Stuck in the Honolulu Airport.

On our way here last Wednesday, we thought the Honolulu airport was the least friendly and most unhelpful airport we had ever been in.  Keep in mind we just came from Ohare one of the busiest airports. 

Then we flew inter-island to Lihue, Kauai. Lihue people are so friendly and just happy people.  

Now today, we have spent the entire day in the airport. First when we checked in to Hawaiian Air, we realized they changed our flight without notifying us. I even checked my spam mail. The flight was moved up over an hour. This made our layover in Honolulu 4 hours not 3. 

After departing the inter-island flight, we tried using the signs to the shuttle for the mainland/international flights.  We asked for directions but we were told to just walk. It was a 40 minute walk but that was okay because we had a crazy 4 hour layover and we needed to burn some of those shave ice calories. 

We boarded the plane at 4:00. At 5:30 we all got off the plane. Mechanical issues. Since then the sun has gone down and we have no idea how or when we will get off this island. 

Hey, but they gave us cookies, chips, soda and water. <sarcasm>

Exciting news, they just announced that we might leave at 8:00 tonight. That means another hour wait. 

Looking at the text notifications from United, we were also going to leave at 4:30, 4:45, 5:15, 7:15 and now 8:00. Hmmmm.

Update:

10:00 am - back in Chicago, baggage picked up. 35 degrees!!!  Brrrrr

Now a 2-1/2 drive to home :-)

Last full day in Kauai

Today was our last full day in Kauai.  We could come up with a month's worth of things to yet do, but time has run out and next week we will be back to our old routines but remembering all the wonderful experiences we had on Kauai.

We started our morning with a Kauai must do - we headed to the Kmart parking lot to find Malasadas.  It was just a little stand about the size of a food truck on the sidewalk out in front of the store.  Kelsey, our new friend, told us we had to try them before we left.  Malasadas are this wonderful warm ball of fried dough covered in sugar or cinnamon sugar.  So amazing and so affordable.  They were 3 for $2.  We bought 3 of each.  They are so big, that we saved 2 for tomorrow morning.

For all people visiting Kauai - Kmart is the place for souvenirs.  We found some of the exact same items as found in the small gift shops, but for much less.

From there we headed to the Hawaiian Village for lunch and an afternoon of fun.  We followed a 1-1/2 lane-wide winding road to the bottom of the mountain.  When meeting an oncoming vehicle, one of the drivers must pull to the side to allow the other to pass.

There we found the Chef George of Da Jungle food truck, recommended by Owen.  We shared a chicken gyro and an organic shave ice made with real fruit juices.  Before that we thought we had tasted the best shave ice on the island but the real mango and strawberry juices made this so very tasty.

At the entrance to the Hawaiian village we were greeted by a cat in a lei.  Well actually we were not greeted by her; she raised her head and gave us a lazy look as she was sprawled out on the steps.  Later we found her in a basket on the table, again giving us lazy looks.

We enjoyed walking around the grounds of the Village.  Everything in Kauai is so green and colorful.  This area was no exception.  One very cool plant we saw was sleeping grass - a fern like plant.  This was crazy - when we touched the leaves, they fold inward and the entire branch fell back to the stem. The flowering trees in Kauai are so pretty.  I wish I had taken more pictures of all the blooms.  This is truly the Garden Isle.

Jaclyn, really, was this so important to you to write your name in the tree?

Owen works at the Hawaiian Village.  He suggested we should try a kayak trip down the Wailua River.  We spent about an hour winding our way down the river and back.  It was so relaxing, listening to all the birds along the river banks.  And yes we even saw a chicken - geez!

Hey Owen, hope all the tuna sold from our fishing trip!

After leaving the Hawaiian Village we drove back up the narrow, steep winding road to the ridge.  From there we could stop at multiple lookouts.  From the first vantage point we could see the river, kayakers and the Hawaiian village below.

On the north side of the ridge road we could see the Opaekaa Falls - they were so pretty.  Nothing like we would see back home.

Back in town, we decided to check out the souvenir shops and find dinner.  I had read about the shave ice in the back of Hee Fat General Store.  

The girl working the stand suggested that we should try the fresh fruit juices on our shave ice, made right in the store.  We had just experienced the organic juice shave ice at Chef George's so we figured that was the way to go.  We shared a macadamia nut ice-cream, raspberry and passion fruit topped with snow cap sweet cream.  Oh my!  We just found the absolutely most amazing shave ice.  Hee Fat has the best shave ice on the island, hands down.

We strolled through the shops, purchasing a few items for family back home.

We happened across another food truck, El Taco Feliz.  Again I went with the fish taco.  It was quite good but I still think the taco on the north shore road trip was the best.

Time to head back for the night.  We decided to spend an hour on the beach just enjoying the sounds of the surf.  It was a pretty night.  By 9:00 it started getting chilly so we headed back.  Earlier on our way out to the beach we met the new Mr. & Mrs. Smith from North Carolina.  They were just starting their honeymoon.  After their time at the pool and our hour at the beach they stopped by our condo and we shared our left over sodas & water from our trip.  We hope they have as fabulous a time as we did on Kauai.

It will be sad to go back to the midwest.  We will bring back wonderful memories of friendly people, beautiful scenery and fabulous adventures.  Mahalo Kauai for your hospitality.  A special thank you to Owen & Kelsey. 

Kintaros Japanese Restaurant.

After a wonderful day of fishing, we met Owen and Kelsey for dinner.  To check one more thing off my bucket list, they chose Kintaros Japanese Restaurant.  We had dinner served tapas style.  Owen and Kelsey did all the ordering for all of us including drinks.

First off they brought us complimentary wontons and poke.  Then we enjoyed various sushi selections, friend calamari and dynamite mussels.  Everything was so full of flavor and very tasty.

Every one of our meals on Kauai has been very good from the food trucks to the sit down restaurants.  This dinner was definitely at the top of the list. Thank you again Owen and Kelsey for introducing us to great Japanese/Kauai food and joining us for dinner.

Fried calamari

Sushi roll topped with smoked salmon

Sushi roll

Dynamite mussels

Deep sea fishing for tuna

This day was beyond amazing for so many reasons.  During our visit to Kauai we struck up a friendship with Owen and Kelsey, both born in Hawaii and residents of Kauai. They are the sweetest couple.  On Owen's days off, he likes to go fishing for whatever is biting.  Currently it is yellow fin tuna.  He invited us along for the day.

We started the day at the marina, launching his 19' boat in to the bay.  He put 2 ti leaves in a pole sleeve in the back of the boat for good luck - old Hawaiian tradition.

Seeing Kauai from the ocean is a beautiful experience.  The waters were much rougher than we have in the lakes of the midwest, but calm for the Pacific Ocean.  Owen maneuvered the boat beautifully out of the bay and then east of Lihue.  We trolled 5 lines for "the big stuff" along the way.

Once we reached his favorite fishing spot, about 7 miles out, we brought in the lines and switched poles and lures.  Yellow fin bite close to the surface.  We trolled and jigged back and forth through the area for around 6 hours, catching 12 fish.  There were a couple others but they broke the lines.

We kept the fish on ice all day.

We had an issue with the shearwater seabirds.  They had their good side in showing us good fishing areas, but they also attacked and destroyed our lures.  They also, over time, damaged the fishing lines making them more vulnerable to breaking when we had a good catch.  On 2 occasions, we had to bring in birds and pull the lures out to rescue them.  First time I have ever caught a bird.  Other times the birds just picked up the lures and flew with them.

Hey Jeff, just a little deeper than Upper Eau Claire Lake?

After a full day of fishing, it was time to head back to the dock.  Eight hours, 12 beautiful fish and the memories of a lifetime.  What an amazing way to bring our trip to a close - only 1-1/2 days left.  We can not thank Owen enough for this opportunity!

SCUBA

Here are pics from our scuba dive on Tuesday.  We have had some conversations with the dive company but I still will not describe the dive.  After paying over well over $400, they are reimbursing us $25 - whatever.

These are pics from my second dive.  It was actually a fun dive.  Much more professionally handled.  Chris, my dive master was taking the pics.

Chickens, chickens, chickens are everywhere

This is crazy. I think the chicken population of Kauai might exceed the human population. Well not really but there are feral chickens everywhere. Most are adorned with vibrant plumage. They are in the parking lots, along side the road, parks, beaches and even open air restaurants.

In the evening chickens may even be found roosting in the trees. 

Somehow they have no concept of time and crow absolutely all day long. We have been told that there are no preditors on the island so the chicken population just keeps multiplying.  

They also have no fear of people. They will just walk up to you like a pigeon in Central Park. If you are eating they will beg for a bite, even right off your sandwich. 

I guess that was not a chicken....

This was at the Shrimp Station restaurant. Chickens were in all the garbage cans just scavenging for leftovers.