Kauaii

Up at dawn, bags by the door for pickup, coach to Honolulu Airport for lengthy check-in/security process (no NEXUS here) and finally squoze in to the last row of seats in the overcrowded Hawaii Air B717 to Kawai.  Elapsed time so far?  Four hours.  Flight time to Kauai?  Nineteen minutes.

From Lihue airport on Kauai, we bussed to the Wailua River for lunch and a leisurely boat-ride up the river (complete with Hula dancer) to the Fern Grotto.  The grotto is a natural cave in a u-shaped cut in the mountain, carved by a waterfall and surrounded by ferns hanging upside down from the rock face.  The ferns were all destroyed by a hurricane in 1992 and have just started to regrow.

Then finally to our hotel in time for Happy Hour, a complementary Mai Tai and sticker shock at the $13.95/day charge for internet access.  Happily, a lovely dinner, outdoors in the courtyard, near the triple pool, with the sound of the surf in the background and an absolutely perfect temperature soothed all woes away.

Wailua Falls

Fern grotto

Upside-down ferns growing in grotto

Wedding hula

Flower of the Pau tree

Pink Torch Ginger flower (also available in red or white)

Kauai Beach Resort Hotel Courtyard

Dinner overlooking courtyard

Not-quite Blue Moon over Hawaii