, we were extremely impressed with the care taken in the packing, not a single bloom was disturbed or out of place. |
