Thursday in Kauai

We landed in Nawiliwili, Kauai early on Thursday morning. This is a much more lush island than the others we have seen. It's nickname is The Garden Isle. The wettest climate on earth is the Waimea Canyon just inland from where we landed.

We took a shore excursion up the Wailua River to Fern Grotto. On the way, our bus driver drove us past the old port where several movies were filmed. She also showed us a beautiful waterfall.

Once we got to the boats to go upriver, everyone piled in and we set off. Little did we know we were about to have some criminal music committed on us. Maybe it was the fact that we were in an open boat that shifted the notes down a half pitch. Maybe not. The hula dancer was extremely serious about what she was doing, but the Tahiti style hula (all hip action) works better on someone who actually has hips. (Sorry - skinny joke.)

Fern Grotto was really pretty once we got past the construction areas. Someday it will be very nice. It looked like they were installing teak decking for a viewing area. Rob made some bad jokes about paving over paradise. It was a mess. We couldn't hear the guy talking about the history of the place, so we went back to the boats early.

We seriously considered getting on the other boat. Lucky for us we didn't. The musicians/dancer were on the other boat for the return trip. A couple we were with managed to get the "entertainment" both ways. The boat captain said he was descended from royalty.

Our bus driver dropped us off at a little shopping center on the way back. There were shuttles from there to the boat. We bought some contraband (Pepsi) to bring back to the boat and put in our refrigerator. No other way to get a soda late at night if we wake up for some reason (ex: rocking, pitching, etc. of the boat). The boat didn't leave until 6 a.m. Friday so those who wanted to could grab a dinner at one of the local places. We were tired and just slept.

We both finished reading a copy of Thud! by Terry Pratchett. I picked one up for the trip so I didn't have to bring my signed copy along. We left the extra copy with the ship's librarian so someone else could enjoy it.