Kauai, Dear! (Day 5)

Day 5 (Tuesday, March 11, 2008)

First thing on the agenda today is a morning snorkel in a little rocked-off pool in a nearby park. This is my first time snorkeling and I’m a bit surprised that I’m coordinated enough to figure out the breathing. Go me! It’s a relaxing swim without waves or undertows. There are a plethora of fish trapped here that give us plenty to see.

We dry off by sitting on the beach and enjoy a first breakfast of fruit and fig cookies and a look through the local paper. And the sound of chickens and chicks and roosters that are never far away.

Oh look... it's me!

Later that afternoon we head west to Port Allen for a whale watching trip up the coast to Na Pali (‘The Cliffs’). We’re asked to leave our shoes at the dock and I hope they don’t meet the same fate as my socks. It’s an excursion lasting all afternoon (and I come home caked with enough sunscreen and saltwater to last the rest of the week).

Heading out on the catamaran we glimpse a few whales flapping their tales or diving – no big breaches, so the captain doesn’t stop. A couple of bottlenose dolphins find us interesting enough to come say hello, though. They ride the waves underneath the boat and give us a few tricks before going to check out a (less interesting) catamaran behind us.

The sky out by Na Pali is clouded over like no other! There are a lot of heavy mists up by the cliffs, giving them quite the Lord-of-the-Rings-esque feel. We get a closer look at some of the shorn off cliffs where part of the island collapsed into the sea forever ago. We can see the layers from lava flows, incredible rock formations, a few caves (where the aquamarine-colored water bounces in and out), and even debris (tin roofs and such) stuck on the side of the cliffs from hurricane Iniki more than 15 years ago. I think that the cliffs look like a pretty fun place to live.

Spoooky

Did your jaw just drop or what?

The sun is setting as we head back to Port Allen and we keep an eye out for whales. When the captain spots some activity he stops and cuts off the engine so we can listen – they lower a doohickey over the side and we get to hear the humpbacks singing. A few breach for us and we linger for a bit, waiting for more breaching or even a fight (which the crew tells us is the thing to see!). It’s getting late, though, so we are full speed ahead back to port.

Both Aunt Linda and I noticed that there was no dessert to go with our lunch earlier (and I felt somewhat cheated since most of the parmesan cheese blew off my salad in the wind). The crew makes things right by passing out cookies now. Aunt Linda asks if we can take two and David says yes. So we do.

Aren't they cute?

I take a few pictures of the sunset and then decide that I’m a bit tired of getting splashed standing on the deck. So I wait in the cabin near the cookies. A crewman tells me I can have some if I want. So I eat two more.

The captain didn't promise we'd see the sun hit the water, unfortunately

When we get back to port my shoes are still there!!! I fight the urge to kiss them and follow everyone to the bathrooms, instead. We make it back to the house after the sun has set and I take great delight in the idea of a shower without salt. And that is just what I get before bed.