Russian Forts, Smoke Monsters, and a Coconut Named Bob

We took a day off from golf to drive to the other side of the island. If you watched Lost or Gilligan's Island you know that going to the other side of the island is a required activity.

It is a long way to the other side of the island at speed limits as low as 15 mph. Our first stop was Kauai Nursery & Landscaping (aka The Orchid House on Lost). I went inside and looked at the orchids certified for export to the mainland. They claim 2-day Fedex shipping brings orchids in full bloom. The prices were reasonable and they had some rare orange oncidiums so I decided to give it a shot. While I was inside a brief deluge ensued which is why the nursery is where it is.

Next stop Poipu, a condominium and resort community on the sunny southern side of the island. The water is blue here and the waves are big when you have 15-25 knot winds. The Poipu Bay Golf Course is closed for major reconstruction. We played here two years ago and it seemed like most of the holes had ocean hazards. Kauai Lagoons near Lihue airport is also partially closed starting now for reconstruction. It is a Nicklaus course and is supposed to be really good when they are done. They were supposed to start this project two years ago but the collapse in tourism has put everything on hold here. Best golf for now is Makai and Prince on the north side near Hanalei. Golfers should avoid the resorts to the south for now.

There is one shopping enclave in Poipu that has some nice clothing stores, Na Hoku & Black Pearl & XAN jewelry, and gelato. It was warm and time for lunch so I dipped into a cherry chocolate swirl macadamia nut vanilla in a chocolate dipped cone. Enough said.

We continued our journey to a 19th century Russian Fort named Port Elizabeth after the czarina. It was built of lava rock at the mouth of the river providing fresh water and safe harbor. Cherry and I were the only visitors except for a Serbian couple from New York. It sounded like Russian when they spoke and they said the Slavic languages are similar.

Barking Sands beach is at the end of the highway and requires four wheel drive to get to the beach in Polihale State Beach Park. We opted not to drive in to the beach. We suspect that this road is not well maintained due to it's proximity to the Pacific Range Missile Facility. The PMRF is used for missile testing and I suspect they like the isolation.

MacArthur Park is named after MacArthur Dela Cruz and not the famous general. He was a community volunteer who dedicated his time to improvement of Kekaha Beach. It was on this beach that I met the smoke monster who looked very much like a sand filled whirlwind. Photo to be added later.

How I met Bob:
The day before our trip to the other side of the island we hiked down the trail from the Westin Villas to Anini Beach. The trail is steep and the tropical tree limbs intertwine off the trail into an impenetrable barrier. A stream trickles twenty feet below but will roar with the next rain. The beach below is not crowded partly because a small stream bisects the beach with limited parking off a small road on the other side. There are two houses of note. One is at ocean's edge and the other is set back in the tropical forest across a meadow. Not tsunami proof but great locations. A coconut lay beached like a whale or spawned by the stream from an inland location. He seemed healthy enough and I did not want him to end up like those white painted driveway coconuts so I heaved him into the ocean. As he bobbed happily away I knew his name. If you see Bob on his travels around the South Pacific say hello and give him an assist when needed.

Aloha from the Big Kahuna on the Garden Isle of Kauai!