undercover

The Mother is here, visiting for a week. She deserves a week in the sun (who doesn't?), and I'm glad that she has come while I'm in gorgeous Poipu in the 'sunny south'. The landscape here rolls gently down to the sea, with open fields of tall grasses, clusters of eucalyptus and banyen trees, the profile of a snaking mountain chain in the distance, and imaginary dinosaurs roaming freely. It feels vast, empty and luminous. And yet, people claim the North is even more beautiful. So yesterday being my day off, we headed out to Princeville and Hanalei, which, incidentally, are only about an hour and a half from the South. (Kauai is the northern-most island in Hawaii, and it's pretty cool to look out from its shores, knowing that there's nothing but water for about 2400 miles either west or south. About the same distance from Vancouver to Quebec City.) I admit the scenery in the North is pretty stunning. Its a rain magnet, green and lush. Houses at low elevation are built up on tall stilts - so tall that the 1st floor starts 3 stories up. There's only one road, and on one side you have the dramatic beaches, and on the other, crazy mountains, sheer rock walls and jungle valleys. And caves! I get pretty excited about caves, and as you can see in the pictures below, the cave we saw was no slouch. You could hold a concert in there with an audience of 500, I betcha. I think it will have to be made use of on an upcoming tour. The unfortunate thing about the North is that there's only 1 road to get in and out. So all the lookouts and features along the way are crowded with tourists. What you'd really need to explore this place properly is an overnight pack, good hiking boots, and a brave spirit of adventure and trespassing. Might not be something I get to do on this trip... We found some great trailheads though, so we'll be heading back on another day to hike inland on some legendary trails - exciting!

Back in sunny South, (which I have to say I still prefer) we had a lovely, long, leisurely and illegal swim in the Grand Hyatt pool. The surf has been really high last couple days - hazardous conditions, not good for Mothers. But I discovered this fantasy-land pool the other day... it's like a giant oasis, made out of lava rock and sand, built right into the landscape beside the ocean. It's for 'guests of the Grand Hyatt only', guests identified by their brown-and-white-striped towels. Well, guess who else happens to have brown-and-white striped towels? Mm-hm. Very convenient. We strolled about the grounds afterwards, checked out the palatial inner courtyard, the black swans and koi in the lobby's water garden, the luau shakedown in the outdoor activity room... yawn, how droll. Rooms are only $560-1299 per night. Maybe some other time.

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