Entries about swimming

We started off this morning by playing with our niece and nephew, Aubrey and Dalton. It was a fun morning and we made the plan to go see the Kilauea Lighthouse. We all drove up to the lighthouse, but we took a separate car because we intended to go beyond the lighthouse to drive as far as possible.

The lighthouse is on the grounds of a beautiful nature preserve. There were beautiful views of the ocean, and a lot of native birds.

The lighthouse itself, as well as a picture of us in front of the lighthouse.

A nene, or Hawaiian goose.

Another pandanus, or tourist pineapple.

Catherine and Dalton in the wind.

Us at the lighthouse.

After the lighthouse we went to lunch at a restaurant nearby. We got Portuguese bean soup, and even had the chance to try breadfruit hummus! It tastes a lot like regular hummus, but it was interesting to try it anyway. Aubrey made friends with two girls who were also eating there. They asked her to stay, feeling that she shouldn’t leave if they are friends. “Where do you have to go?” one asked. “To our Hawaiian house” replied Aubrey.


We drove as far as we could west to the northwest corner of the island. The state park required reservations for non-residents, which we didn’t have. We went back a bit to the next farthest beach, Ha’ena. It was beautiful and very calm water. We swam and got shave ice from a nearby stand. It was a great afternoon!

Us at the beach.

Tropical landscapes on our way back.

We got a delicious dinner at “Da Crack,” a Mexican food stand near where we are staying. It was very good. After that we went back to the house. It was a wonderful first full day in Kaua’i.

Daniel’s parents dropped us off at the San Jose airport, where security seemed especially tight (we all had to walk in twos by a dog, etc.) We got on the plane and began our journey to Maui.

We bought these delicious snack-packs on the plane. They really were good. We had them with the free drink that came with our “premium” economy: we chose Prosecco to toast our trip.

When we got to Maui we went and got our rental car. We had arranged to have a Jeep, but when we got to the counter they said we could pick whichever Jeep we wanted from the lot. There were three grey ones and one red one. Daniel guessed correctly that Catherine would choose the red one.

We drove to the food trucks near the airport, where we had hoped to go to the Thai food truck (Thai Mee Up). It was closed on Sundays, so we went to a different nearby place that we had planned to go to during our trip: Tasty Crust in Wailuku. It’s a wonderful, welcoming, and delicious restaurant that we highly recommend. Daniel got a waffle and Catherine got the banana pancakes. We split the linguiça, hash browns, and corn bread. Everything was wonderful and a great start to our time in Maui.

After our brunch we drove to Ka’anapali, where we are staying. We have a beautiful view of the ocean and the island of Lana’i, and our room is wonderful.

We went to mass at Maria Lanakila church in Lāhainā. It was a nice mass, and a beautiful church. Lanakila means “victorious,” and Maria Lanakila is thus “Our Lady of Victory.”

We looked at the graveyard next to the church and prayed for the people buried there. It was interesting seeing the mix of last names: Hawaiian, Portuguese, Italian, Filipino, and more. One grave belonged to a man who (assuming he was born in Hawaii) would have been born in an independent kingdom and died in a US State.

When we got back to our hotel we went swimming in the pool (while it rained) and then had dinner at the poolside bar/restaurant. Daniel had Maui onion soup and Catherine had kalua pork sliders. It was a delicious dinner and a great end to our first day in Maui.

Some pictures of our house in Ponta Delgada. It is three stories, and has very nice common areas. Our room is in the attic and has a very low ceiling, but is nice and comfortable nonetheless.

A quick breakfast of local pineapple and a toasted bolo lêvedo (basically an English muffin) with jam.

Our first stop was a mountain with an excellent view, especially of Lagoa do Fogo (lake of fire...but it seems to be full of water.). The fog and mist made it difficult to see some of the view, but it was still wonderful.

What the Azoreans call a conteira, also called kahili ginger.

After this we visited a distillery that makes a variety of liqueurs that we were able to try. We were not allowed to take pictures inside, so there aren’t any here.

Next we visited the Gorreana Tea Plantation, which is one of two commercial tea plantations in Europe, both of which are in São Miguel.

Around the “factory” and the fields of Gorreana. No one was sorting or processing tea today, but we got to see the machines and the fields where the tea is grown.

Us in the field.

Us with Katie in the field.

Us having some tea, with a mysterious figure behind us.

Having fun at a picnic in the rain (there were shelters available which we used. Plus, we had the whole place to ourselves.)

Next, we stopped at an old aqueduct that is no longer used. We weren’t sure when it was built, but it was fun to climb to the top of it!

Another viewpoint: Boca do Inferno (the Mouth of Hell). It doesn’t look particularly hellish at the moment.

Sete Cidades is named for the legend of the Seven Cities (which is related to legends such as Atlantis, Hy-Brasil, etc.), but really has no cities, just a small village and some beautiful lakes. It was around this time that Catherine and her cousins started discussing the idea of pooling our money and buying a house here.

We went swimming in this piscina, which really means swimming pool but here seems to imply a place near the ocean that is set up for swimming. The water was somewhat cold, but it was still an incredible experience. It really felt like the ultimate wave pool.
We had a great time.

A São Miguel street scene.

Dinner was at O Galego, said by some to have the best steaks on the island (though our tour guide, whose brother-in-law owns a restaurant, thought otherwise.) Neither of us eat a lot of beef, but we both got our steaks well-done and they were in fact enjoyable. For some reason, in the Azores steaks are served with a fried egg on top.

For dessert, the waiter asked if we would like chocolate mousse or pineapple. Daniel took this to mean that we had the choice between chocolate mousse and pineapple mousse, and ordered the chocolate. Catherine correctly ordered pineapple, which proved to be simply half a pineapple on a plate. After dinner, we met a lot of our group and the other group (Don, Marcia, and Dominic) at Doris Bar by the marina. We had a wonderful day and can’t wait for Faial tomorrow.