Hawaii -- A Goldilocks Story

Twiggy: 

Hawaii has always held a special significance for Randy and I.  We were engaged in Princeville on Kauai back in 1997 and honeymooned on the Big Island in 1998.

The Engagement Arraignment

The Sentencing

When we lived in San Francisco, it was relatively easy to make the trek to Hawaii.  We visited  the  islands it seems almost every year.  Having said that, we were also kidless for the first few years of our marriage.  Now that we live in New York, Hawaii makes less sense as a vacation destination so instead we get our sun and sand fixes in the Caribbean.  It's been at least 10 years since our last trip to Hawaii.  

Having now spent the last two and a half weeks on the Hawaiian Islands, in my humble opinion, nothing beats Hawaii, period.  It has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, is part of the United States where you can use your cell phone to make calls just as if you are state side,  you can drink the water out of the tap, and people drive on the right side of the road ("Literally", as Joe Biden would say), and it is still exotic.  

Campbell has had an obsession with Hawaii for the past few years, and over the last year she has been telling anyone that would listen that she was going to visit Hawaii and attend a luau even before we had planned the trip.  We left the Great White Sienna loaded with the cowboy clothes at the hotel in LA and flew to Honolulu.  

Each of the islands has its own tempo.  Oahu is the busiest with Honolulu a built up city with traffic jams and bustle.  Kauai is very quiet, particularly on the north side near Hanalei and Princeville. Maui is spread out and somewhat in between although it does not have any cities, just smaller villages. 

We planned on spending 3 days in Oahu and then continue on to the northern part of Kauai in Princeville for a week, then finish up with a week in Maui in the Ka'anapali region.  This was all part of the vacation which was set up about a year ago.  

Oahu

The kids were disappointed that most hotels have given up the long-held tradition of greeting their guests with a fresh flower lei.  Nevertheless, everyone got over it after having arrived at the hotel and seeing the beautiful open lobby looking out onto the Pacific Ocean, feeling the cool trade winds, and celebrating our arrival with a a mai tai for the adults and a virgin pina colada for the kids.  The tiki torches were lit, the palm trees were swaying and everyone was happy.

Rainbow seen from George's kitchen window

Upon our arrival, we were to connect with our friend, George Mimura and his boys, Alex (14) and Andrew (10) who moved to Oahu about a year ago.  They were flying back home from the mainland about the same time we were to arrive, but George got food poisoning on the plane and we put off meeting until the next day.  George and the boys met us at the pool at our hotel the next day and we decided to go out to the beach where we rented some boogie boards and a stand-up paddle board for the kids, eventually adding a kayak to the mix.    

The water was about 75 degrees in temperature and perfectly clear.  The kids did not hesitate to jump right in.  Within a few short minutes, Campbell, who is 6 years old, had paddled out on a boogie board about 1/4 mile from shore  (about 3/4 of the way to where the waves are breaking in the picture below).  Of course this made Twiggy and me much more nervous than Campbell who seemed oblivious to any danger.  

George and Grant Turtle Hunting

Somehow everyone switched up water toys and Reagan and Campbell ended up on the SUP board with Andrew.  When the ever fearless Campbell saw a sea turtle swim under her, she was determined to swim alongside it and pet it, not once thinking that she might get her finger bitten off.  So she jumps off the board and dives down underwater in pursuit of the turtle which she eventually touches.

We enjoyed Oahu, and if we lived in Hawaii, we would probably choose to live here.   Clearly there are great food choices as well as a large international population there, particularly among the Japanese -- in fact, I would venture that one could live in Honolulu and only speak Japanese.  And despite Oahu's traffic and bustle, there are plenty of remote places away from Waikiki on the island that are readily accessible.  Having said that, for a vacation respite, I would prefer one of the other islands.  

Kauai

We flew to Kauai the following day for our week stay in Princeville.  Princeville is located on the northern, wet end of the island (Waialea, a mountain on the north end of the island is reportedly the wettest place on earth with over 450 inches of rain on average per year).   According to Wikipedia, Princeville was named by the plantation owner in honor of a visit to the area by Prince Albert Kamahemahe.  He named another area of the plantation Emmaville in honor of Prince Kamahemahe's mother, but the name never stuck.  Whereas Waikiki is tourist central with shops galore, Kauai is the complete opposite, a bit too quiet for my taste but beautiful nonetheless.   

Our weeks in Hawaii were more about activities than sightseeing.  We spent  a few days of our week in Kauai snorkeling at Tunnels Beach, almost at the end of the road past Hanalei.  To give you a sense of how less developed this part of Hawaii is, to get there we had to traverse numerous one-lane bridges that crossed streams or portions of taro fields, waiting for cars the other way to either clear the bridge or wait their turn before proceeding across ourselves.

One day Reagan, Grant and I rented bikes and rode the WaiKoa Loop Trail through Kauai Fresh Farms, a 500 acre farm which is owned by E-trade founder, Bill Porter.  Part of the farm includes the largest mahogany plantation in the United States.  Our plans were to meet up with Twiggy and Campbell at a waterfall created by an old stone dam originally built to provide irrigation water to the sugar cane plantation that used to be there.  I struggled on the first half of the journey cursing at first what I thought to be impediments of my age but when I realized the kids were having issues too, I blamed it on having to ride on grass the whole way.  I found the real cause of the difficulty on the way home where it quickly became apparent that while the route looked flat, it was imperceptibly uphill the whole way.  The trip back took a lot less effort and a lot less time and the bruise to my ego quickly healed.

Grant at the Prince Course in Princeville

Another afternoon Grant and I golfed at the Prince Course which is the number one rated course in Hawaii.  It was truly beautiful and worth just cruising around on the cart, even if you didn't play.  

While Grant and I were golfing, Twiggy and the girls went to the beach at the St. Regis and chased eels while snorkeling.  

Twiggy, Reagan, Grant and Campbell all suited up

Our last activity on Kauai was an ATV tour on the Kipu Ranch.  On one of our previous trips to the islands, Twiggy and I had taken an ATV tour through coffee fields and had a blast.  We did not expect this tour to be the same, especially since one probably shouldn't go full bore with kids bouncing around the vehicle inhaling red dust.  However, this tour was well worth the time, taking us through a privately owned farm which has been used for filming locations in many famous movies, including, among others, Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones.  The location was beautiful, there was not as much ATV activity but the tour offered unique access to a special location and it was great for the kids who got to swing off the same rope into the Hule'li River that Harrison Ford swung off evading captors in Indiana Jones.     

Grant as Indiana Jones

Maui

On Saturday, we flew from Kauai to Maui via Honolulu.  When I went to pick up the rental car at the airport, I was told I had made a mistake (this did not shock me too much as when I was arranging everything, I was having trouble remembering the city names given the proliferation of vowels and shortage of consonants in their names) and booked a car at their facility in Kauai that week instead of the facility at the airport on Maui.  Of course they were booked up and could not simply rent me another car.  After some negotiating, I arranged for us to get a reasonable price on a true land yacht -- a Crown Victoria -- which not only drove exactly like the 1971 Ford LTD that my parents owned, it looked about as dated on the inside as well.  Anyway, feeling like a member of Five-O, I swung around to pick up the family and immediately took my share of grief.  On the other hand, one fun part was watching other drivers start to panic and slow down when they saw us in their rear view mirrors.

Our timeshare was in a very large development in Kana'apali area of Maui, next to one of the best beaches in Maui.  All the units are housed in one very large building and by the time we got to the room through a seemingly never-ending maze-like collection of corridors I felt like I deserved a pellet.  It took us three days to find an efficient way to the pool and the car.  Having said that, the resort was nice and our accommodations were very spacious and comfortable. 

The kids on the Kapalua Resort Coastal Trail

Twiggy's sister, Karen, was also on Maui staying at a resort just south of where we were staying.  One day we met up with her and her friend, Vesna, and decided to explore the Kapalua Resort Coastal Trail which was about 14 miles north of where we were.  This was an incredible walk.  As we started walking along the Coastal Trail, we were in awe.  It was a place where every time you turned a corner, the view was as good as or better than the last.  We were stopping every 300 feet to take pictures and I was wondering if we would ever get more than 1/4 mile down the trail. Shortly, we came to a point where you could walk down and check out some tide pools formed in the lava rocks.  So we did, and as we were about to continue on, a few suspect looking guys come tumbling down onto the point and jump into the water about 6 feet below.  They keep getting out and jumping back in.  They appear to be low-wattage types, with low hanging shorts that expose their backsides, tattoos and the large primal earrings.  We engage them in conversation and they are completely nice people, but my first impressions about the wattage are confirmed when I notice that one of them takes his large dive knife out each time before he jumps in, then he re-sheaths it, climbs out, and repeats the process.  I ask him why and he says it is because he is afraid of sharks.  Anyway, the kids eventually end up jumping off in the same spot and we spend another 30 minutes there, watching a few large turtles come close by.  I find a seat on the rocks nearby as I don't have my bathing suit with me and I am getting warmer by the moment (note-to-self: never go anywhere in Hawaii without a bathing suit).

We continue along the trail through a ground-nesting bird sanctuary and eventually come to a large cove where people are jumping off of rock cliffs in various places from about 15-20 feet above the water.  The water is clear and reasonably deep.  After Aunt Karen and Vesna jump, Reagan is determined to go.  At this point I give it about 1 in 40 odds that she actually goes through with it.  But to my surprise, she takes the leap.  I am glad she had the opportunity to see Karen and Vesna jump as I don't think she would have done it with just our family there.  Even more to my surprise, Grant decides to go too:  

So for the next hour or so, everybody but Twiggy and I are frolicking in the cool water and taking turns jumping off of the cliff.   I am getting hotter and hotter by the minute.  Eventually I can't stand it anymore and decide to shed my shirt, belt and everything in my pockets and jump in too.  Twiggy is left in the scorching sun and dry heat alone without a bathing suit.  Then the kids start cajoling her to come in.  This cajoling goes on for some time and reaches a pretty high level of intensity before Twiggy slowly relents and agrees to come in.  But, for anyone who has not seen Twiggy enter a pool, she does it very, very slowly.  There is no jump, even from a modest height for her.  So she creeps over the rocks and eventually gets into the water -- stepping on a sea urchin and embedding its spines into the sole of her foot in the process.  

There were a number of local Polynesian-types hanging around who told us she had stepped on Wana.  That led to some discussion in our group over whether Wana was sea urchin or some other peril of the ocean.  Her foot was going numb and becoming swollen.  The locals were insistent that the remedy was to pee on it.  Twiggy balked at that, but as we were leaving, making our way back up the hill, we left to choruses of rotund Hawaiians shouting after us "Pee on it!".     We eventually fetched our car with the help of some German tourists and made our way back to the hotel, stopping to purchase some vinegar on the way.  They sell it by the gallon here, so I don't think this is an uncommon problem.  Twiggy soaked her foot in vinegar for the bulk of the evening and eventually the numbness went away and most of the spines disintegrated after a few days.  

Turtle off of Wailea

The following day we took a snorkel trip to Molokini with Trilogy Tours.  The boat was a very large catamaran and very stable, but we the hour long trip across the strait was heading into rolling waves and Grant became seasick and fed the fish off the stern of the boat for a while.  After snorkeling at Molokini the boat stopped again near Wailea where there are a lot of turtles.  Overall the snorkeling was OK, the food was good, the service was incredible and the overall experience made for a good day.  

The following night we attended the Old Lahaina Luau.  Twiggy had set this up more than a month in advance.  We had great seats and it was a pretty cool experience: roasted pig, hula dancers, great venue on the water, good service, all you can eat and drink.  The kids loved it.  I was expecting some dudes that threw, twirled or ate fire, but was disappointed that was not part of the show. 

Who doesn't like women in coconut bikinis?

On our last full day in Hawaii we went down to the Black Rock area of Kaanapali beach.  People were again jumping off the rocks here, but they were not as high as the jump in Kapalua. Nevertheless, Reagan and Grant had to take the leap.  

Grant does Black Rock

First impressions: Oahu is too busy, Kauai is too quiet, and Maui is just right.