Paradise – Day Four

We must be getting adjusted to the time zone difference because our day got off to a later start. We began with a quick lunch in Koloa, grabbing a slice at Pizzetta before heading to Allerton Gardens in Poipu. As a rule, I’m not a big garden fan but this a National Tropical Botanic Garden and because it contains all kinds of exotic plants it seemed like something I should see. Besides which the garden has been used for scenes in several movies, including Jurassic Park and a Pirates of the Caribbean film. I figured if it was good enough for Steven Spielberg and Johnny Depp it was good enough for me.

It rained lightly the entire time we were there, which further proved that our decision to do garden over beach today was a phenomenal idea. I was afraid that the 2.5 hour garden tour might send our boys over the edge, but they did fairly well considering they were the only children surrounded by 16 adults. Truth be told, they held it better together than I did because I found 2.5 hours a long time to stare at plants. I tried to be zen about it, but I’m not particularly patient that way. I was, however, fascinated to learn that a type of cluster bamboo plant in the garden can grow 1-3 feet per day. When the plant reaches the end of its life cycle at 150 years, it flowers to spread its seeds and then dies. Who knew?

And I did enjoy standing in the roots of a Moreton Bay Fig Tree that was used in the filming of Jurassic Park. The roots were about 5-6 feet tall, but the tree itself is only 70 years old. Nature is amazing. Still…I’m with my son, Joe, who said he prefers the fauna to the flora as a rule. So it seemed appropriate that as the tour was winding down and we were on our way back to our parked car a pod of humpbacks was surfacing just offshore. That’s the way I roll.

Post whale watching, we headed back to Koloa for more souvenir shopping (and a latte) before returning to Poipu to check out Shipwreck Beach. Joe had his heart set on doing some body surfing but the red flags were out, so he and Luke settled instead for sandcastles near the edge of the surf. While they watched their creations wash away, I watched a couple brave (read: insane) souls jump from the cliff into the ocean below. One guy used his 30-foot freefall to execute a flip, which I caught midway with my iPhone camera. When I looked back over at the boys, the sandcastle activity had been scratched. Both boys were drenched.

Luke, who had failed to put on his swim trunks this morning, was soaked in his clothes….cargo pocket shorts full of sand. Oh…the joys of boys. I shrugged it off and watched a monk seal do the body surfing the boys had hoped to accomplish.

On the way home, boys clothed only in beach towels in the back seat of the Jeep, the rain began to pour. When I read the guide books about Kauai in preparation for our trip, I was concerned about our trip here over the boys’ spring break during the wet season on Kauai. I worried that the water temperatures might be too cold and the rains might ruin our beach vacation. So far, the author was right. A little rain will not ruin your Kauai vacation. The wet season means rainbows. And sure enough on the way back to our home base this evening someone was looking out for us. We got our Hawaiian rainbow.