Kauai, day 1
Rain today, off and on all day, made for a lazy start to our stay here. Lots of good writing time, I’m glad to say, which brought this choral piece even closer to a conclusion. Now at a point of beginning-to-end completeness, just tweaking. 95% done, adjusting and readjusting some tempi, cutting a few things to tighten up pacing, and working on the biggest picture and the rhythmic/dramatic motion of the whole.
Midafternoon—didn’t get motivated to leave the writing desk until nearly 3pm—we took advantage of a lull in the weather to take a drive to a few recommended spots nearby. We drove to Queen’s Bath, along the way discovering just how upscale this area is. Resorts, enormous homes (though very cookie-cutter), golf courses, etc., make for a lovely drive. Arriving near Queen’s Bath, we see a hidden trail with about six parking spots nearby, and no room for us to leave our car in the midst of this posh neighborhood. We’ll head there again in the coming days, as it’s really just a few moments from our place.
We drove onward to Hanalei, a little town a few miles west of us. We drove through the town at first, heading to Hanalei Pier. This Hanalei Bay is just a gorgeous setting, as you’ll see in the video.
We then backtracked into the little town, driving through the beachfront area first. A very interesting drive, actually, with $5-10 million homes on the water (many for sale), and much more average-to-run-down homes on the 2nd row from the water. Driving two blocks away from the water, to the main road, showed homes, schools, churches, etc., which reminded us more of Molokai than the waterfront of Kauai.
Hanalei Center is a few blocks long, a cozy commercial area filled with surf shops, shaved ice and ice cream shops, lots of retail, restaurants, a few pizza places, etc. All very low-key and pleasant. Pattie found a shop that really suited her fancy, and I walked around a bit. We did particularly enjoyed this shop, with creative carvings and jewelry with shells from the Na Pali coast.
Rain, rain, rain in the forecast for the coming days here on the north shore. We’re heading down to the south shore (Koloa) for some diving over the next few days, and hoping the seas are calm and the underwater visibility clear.
