Shaken and Stirred - A Whale of a Day

Things started out pretty quietly...a drive out west to stroll through the galleries and shops in Hanapepe - a quaint little town that time and tourist books forgot.

We carried on up the road a while in search of the Waimea Brewing Company, located oddly enough, in Waimea. We were hoping to find a cool shirt for Linette's son, David. Sadly, there were no shirts left to be had, but they did have a pretty fantastic Mai Tai on the menu...

After waiting for the effects of the Mai Tai to wear off, we scurried back down toward Poipu stopping just briefly at Fort Elizabeth were legend has it there once was a Russian fort. We literally walked right past it - overgrown and neglected pretty much since the time it was built. The historical marker was full of info and very interesting. Too bad as much effort wasn't spent on the Fort itself.

We got back to town just in time for a whale watching tour with a local marine biologist and whale conservator. This salty seawoman kept us entertained while she bounced our butts up and down and back and forth for 3 hours off the coast of Poipu. While learning the finer points of bucking bronco riding (Kauai style), we saw 5 humpback whales, including a mom and days old calf who were traveling with a spinner dolphin! Mark survived this ordeal (er, adventure) without revisiting his calamari lunch thanks to a massive dose of antiemetics, his trusty magic arm bands, and polite refusal of the proferred onboard snacks.

We're both missing our puppies now, but thankfully, there are many sweet dogs around willing to avail themselves for pats and snuggles. There is what looks to be a very lovely humane society facility between here and Lihue (just north of here on the highway). I'm hoping to visit there at some point before we go. Mark swears he'll stay in the car for that though...or else we may find ourselves bringing home more than just souvenirs for our birthday Luau!