Mammoth Doesn't Go to Hawaii Day 2

 Tuesday 8/9/22

The condo was on a corner of a high cliff with all the beautiful ocean at its feet. It was magical--windows on the bedroom and two corners of the living room looked out over a perfect ocean view, and the little Lanai felt like it was perched on the top of the world. There were a few palm trees scattered here and there, but mostly the world was wide open, with closely mown grass underfoot that rounded off rapidly onto a steep bank overgrown with low, closely matted bushes.  It looked like you could easily climb down--until you looked twice and saw how tangly the undergrowth could be.

I had complained about the lack of air conditioning, but really, we didn't need it. The wind blew constantly (we were on the windward side of the island) and kept us cool. I had to wear a hoodie in the mornings.  Every time we arrived back at the condo, we opened up all the windows and were breezy cool.  At night I aimed the floor fan at Ed and he seemed to have no trouble sleeping. I slept like a log, deliciously.

 There weren't a lot of sea birds to enjoy, but there were a few frigatebirds and white-tailed tropicbirds sailing around the cliffs. On the ground, a handful of chestnut munia came to visit us every morning along with the eternal chickens, Hawaii's alarm clock. On the first morning we were visited by Nene!!!  The Hawaiian native goose. They were nearly wiped out on Oahu and the big island by mongoose and feral cats, but they'd recently been introduced to Kawai (no mongoose here!) and were thriving. We saw them every day, especially on the golf courses.   Lovely little things, smaller than a Canada Goose and a lot quieter.

The guidebook recommended a breakfast place called The Spot, so we stood in line and got our food there. It wasn't a super long line, but it was the first of many, many lines we would stand in for the duration. But we were still on mainland time, so we both got up early and were there, waiting, when they opened at eight.

It was pretty good, too.  Not the fried rice I'd hoped for in Hawaii, but a bowl of brown rice with eggs, veggies, and avocado. the rice was a little crunchy, but overall it was nicely tasty.  A couple of chopped jalapenos would have made it better.

Walk to beach--wow. The beach trail was more of a steep climb down a jungle cliff. First you went down, then hiked a bit, then down to a building that was probably utility shed of some sort, then down through a jungle forest with distracting birds all over, then straight, then down some more, and at last scrambling across a rocky shelf at the bottom of the cliff...you arrived at a lovely little beach. The sand was freakishly coarse--it reminded me of Kosher salt with a brownish tint. There were only a few people there, but as we sat around for a rest before the climb back up, a couple of spear fishers came and put on their gear.

 

The little beach was somewhat protected by a reef (is that what they call it?) of rocks that were breaking the big waves and only letting the little ones in. I can't judge distance but I'd say the swim to the rocks would be easy-breezy for a good swimmer. Impossible for me, of course. But it probably never got deep enough that you couldn't have stood up anywhere--until a wave knocked you over.

We decided to try it anyway, but to launch off the rocks because Ed didn't want to get sand in his shorts. Next day.

Then we drove to Foodland, again, and hit a farmer's market down the road. We ate some really good shaved ice + ice cream at JoJo's.  The recipe was simple, but the results were splendid--a scoop of macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom, a mound of shaved ice with artificial flavoring syrup on top, and a "whitecap" of kahlua cream.

Then we had a not so great dinner at the Dolphin Restaurant--the poke appetizer was okay, nothing special, but the grilled fish was overcooked and dry. There is no excuse for a $30 serving of fresh fish to be dry. When we got the bill, we found that they accidentally put a sushi roll charge on it. Accident or error, I don't know, but a real bummer.  All this occurred after arriving a little after five, getting on a waiting list which they didn't even start processing until 5:30, then still waiting fifteen minutes more to be seated. It was not a dinner to remember.