| Joan and Bill spent two weeks on Kauai (one week in the north, near Princeville, the next in the south (Poipu)). It turned out to be a fortuitous choice of travel dates, as the weather back home evidently was not so pleasant.
We ate wonderful fish (purchased in Hanalei at Dophin or in Koala at Koala Fish) - ono, ahi tuna, opah, monchong, striped marlin, mahi-mahi, onaga, gray snapper. Plus poke (spicey tuna and langostino) and sushi rolls (tuna/crab). Joan snorkeled every day in Poipu, and charted her sightings, which include about fifty species identified (see below)  Bill had fun with his new camera (goodbye point-and-shoot). It's a Sony a6000, a compromise between lens and weight. At one pound, it fits in a pocket (but Mae West would notice) and with its relatively big sensor (APS-C: 24 MP, 12 bit) it takes nice pics. Thanks to Jon Nelson and Paul Winters for their helpful advice.
64 images  2. view from our patio - across a jungly ravine  3. Guess which was our rental car: red chevy muscle car convertible, wimpy chevy spark, or rugged 4WD jeep wrangler. Answer below picture  4. ne ne geese (endangered species) visited us daily  5. jungle fowl hen and five chicks visited often  6. Joan toured the Limahula Gardens, part of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens (more later). Meanwhile, ...  7. ...Bill hiked the initial part of the Na Pali coast - the Kalalau Trail (here, looking back towards Hanalei)  8.  9. slip and trip on much of the trail  10. view of the famous Na Pali coast, most of it inaccessible by land  11. Several days later, we viewed the Na Pali coast from the water on a five hour excursion via catamaran  12. This beach is the end of the Kalalau Trail, where backpackers camp.  13.  14.  15. King Kong rock  16. the weather was exceptionally clear and calm for February, we were told  17. the vertical stripes were lava tubes  18.  19. If you look near the top of this picture...  20. ...you see backpackers nearing the end of the 11 mile Kalalau trail. They will spend a few days camping on the beach, then retrace their route (no other option)  21.  22. If you look near the center of the picture...  23. ... goats  24. returning to port at sunset. The distant island is Niihau, the "Forbidden Island," privately owned and highly restricted. President Obama's recent request to visit was turned down.  25. Moving from Princeville on the rugged north shore, we rented a condo at the Kiahuna Plantation in Poipu on the more placid south shore  26. People gathered each evening at the shore to watch the sun setting...  27. ... including us, with mai tais  28.  29. we looked carefully each evening, but saw no green flash  30.  31. dusk from our patio  32. egret  33. Snorkeling every morning, Joan identified about fifty different species of reef fish, including the ones pictured here (copied from her field guide)  34. A walk around the beautiful Kiahuna grounds, where there are both an orchid garden and a cactus garden (started by the plantation owner's wife)  35. .. and also magnificent trees, especially the monkeypod...  36. ... with massive limbs...  37. ... and delicate leaves  38.  39. the leafless ones are plumeria  41. ubiquitous ginger  42. hibiscus   43.  45. orchids galore...  46.  47.  48.  49.   50. We visited a second National Tropical Botancal Garden (Allerton/McBryde), which was only 10 minutes away. Like Limahula on the north shore, these are dedicated to restoring and protecting Hawaii's native plants. It is a daunting challenge, because there are so very many introduced and invasive competitors (plants and animals).  51.  52.  53.  54. A folly, erected last summer in celebration of the garden's fiftieth anniversary. Built entirely with sticks and vines of invasive species, cut from the grounds  56.  57. cycad, a very early land plant - 400 million years old (the species, not the plant)  58.  59.  60.  62. Beauty, and beside it, beast   63.  64.  |