Feb 27- chill day to clean things up

Lazy morning...trying to find 1/2 & 1/2 cream...... you would think that would be easy....NOT! 

So....I might have done what I did yesterday at the coffee station in the grocery store.....I might have borrowed 6 single serve creamers.....just saying....but I did buy pastry....to go with the creamers in our coffee...

Booked a luau online....decided to cancel as we just need to regroup....well...that was a test in patience as well.... you must book online...but you must cancel by phone....6 or so calls later, 4 voice-mails...attending at the resort....no response....figured out if you place a Unfavourable Google review....voila.... you will receive a call asap....will remember that for future....

After a combined total of about 3 hours on the phone with Booking.com.....4 times disconnected.....put on hold so many times I lost count....we finally received our full refund on the Castle resort condo fiasco... not from booking.com but from Lei, the awesome manager at the resort who felt so bad for us after hearing the chain of events and awful service from Booking.com and Castle resorts...she came out to the pool deck where I was sitting ...on yet another hold... and said...."You should not have to spend anymore time of your day on this...I will process the full refund "....I asked Lei if I needed to talk anymore to the lady on  Booking.com....she said No.....I might then have said ....."Fuck Off" and hung up on her and hugged Lei.....our Hawaiian Angel!!!

Off to Costco....where we may have accidentally tapped this man in front of us in the lineup with the cart......he turned around and stared... and we thought he was kidding...not....bad words came from his weird little mouth........ we were sure he was going to chase us around the store to run into us....oh my, what a day!

Off to Safeway....where the cashier was at least 90 years old....blind, deaf....and slower than molasses...and the bag boy was "special needs" (very nice and friendly young boy) but between the two of them it took 10 minutes to check out a handful of items.... the old guy could not figure out how to give Marianne 4 cents change....so she said keep the change....

The rest of the day was destined to be a pool day.... 

And the end to the weirdest day on this vacation was a beautiful sunset and ribs on the BBQ...cheers!

Feb 26 - a new day

Thought I was having a crazy dream..... the sound of distant roosters welcoming the day....no dream...6:00 roosters wakeup call... but at least it was only 2 having a crowing contest.

Morning view from our one night vacation rental

We had a few hours to kill between rentals so off to Target on a request from Nicole and then at a farmers market in Kailua Kona.

These are actually Apple bananas...so tasty!! They are just the right size!

And the dreaded longan.....I had a person at work trick me and few co-workers into trying these weird things...once you peel the hard outer shell... the clear gel fruit looks like a fish eye...

Had lunch at my favourite place for Mahi Mahi fish and chips! We ate here a few times on our last two trips to Hawaii and I was so looking forward to it again. I was not disappointed but also so excited that I forgot to get a picture!

Love this old tangled tree...

Off to the new place we will call home for the rest of the vacation. We are optimistic it can not be worse than the last one. 

We are in the same general area but not as close to the ocean as the previous one but the unit itself is great. Awesome views, clean, lots of amenities and extras in the kitchen which is awesome!

From the deck we could see the crazy wave action down at the Outrigger resort. Decided to take a drive down to check it out....the property is amazing!

The waves were pretty crazy but the long boats were out playing! Very cool to see!

This is a giant seed pod off the Autograph Tree. As they dry and fall they split open into this!

This is a Breadfruit Tree..watch out for falling fruit!!!

The outside property is impressive and matches the inside!

Lots of local artwork and photography!

And the flower arrangements don't even look real! I keep touching them to make sure!

And the view from the condo...

Cheers!

Feb 25- moving day Kauai to the Big Island!

The day started at 5:30 am as we were unsure of the island traffic that we had heard of at that time of the morning...

The cleaning staff will be pleased with the stash we left them of beer...coolers...red wine and water...

Arrived at the airport in plenty of time, returned the Kia rental and should be on the Big Island just after lunch...

Left Kauai and in less than an hour we were landing in Maui. The flight was delayed so by the time we got off our plane.... they had already started boarding 15 minutes prior....after a running bathroom stop...listening to them calling all four Barta passengers...we ran through the airport...ran onto the plane and within minutes we were off!  My first time in Maui lasted a total of 15 minutes..

And then we were off!!!

And then in a short period of time the Big Island appeared... the telltale black lava....I missed you

We were reserved in at the same resort complex as when we came twice before with Larry....I think we were spoiled then.... the unit that we booked was...less than desirable...... back and forth to the office...long calls to Booking.com....quick internet searches....quick refreshments on the lenai....our stuff was back in the Jeep and we were off...by 8:00 pm we were enjoying Costco Lasagna, salad and cocktails...a very long day!

Feb 24 - last day in Kauai

Our last day in Kauai....sad but ready to move on...

This is a eucalyptus tree, the bark can be shades of orange, green and purple.

I am amazed at how large these leaves are!

And the flowers! Wow

These are Taro fields...I hope to try it while we are here...

Of to the beach for our final day. Luckily we drove past the beach we originally thought we wanted to go to because we discovered much more than expected. 

End of the road at Haena State Park and as close as we will get to the Na Pali coast this time

Wet and Dry caves...

Deep in the cave I saw the woman... I was not sure if it was the way she was dressed 

..or the way she was walking... but as I got closer I realized she was playing some sort of bells and another lady was playing a flute...it was mesmerizing...

mesmerizing lady

Off to wander at Tunnel Beach....

Off to a much deserved restaurant dinner that did not include Costco chicken...

We went back to Hanalei to the Terrace Restaurant....we all had Fish and Chips....no more chicken for us for a while.... and then back to the condo to pack for an early get-up-and-go!