We were a rather glum group of travellers who packed up and drove away from our fabulous house for the last time on Sunday morning. All I can say is that I hope to be back soon.
Things picked up a little as we made our way north to Hanalei. Pepi and Mel are staying two nights longer than us and so had found a place in Princeville, which is just beside Hanalei, for the rest of their stay.
Princeville is not my favourite place on Kauai. I’m sure there is a nice little village that I just haven't seen yet, but most of it is acres and acres of condos all built around golf courses. Retired men and women can be seen walking around wearing visors and carrying golf clubs, and signs are posted with directions to the the ‘lounge’ or ‘shuffleboard’. However, Mel and Pepi’s condo was clean and nice and the pool was great and it was good that we could crash there for the day until our flight late that evening.
We wanted one more splash in the waves at Hanalei before we left so we all piled in to the van for one last time with all our gear and drove down to the beach. No sooner had we all taken a few steps on to the sand when Pepi stubbed his toe, and blew all his stitches. 6 days later and it looked as fresh as the day he did it. We all stood there dumbfounded for a few moments as Pepi bled all over the beach. Fortunately the lifeguard station was right beside us and he was able to butterfly the cut closed and bandage Pepi’s toe up. What a drag for Pepi. The rest of us went in and took some abuse from the giant waves for a while but soon it was time to head back to their condo and get ready to drive to the airport. Mel dropped Pepi off at the ER room on the way to dropping us off at the airport – I hope everything went OK for him.
Packing up was a nightmare – I dare say we had enough stuff between us to withstand any kind of siege. Each time I swear I will pack lighter next time and then next time rolls around and I’m that person who has to drag her bags off to the side at the check in counter and re-distribute everything in her suitcases.
Our flight was a red-eye Lihue to LA and I wasn’t looking forward to it. Fortunately Jacob and Zoe and I slept the whole time and the only glitch was that I managed to blow out my boot zipper going through the security check point. And so I had to hobble around with one boot done up and the other one flapping around my ankle like some sort of injured crow. I then made the mistake of taking them off on the plane. I should have known better as my feet always get puffy on planes and this was no exception. I must have struggled with my boot for a good 10 mins before I finally got it on my foot. If the German girl who was sitting next to me is reading this: I’m very sorry for repeatedly elbowing your knees. I then had to fumble around with some safety pins to try and stop the boot from flapping around. I was marginally successful with this but it did look ridiculous.
When we finally landed in Vancouver several hours later we were all exhausted. Our friend Andre was there with our van to meet us and come back to Victoria with us for a few days. Everything did look very grey and as we stepped outside the airport doors, snow flakes began falling.
But now I’m waiting for the ferry and the sun has come out amongst the storm clouds and it is wildly beautiful out on the water.
Kauai I love you but it’s good to be home.
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