Amusing Kauaisms & Hawaii Day #3
Jan. 23rd, 2009 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aKauaism #1:
On our first day in Kauai, we stopped by Koloa to pick up some lunch, which we brought over to some nearby picnic tables to eat. There were tons of chickens circling the table, hoping for handouts, plus two feral cats.
I've never seen cats & birds interacting so closely, but so largely oblivious to each other. When food was dropped (or, really, thrown), the cats would race the birds for it. Contrariwise, when someone got too near a cat, it would go bounding off, sometimes knocking a chicken over on its way. The chicken would cluck angrily, but there was no response beyond that.
Kauaism #2:
Yesterday, we picked up some bananas from a fruit stand down near my dad's house. I say fruit stand, but it's probably not what you'd expect. It was a little caged area where you walked inside, picked up the fruit you wanted, looked at the price written on it, then dropped the appropriate amount of money in the lockbox to the side.
(We talked about how long it might have been since there was just a basket for money, instead of a lockbox. I'd suspect it's been a while.)
Anyway, today.
We toured around a bit in the morning. My dad showed us a local coffee plantation, and we went on a tour of its grounds, which was mainly set up to show you how coffee is produced. We also saw another of the towns to the west, which was Ele Ele.
In the afternoon, we went to Lawai Beach, which I'd been wanting to. Kimberly was able to get out, and we watched the fish for a bit. But unfortunately she got some water in her snorkel after a bit, then panicked.
I had to drag her back into shore, which was a bit of a trial. I remembered my lessons on how to do so, though they were probably 25 years ago. You're supposed to float them on their back, and then do a one-handed breaststroke in. It should be pretty easy for a strong swimmer, especially in the buoyant salt water. However, it turns out to be a lot harder with a live, panicking person. In any case, I got her in, but unfortunately she wasn't able to snorkel more.
My dad and I swam around for a bit, looking at fish, and also for the watershoe that Kimberly had lost in the water (which was never discovered). The fish were great, definitely better (both more colorful and more plentiful) than at any of the other beaches. I saw three types of butterfly fish, some entirely huge parrotfish, a few types of wrasses, and a few cool all-black fish which I haven't been able to identify.
The rest of the day has been pretty relaxed. Yet another tasty-home-cooked dinner. Another game of Mah Jongg. We also played some Lost Cities earlier in the day.
I've been healthy enough while here. I've remained congested, but it hasn't been enough to be more than the most minor nuisance. Unfortunately this evening a dry cough came up that's been driving me crazy. Hopefully it'll be mostly faded by tomorrow.
On our first day in Kauai, we stopped by Koloa to pick up some lunch, which we brought over to some nearby picnic tables to eat. There were tons of chickens circling the table, hoping for handouts, plus two feral cats.
I've never seen cats & birds interacting so closely, but so largely oblivious to each other. When food was dropped (or, really, thrown), the cats would race the birds for it. Contrariwise, when someone got too near a cat, it would go bounding off, sometimes knocking a chicken over on its way. The chicken would cluck angrily, but there was no response beyond that.
Kauaism #2:
Yesterday, we picked up some bananas from a fruit stand down near my dad's house. I say fruit stand, but it's probably not what you'd expect. It was a little caged area where you walked inside, picked up the fruit you wanted, looked at the price written on it, then dropped the appropriate amount of money in the lockbox to the side.
(We talked about how long it might have been since there was just a basket for money, instead of a lockbox. I'd suspect it's been a while.)
Anyway, today.
We toured around a bit in the morning. My dad showed us a local coffee plantation, and we went on a tour of its grounds, which was mainly set up to show you how coffee is produced. We also saw another of the towns to the west, which was Ele Ele.
In the afternoon, we went to Lawai Beach, which I'd been wanting to. Kimberly was able to get out, and we watched the fish for a bit. But unfortunately she got some water in her snorkel after a bit, then panicked.
I had to drag her back into shore, which was a bit of a trial. I remembered my lessons on how to do so, though they were probably 25 years ago. You're supposed to float them on their back, and then do a one-handed breaststroke in. It should be pretty easy for a strong swimmer, especially in the buoyant salt water. However, it turns out to be a lot harder with a live, panicking person. In any case, I got her in, but unfortunately she wasn't able to snorkel more.
My dad and I swam around for a bit, looking at fish, and also for the watershoe that Kimberly had lost in the water (which was never discovered). The fish were great, definitely better (both more colorful and more plentiful) than at any of the other beaches. I saw three types of butterfly fish, some entirely huge parrotfish, a few types of wrasses, and a few cool all-black fish which I haven't been able to identify.
The rest of the day has been pretty relaxed. Yet another tasty-home-cooked dinner. Another game of Mah Jongg. We also played some Lost Cities earlier in the day.
I've been healthy enough while here. I've remained congested, but it hasn't been enough to be more than the most minor nuisance. Unfortunately this evening a dry cough came up that's been driving me crazy. Hopefully it'll be mostly faded by tomorrow.