Tuesday 3/8/05 - Thursday 3/10/05

Yesterday I studied most all day.  Remember those books?  Gotta read them they tell me L

Today, Wednesday, the first thing I did was attend an online seminar related to my cert class.  Then after that I decided to look at the north side of the island.  I had two motives; one was to look to see the layout north and determine if that is a place I will look for my new place, or not; and the second was to take pictures of the high surf for Hal.  I drove from Hanapepe (lower most point on map) to past Hanalei to Ke'e (pronounced KayAye) beach (top north point on map).  This is from the southernmost point to the end of the road North. Probably a 2 hour drive if you don't stop.  But of course I did  J I drove up and down roads that interested me.  Mostly just getting the lay of the land.  I stopped in Princeville to see if I could go down the path to Queen's Bath.  This is accessed in a very posh area of condos and homes.  The entrance to the path is limited to 10 parking spots and one time Hal had tried for me but the spaces were full.  When I got there it was totally empty.  There was a reason, it was raining cats and dogs by then, so I left.  I'll go back when the weather is more cooperative.  Someone told me the path is not bad during good weather but the walk along the lava flow at the bottom is treacherous so I'll wait for a nice day to go there again.  Also, he told me that the water is clear blue and great to snorkel in.  It's a horseshoe shaped tide pool so water is constantly flowing in and out and contains many varieties of fish.  The further I drove north the more the rain fell.  One thing about the north side is it is beautiful for a reason... it gets more rain.  The plants are more lush, the trees taller and the cliffs amazing.  The waterfalls are unbelievable but I never could find a place to park to get a photo as the roads are small, twisting, and getting a good view of a fall where you can pullover is almost impossible.  I next drove to Hanalei (after a few turns off here and there.  I got some great pictures at Ke'e beach to show Karen how rough it was.  This is the place that Hal and Karen took me to the last two years to snorkel.  There was no way I was going in that water.  Pictures links below.  I also got some nice pictures along the way of the high surf.  It wasn't as high as yesterday but pretty impressive.  I saw very few surfers in the water as yesterday they had put alerts out after a couple of incidents so I guess they decided to heed the warnings some.  I went to Tunnels (Hal likes to surf there) but there was no one there.  On the way back I was driving around Kapa'a.  This is the town I originally decided I would live as it is centrally located between Lihue (Main city and airport), Poipu (where Hal & Karen have their timeshare), and Ke'e (my favorite snorkeling location).  I cruised up in to the hills and found some amazing locations but not many apartment complexes.  I then drove by an open house for a condo and decided "what the heck" and went in.  It was a great place called the Kawaihau Sports Villa.  It was a two bedroom with a ladder up to a loft.  The lanai faced a cliff and the roof of the common area where there is a pool, tennis court, Jacuzzi, etc.  Each bedroom had it's own full bath and the living area and kitchen were very small but had high beam ceilings.  It was very nice.  Well, at 369,000 it should be. J.   It had been reduced 20,000 and what a deal... NOT.  Condos run from 320,000 to 390,000 for two and three bedrooms.  The average maintenance fee is 350 a month.  I never thought that would be my cup of tea anyway.  Rental houses and apartments cost way less.  I talked with the, very lonely, realtor forever.  He was very forthcoming with information and I took advantage of that.  He knew every area of the island and was very helpful with tons of information for my next location search.  He also told me about a great place to snorkel that I'll try to check out soon.  My last stop was a shop in Lihue that was kind of like a Whole foods but larger.  I made some nice purchases for meals this week and came home.  Next thing I know it's late and I've slept at least 2 hours.  What a trip!  Sorry about the limited photos but maybe next time.

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