Day 2, we settle in

Day two:
Woke this morning to heavy rains and crashing surf. Mary and I had good coffee this morning. Using the aeropress and beans I brought from home, and the condo’s coffee grinder, I produced a decent cup of Joe. – We had our usual oatmeal - also brought from home. If we had been young and ambitious, we probably would have planned an event like ziplining or kayaking or hiking the Na Pali coast in the mud, but it felt decadent to take our time and observe the rain and the wonderful condo.

Just before noon we left to explore our immediate surroundings, we drove over to the area near where we had honeymooned 40 years before, “Hanalei Plantation Resort”. It’s not there anymore. Hurricane Iniki destroyed it in 1992, and it was not rebuilt. We talked to a woman our age who works reception at the nearby Hanalei Bay Resort. She remembered the old Hanalei Plantation and the trams that were used to take guests to their bungalows. Mary and I took one of those tram rides to our bungalow and the memories came flooding back…
Speaking of flooding, the rain came down in buckets today causing the rivers to flow right up to the road. We drove down to the town of Hanalei which used to be a hippie town back in the sixties, but now it’s a surfer haven. This side of Kauai gets big surf from November to March. Snorkeling is out, surfing is in! It’s the opposite in the summer.

Kauai has farmers markets nearly every day of the week in different towns. Today was Hanalei’s turn – it starts right at 2pm and no one is allowed in early. The locals time their arrival for 2pm and there is a frenzy of buying. I thought the prices were moderately cheap to moderately expensive, but that was prior to visiting a supermarket (commercially packaged sandwich bread, $7/loaf). We love farmers' markets because the sellers are always friendly and let you try what you are buying. We went a little overboard. We bought sweet potatoes, fresh basil, a pesto sauce, goat cheese, the sweetest bananas I’ve had in years, a huge locally grown pineapple, giant avocados, limes and a tropical fruit that doesn’t ship well or have a long shelf life called a “rambutan.” It is red and spiny looking. The spines are soft and you eat only the inner part which looks like a large white grape. Study the photo above. We also bought a bouquet of tropical flowers that we’ll enjoy during our week here.
After the FM we were hungry, and our oatmeal breakfast was a long time ago. We found a Brazilian restaurant which featured key lime pina coladas and saucy Brazilian food. Mary pronounced it all as “fabulous”

We finished our supply gathering at the Princeville super food mart. I joined their “club” so we could get the discounts on the outrageously expensive food and wine.

Returning to the condo to dump the food ($200 including lunch), we hiked down to Hideaways Beach. It is at the base of the cliff of our condo. It was steep in the extreme. There are steps that are worse than Cinque Terra paths and a section of mud and roots that require hanging on to ropes which surfers have petonned into the ground or tied onto trees. The reward at the end is a beautiful cove of thick, tan sand. It didn’t even rain on us!