Hawaii 2016

Our 2016 trip to Hawaii started in Oahu to attend Deb and Mary's wedding. Then we headed over to our Hanalei Bay timeshare once again for 2 weeks. Max's brother Michael and Rona joined us for our first week and her BFF Maureen and Marke joined us for the second.

Diving

Ocean, weather, and surf conditions were much better than last year at the same time. I was able to get in several North and South shore dives during our time on Kauai.

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1 Ahhh... Hanalei Bay... nice to be back and chill after family fun and Deb and Mary's wedding on Oahu	2 The Wai`oli Hui`ia Church in Hanalei was established by missionaries in 1834 and is on the National Register of Historic Places
3	4 Max's brother Michael and Rona joined us for our first week in Kauai, here at Lumahai Beach
5 It was really windy at Lumahai, surf was crashing, but the colors of sky and water were unreal	6 The Maniniholo Dry Cave is directly across the street from Haena Beach Park. It was originally a sea cave eons ago when the sea level was much higher.
7 Vines out of Indian Jones tumble down the face of the rock wall at Maniniholo Dry Cave	8 Next stop was for some shave ice, but we elected not to use the "additional parking" area
9 Time for shave ice at Wishing Well in Hanalei	10 Mike takes in the quite amazing panoramic view of the bay and the mountains from the historic Hanalei Pier
11	12 This couple knew the right way to enjoy a beautiful afternoon on Hanalei Bay- lounging on a floating platform with drinks in hand
13 Hanalei Pier with Bali Hai in the background- Dave, Max, Michael, and Rona	14 Sipping coffee on the lanai the next morning, the rain cleared and we had a brief rainbow over Hanalei Bay
15 The nene's seem more interested in the puddles on the lanai than my coffee	16
17 The same pair of nene's kept coming back, this time trying to get a glimpse of life on the other side of the screen door	18 Mike Keale performs Monday nights at Tahiti Nui. His latest album was nominated for a Na Hoku, or Hawaiian Grammy award.
19 Mike's wife Linda does the hula	20
21 The islands are indeed small! It turns out that Rabbi Peter Schaktman, who had just married Deb and Mary, had come over to Kauai to officiate at a wedding and was also staying at Hanalei Bay Resort. So, some breakfast coffee and schmoozing on our lanai.	22 Wednesday night we took Michael and Rona to JO2, Jean-Marie Josselin's restaurant in Kapa'a that we consider the best currently on the island
23 The farm and ocean-to-table menu looks pretty awesome	24 Max starts with the butterfish onigiri. Onigiri is traditionally a Japanese fast food- a rice ball filled with something savory.
25 My starter was the "shrimp, marlin, scallop salad" which was marinated in a spicy "bloody mary" tomato broth.	26 Max had the ono kama or collar
27 My main was the braised wagyu beef cheeks	28 Rona and Michael contemplate the massive seafood tower
29 Yeah, dinner at JO2 was mighty fine!	30 Rona and Michael were leaving on Friday, so Thursday night we capped the week by taking them to Bar Acuda in Hanalei
31 Our last meal in Kauai with Rona and Michael	32 Max and I were on our own Friday night, so we went to one of our favorite spots Hukilau Lanai. We sat outside and it happened to be a full moon through the palm trees.
33	34 On Saturday, we headed to the airport to welcome Max's bff Maureen and Marke who were joining us for our second week on Kauai
35 Hanalei Bay Resort has a program where people donate orchids and the grounds staff plants them on the tree of your choice	36 Heron perched at the Westin where we had Sunday brunch with Maureen and Marke
37 Monday night was the first decent sunset over Hanalei Bay and Bali Hai in the week since we'd been on island	38
39 Even better sunset, now we're talking...	40
41 Sunset cocktails at the St. Regis terrace bar with Maureen and Marke	42 We spotted this teenage albatross waiting on the Makai Course near the road, waiting for its parents to return with dinner
43 Our friends Courtney Silk and Bill Walter gave us a gift certificate for a food tour run by the authors of the book "Tasting Kauai". We bought extra tickets for Marke and Maureen and met up with our guide at the food truck "corral" just north of Kapa'a town.	44 The two hour food tour consisted of 3 stops, the first being Gopal's Crêperie where we sampled both savory and sweet crepes
45 Making the crêpes	46 The tomato and pesto crêpe was delicious. Even more amazing is that they were gluten-free, made from a custom blend of garbanzo bean flour.
47 Our second stop on the food tour was Wailua Shave Ice, planted in an empty lot we had never noticed before, right on the main drag in Kapa'a	48 After twenty years, I thought we knew the best shave ice on Kauai... but we were wrong. Wailua Shave Ice makes all of their own organic syrups and the consistency of the ice was amazing. Max shows of Da Almond Joy with coconut milk, nutella, almonds, and roasted coconut flakes.
49 The Wailua Sunrise had orange juice, pineapple juice, and a pineapple orange fruit topping	50 My choice was the Uala Niu, which had coconut milk, purple sweet potatoes, and roasted coconut flakes. I know it sounds weird, but it was ono-licious!
51 Final stop on the food tour was Verde Mexican restaurant	52 Enjoing drinks with Deb who came over to visit from Oahu for a couple of days, at the St. Regis Makana Terrace
53 Maureen and Marke left on Friday, so with Deb we stopped off at the Kauai Juice Co. in Kapaa	54 Max shows off the hot sauces and Deb shows off the awesome kombucha
55 It was time for takeout lunch at Fish Express in Lihue	56 The plate lunches are terrific and each day they put up little cards on the board to indicate what the fish in each of the combos is. My choice was the Thai Chili Shrimp over Kauai greens.
57 Their poke and kimchee selection is also to die for, but not today	58 Getting near the end of the vacation, so time to start selecting a few orchids to ship home at Orchid Alley in Kapa'a
59 One of the orchids Max bought, the bright red tongue is really fuzzy!	60 We also bought this "octopus orchid"
61	62 Pitcher Plant orchids
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