Nawindiwindi

Off the Coast of Kaua'i

March 4, 2015

Due to Force 7 winds we were not able to dock in Nawiliwili today. It is gray, overcast and cool, so it would not have been much of a beach day anyway. However, there was a quilt shop in Lihue I had hoped to visit. :(

Instead of docking, we sailed all the way around Kaua'i. Since it was socked in, we couldn't see that much. I was hoping we would get a spectacular view of the Na Pali coast, but we just saw some dark cliffs off in the distance. The good news: our cabin was on the side of the ship facing toward the island. The other good news: the whales put on a great show for us. Watching for whales is hypnotic. You never know when or where you will see one, so you can't take your eyes away from the water.

It was cool and windy on our balcony, but we managed to spend a little time out there enjoying the changing scenery. One side of the island has dramatic cliffs. The other side is drier and has gentle slopes. Kaua'i is one of the wettest places on earth, so I'm not sure "drier" really conveys the idea accurately.

On the "drier" side of the island there are lots of large white spherical things that look like giant puffball mushrooms. Some kind of radar? Perhaps they are helping my blog get to the internet. The photos of them didn't turn out.

Here is my favorite factoid about Kaua'i (though I'm not 100% sure it is true): No construction on the island can be taller than a mature coconut tree.

Since we didn't want to miss anything, we ordered lunch from room service. It was very peaceful and relaxing watching the island as the ship glided by silently (more or less).

Room service chocolate cake

The cruise staff hustled up a new schedule for our unanticipated day at sea. A lot of it was not interesting to me, so I opted for bridge, which is always interesting. (I found out that my partner and I finished first East-West yesterday.)

The mood on the ship today is: relaxed. People don't seem too disappointed, perhaps because the weather is so uninviting. Our steward, Santosh, was very disappointed because he missed his chance at shore leave. This is his first time in Hawaii despite 8 years with Princess.

We had hoped to visit the famous malasada food truck in front of Walmart (it has moved to Kmart), pick up a few supplies, visit the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, and Poipu Beach. Perhaps we will come back another time. This island is very beautiful.

Someone else's malasadas

After bridge we took another self-guided art tour - of the midship art this time. Here are some of my favorites:

Green Valley by Keith Finch from the US

Sofa Roja by Didier Lourenco from Spain

Venice I & II by Renzo Andreon from Italy

Untitled, by Don-Li Leger from Canada

And finally, my favorite: 

Federal Orchid, by John Ng from the US

I don't know what's federal about this orchid - maybe it is a species?

Not much going on after dinner. There will be a King Kamehameha Festival in the atrium and they have hung several colorful quilt-like banners:

Notice that I didn't call them "quilts." And now I will call it "quits" for today, unless something really interesting happens this evening.

SNL at Sea

OK, I do have one more thing that came up this evening.
You know the Saturday Night Live skit where Kristin Wiig plays a woman, Penelope, who always has to one-up everyone else? Well we had dinner with the woman who inspired that character. And her mother. And I can only say, "Like mother, like daughter."

And then there is the skit where Will Ferrell and Anna Gasteyer are dorky middle school music teachers.

Those music teachers are here too. They are actually decent performers, but there are several things about them that just scream "SNL."

 

No, I don't want to see pictures of your dog
 
Penelope's mother sat down to dinner with a group of strangers three minutes ago and already the iPhone is out with all the photos of Poochie.  Sorry, ma'am. I just met you and I'll probably never see you again. My interest in your dog is less than zero.