Before I forget, we also went to the water park on Oahu and had a blast. They had two fabulous kid areas and the craziest wave pool I have ever seen. After our four days on Oahu, my parents accompanied us back to Kauai for eight days. They were happy to get a break from the Idaho weather and adjust to a slower schedule from the previous four days.
Rusty had to go back to work, but one day he took off early and one of the golf cart guys at Kauai Lagoons (where Rusty just finished a model unit and will be working on building two more buildings for Ritz Carlton) took Rusty, Mike, and my dad golfing. Another day Rusty was going golfing with a supplier and they also took my dad with them. He spent several mornings on Kukiolono golf course, which is just above our house. It costs $9.00 per day to golf there. Just a couple of days before they left we went on a hike from Shipwreck beach toward Mahalapu. There is a great view of Poipu Bay Golf Course on that trail and my dad just couldn't resist. He golfed there the next day. Four courses in 8 days, not bad Dad! We also took my dad snorkeling. He even got to see a sea turtle at Lydgate State park. He was pretty excited. It had swam right past him. I think he now understands why I say if I were a tatoo kind of girl, I would have one of a sea turtle. I love them.
Another day trip was up to the Fern Grotto. We took our little inflatable boat up the river and had a picnic. This picture really doesn't do the fern grotto justice, but it is a natural ampitheatre where royal Hawaiians used to get married. There are ferns hanging from the ceiling and water trickling down the rocks. The flowers and greens are amazing. It is a beautiful place.
We spent alot of time at the beach. One day we went to the North shore, hoping the waves would be big enough at Hanalei to surf. They weren't, so we walked down the pier where an unusually large number of people were fishing. Then we noticed that kids were catching fish in nets, and even with their hands. We asked a guy who was fishing from the pier with a net what was going on. He said that a fisherman had come in and fished a large bait ball. To my understanding this is a solid ball of fish that swim together to protect themselves by playing the numbers. The more of them there are, the less likely they will be the one to get eaten. Larger fish come in to feed on the smaller fish and it spirals from there, creating a bait ball. Apparently there is only one fisherman on the island who has permits to fly overhead to spot the bait balls and fish them. He had come in and netted the bait ball. Then he goes through and throws out all of the smaller fish. The ones that were being caught from and around the pier were the rejected fish who were very weak and some were already dead. While we were there a man caught a shark on a pole. It was about a four foot tiger shark and it kept thrashing out of the water. It got off the pole and believe it or not even the people who had seen the whole thing were getting back into the water. The fish had brought the sharks in for dinner. The next day in the paper we read that the whole bay had been shut down after repeated shark sightings. The largest shark sighted was reportedly 12 feet long.
We had tons of fun having mom and dad here. We can't wait to see them again. We also can't wait to have more people come and visit us. The invitation is open.
