First Days in Kauai

Okay, I'm going to be slightly out of order here, but I can't wait to share our initial impressions of Kauai. (I still have a Huntington Beach and Venice Beach post to squeeze in here! Coming soon!)

We are both feeling so relaxed and content in Kauai. I can't believe we have 28 days here to enjoy this beautiful island. I'm sure you know Kauai is our favourite of the Hawaiian Islands. I would say it is the least commercialized and the most lush. It is very gorgeous and laid back. I would highly recommend it to you... unless you are looking for a party... this is definitely NOT that place!

We are staying at the same building we stayed at last time - Sunset Kahili. This time we are in a different suite, which is quite beautiful. They have renovated it nicely, it has fast dedicated wifi, and the view from the balcony is amazing. I'm afraid to tell you about it, because I want it to be available for me when I come again. But in the spirit of sharing, here is the link 😀

https://www.vrbo.com/833177?noDates=true&unitId=1381116

We arrived in the dark, so didn't get to see the beautiful scenery until morning. It was worth the wait! This is a pretty awesome view to admire while you eat your breakfast!

We were lucky enough to spot some whales right away. I was so busy looking at them I forgot to try to take a photo. Steve claims he saw dolphins as well, but I missed it...

There are a lots of birds chirping early in the morning, and this little guy thought he might join us for breakfast...

After breakfast we did some errands, you know groceries, getting Steve a gym membership... stuff like that. I was so excited to drive through the tree tunnel on the way into Lihue. It is a beautiful stretch of the highway where the tall trees rise up on both sides to form a canopy over a long stretch of the road!

Then we came back and hung out by the pool and read books for a while. We met several nice people who are also staying at condos in our building.

We decided to head over to Brennecke's for happy hour. Truth be told, Steve asked me at 11 in the morning if I was ready to go to happy hour. I thought it was quite refreshing that he didn't know that happy hour isn't all day long 😀 Not that I'm opposed to lava flows at 11 in the morning... Brennecke's just wasn't ready for us yet! In case you are wondering the real happy hour is from 3 PM - 5 PM.

We thought about getting a pitcher of lava flows, but then agreed that might be a little much for us to share so we tried a lava flow and some sort of fruity martini. This turned out to be a good plan since cold medication and alcohol don't mix particularly well and I was having a fine time after three sips of the drinks 😀 Steve entertained me by playing games while we enjoyed our drinks, snacks and admired the beautiful ocean view. We'll definitely be back to Brennecke's. If you're here you need to go. I think it is going to be hard not to go every day!

We took a detour on our walk back over to Poipu beach and put our feet in the water. I'm not sure if it's possible, but the ocean felt warmer than our pool! On our walk back we also pass by Brennecke Beach. This was one of our favourites last time because you can swim with sea turtles on most days. We were both disappointed to see how much the beach has been eroded. The surf looks a little rough. I'm not sure how safe it is anymore for marginal swimmers like me.

We were, however, lucky enough to see a bunch of sea turtles swimming close to the shore as we walked back home. I could have sat and watched them for hours... but we had to get home to watch the sunset from our balcony!

This was the best part of my day! Not only did we get to see a beautiful sunset from the comfort of our balcony... yes... those are my feet up on the railing...

... not only was it beautiful, but we were serenaded by a couple playing their ukulele and singing songs like "Beautiful Kauai" and "Tiny Bubbles".  This is Steve sneaking a photo of them up on a balcony above us 😉

... and while they were singing the sun to sleep another man was blowing bubbles off his balcony... here is a sneaky photo of him :)

I honestly can't think of a better way to start your evening in Kauai 💖