Adventures in Paradise

Lolling in our little sun-warmed swimming pool skyward I see a set of scudding white clouds and the feathery fronds of palm trees swaying in the breeze. It feels as though I am at the edge of the world and the sky has never been bluer. The northerly trade winds cool off my wet skin which doubtless is receiving more sun than it should yet just enough for me to loaf comfortably and contentedly. There must be a difference between comfort and contentment but I don't know what it is. In this state it doesn't matter. I tell myself that's why the tropical birds are singing merrily. My wife would say, "He's  just spacing out, again."

We were told last year that living on Kauai was like living in a Third World country. According to the woman who said this, this meant being stranded by unexpected road closures and stores not getting necessary supplies, among other inconveniences including the laidback concept of "Hawaii Time." The clock ticks slower, or not at all. Tomorrow might mean a week from Tuesday, especially if you need a repairman.

This woman is from Oakland, Calif., and she has resided on the small island for seven years. "You just have to get used to it," she said. "I was driving the freeways of the East Bay every day to work and the tension had become unbearable." She and her husband retired to Kauai. She now teaches pilates at the community center. "Life is so much better here," she said.

Barbara above Hanalei

We took note, but one cannot fully understand the meaning of such words until you have experienced life on a tiny tropical island in the middle of the Pacific from your own home base there. We are still visitors, or part-timers, since our main residence is Santa Cruz, Calif. And there is a strong connection between our home town and the island. Many Santa Cruzers spend time here or have bailed from the mainland to live here. "Can we bail, honey? I ask, but the answer is inconclusive.

Natural Disasters

We purchased a condo in Princeville earlier this year, understanding that we would need to vacation-rent the unit to make our ownership work. Since our escrow closed, nearby Hanalei has flooded, including closure of the only road north of Hanalei Bay. The Kilahuea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii has erupted wiping out neighborhoods and also displacing residents, as well as spewing volcanic ash as high as 10-thousand feet to be disbursed as "vog," or volcanic smog, into the atmosphere.

Fortunately for us, Princeville, which is on high ground, was spared from flooding. More than 50-inches of rain within 24 hours poured down the mountains above Hanalei creating a delta of water ways through the valley wreaking havoc to homes, roads, churches, parks, agricultural fields and more. The Hanalei Canoe Club lost most of its canoes to the great Pacific. They were simply washed out to sea.

Since settling into our condo about four weeks ago with hopes of preparing it for vacationers, we have encountered minor tropical inconveniences such as ridiculously sized centipedes and cock roaches. A neighbor referred to the latter as "747s" since their wing spans are remindful of those jumbo jets when they come in for a landing in your hair. There are no snakes in Hawaii, but the centipedes, with their 23-pairs of legs and venom-filled pinchers, can grow up to  three inches thick and a foot long. And they scoot like a mini fast-train. I chased, captured and killed three in one day while employing a series of Tai Chi moves that nearly killed me.

Our house inspector revealed how he was awakened in bed by a centipede crawling up his arm inching toward his throat. "I grabbed it and flung it across the room." But not before being bit on his finger which swelled up like a banana. If you're bitten on the face or neck it's like  having a spike driven into your head," said another friend who's been on the island for more than 30 years. "it's inevitable."

Hawaiian centipede originally from South East Asia

Long time residents love to tell you about about Hurricane Iniki in 1992 that destroyed most of he island and set the chickens loose. Listen to he locals and they will also fill you in on the treacheries of the seas full of rushing, spiraling currents that surround the island, and about the many deaths each year of those people,  mostly tourists but not all, who are swept away unexpectedly by said currents. Just as many people succumb to the slippery, high-ledged trails that traverse the exquisite mountains. You won't read about these accidents in the tourist brochures, yet they do show up in local newspaper reports. Apparently, unsuspecting visitors from places like Kansas and Wisconsin either can't read the many posted warning signs, or believe their water skills to be Olympian.

On the upside, tales of island localism and stink eye toward visitors are becoming less common. Aloha is making a comeback. The politics in  the state of Hawaii are as blue as the surrounding ocean and a sustaining connection for its people.

Kauai Real Estate

Since our youngest daughter and granddaughter reside on the island we have made frequent forays to the island for the past couple of years. During one visit we made a connection with a couple from California. They like to travel, a common trait we have discovered of many islanders. They offered to rent their home to us during their away-time, which turned out to be two-to-three times a year for up to six weeks.

Granddaughter Viva

This opportunity allowed us a chance to explore and familiarize ourselves with the island from a local's perspective. Being in the business of real estate, Barbara cannot keep herself from poring over multiple listings of places for sale. So in addition to visiting local markets, beaches and trails, we spent a commensurate amount of time peeking into open houses and learning what's for sale and at what price, and how islanders decorate their bathrooms.

Real estate value on Kauai has been going up over these past couple of years. This does not mean that it's necessarily a good investment. Hawaiian real estate is notorious for its ups and downs and does not follow normal trends. Recall the Third World comment.

One of Barbara's many brothers (she has three), has been for years a frequent visitor to Mexico. He's a hustler, not in the sense of illegality, but he has an enviable ability of knowing how to make a buck. Big bucks, I should say. He has purchased housing in Mexico over the years with the motto: Never invest more money than you can afford to lose in a Third World country. Easy for him to say.

Using that formula, we borrowed some money against our high-equity, low-principle mortgage on our small, modest house in Santa Cruz, telling ourselves that the funds would go toward building an addition onto it, while continuing to visit an exhausting number of open houses on Kauai when we were there. Were we kidding ourselves? We hired an architect and structural engineer to prove that we were not. We were rewarded with beautiful, albeit expensive, plans rolled up like a Dead Sea Scroll. We went so far as to secure a building permit for our addition, a process similar to riding the Giant Dipper roller coaster at the nearby amusement park while having your money fly out of your pocket.

Still, paradise beckoned.

The Art of Coincidence

Having more than 70 years of life experiences under my belt (and yes, the belt is a size or two larger for it), I am of the philosophy that some things are meant to be. What exactly this means, I do not know, but I have found that coincidence is more than a random happening, not predestined but perhaps in alignment with other mysterious forces. Yes, I took drugs during the Sixties including the one that Aldous Huxley claimed to open the doors of perception. I also read the Don Juan trilogy by Carlos Castenadas.

My first experience on Kauai was on a gifted honeymoon in 1968.  We were mesmerized by the simple beauty and intimacy of the island, which at that time had one traffic light. I returned for the first time in 2006 to find a busier island and areas that were once jungle now developed, as well as coastal locations, like now-renowned Breneke's Beach, scrambled by at least one major hurricane. Breneke's was difficult to locate but there was the same two-lane road that circumvents most of the island and the immense natural beauty of the landscape that will bring almost any red-blooded human  to tears.

When our youngest daughter decided to settle here a few years ago, we decided to make frequent visits. Unlike the other islands of this archipelago, Kauai offers us a sense of familiarity, or perhaps it's just cozy desire. There is no freeway or thoroughfare. When here we attend yoga classes at the community center in Princeville, through which we have met nice, like-minded people from all over. It's as much a social- as a fitness-gathering. Our daughter, a legendary free spirit, issued the following  caveat: "Don't come here for me. Come here because you want to be here." Her mother just looked at me.

Princeville

Princeville is located on high ground on the eastern side of Hanalei Bay, which is the signature location of the north shore of Kauai known for its astounding beauty at the foot of a range of peeked, luscious green mountains featuring numerous waterfalls that tumble down to magical Hanalei.

Lava rocks mark foundational elements for Fort Alexander

Voyages in 1778-1779 by English Captain James Cook to the Hawaiian Islands aroused scientific and economic ambitions of the Russian Empire. Subsequent voyages by Russian navigators produced detailed accounts of their findings, which included the anonymous native Hawaiian people. The archipelago was deemed a strategic location for supplies and economic dominance of the Pacific by a Russian-American company that attempted to build a fort on the bluff on the north shore of Kauai that would be named Fort Alexander, after Russian Emperor Alexander Andreievich Baranov.

The Hawaiians, who were no slouches, defended their island. The Russians were thwarted and all that remains of the would-be fort are a circle of lava rocks assembled for the foundation. Bunkering that defined the perimeter of the fort is sill visible, although covered with grass. The Regis Resort Hotel sits adjacent on the bluff.

Scottish adventurer Robert C. Wyllie arrived on Kauai in 1844.  He accepted an appointment by King Kamehameha III as minister of foreign affairs with the intention of having the Hawaiian Islands recognized as a sovereign nation. Wyllie also had personal ambitions and acquired large tracts of land that included the bluff above Hanalei. He named his estate "Princeville" in honor of Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Leiopapa a Kamehameha, son of King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma.

Paradise Found

There have been nights when I wake up, jump out of bed with my headlamp on and shake my pillow  in fear of a creeping centipede or dive-bombing cock roach. I'll be overwhelmed by the heavy floral fragrances wafting from the natural botanical garden that is only our condo landscaping. I may sneeze a few times, slide back between the cool sheets and try to convince myself that there is no way I could be allergic to paradise.

Aloha nui loa. Until we meet again.