Discovering Peace and Tranquility on the Garden Island

My Visit to Kaua'i

Photo by Shinzan Murray on Unsplash

Happy day after Thanksgiving.

I’d planned to write about complaining this week, but there is a different story to tell - related to celebrating my birthday.

It started with a visit to a glass-blowing shop in Santa Cruz, CA, on Sunday, November 16th. With guidance, making a small vase was easy and great fun.

My daughter and her husband wanted to take me to Hawaii to celebrate. Yes, quite a special and very appreciated surprise. So, the following Tuesday, we boarded a plane at 7 in the morning and flew to Kaua’i - an island I’d never been to with a name I didn’t know how to spell.

We’d rented an Airbnb on the ocean in the southern part of the island near the small town of Poipu. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the lanai, overlooking the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets - at least for a few days.

Did you know that roosters are everywhere on that island? I fell in love with them. According to local lore, the hurricanes of 1982 and 1992 destroyed domestic coops, releasing the chickens into the jungles. These domesticated birds then mated with the wild red junglefowl (brought to the islands by the Polynesian), resulting in the feral chickens of today.

We explored the island for five days, from Waimea Canyon State Park on the west coast, also known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, to Princeville and Hanalei on the island's northern side.

One of the many highlights was making chocolate bars at Wild Kaua’i Chocolate. Lance, the owner, instructor, and chocolate maker extraordinaire, led us through the process. It was great fun. To see pictures about our venture: click here and then on the ‘see all photos arrow.’

He explained in great detail the benefits of dark chocolate with little to no sugar for older adults and gave us samples of chocolate tea. Interesting! But not my favorite.

I also discovered nenes, or Hawaiian geese, an endemic bird species of the Islands, for the first time. They are exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Maui, Kauaʻi, Molokai, and Hawaiʻi. In 1957, the nene was designated as the official state bird of the state of Hawaiʻi.

A downside of the trip - those meals by the ocean were short-lived. The Airbnb with the beautiful view had bed bugs, and they bit. So, we had to move and lost our view, but found a lovely replacement. We could walk to the beach and watch the sea turtles in the evening.

I kept up pretty well, did most of what they did - sometimes needing a helping hand - but managing. I even walked 12,000 steps one day (about 5 miles).

The island was filled with small towns, quaint shops, and friendly people. For the most part, there were no street lights, and roosters roamed free.

As you can see, it was quite a magnificent and delightful adventure. However, it was a lot for this 87-year-old body - my knee and stomach complained loudly, so I don’t plan on doing it again.

If I were to consider another trip, though, I’d do a couple of things differently.

• Get first-class seats on the plane if I could afford them.

• Stay at the Airbnb or hotel while they do more rigorous hiking when they want.

• Make it a shorter trip.

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