Jeff Billimek’s Journal

In the Honolulu airport hotel, I woke up around 6:30am, so I got about 5 ½ hours of sleep. I was planning on catching the 10am Aloha Air flight to Kauai so I had some time to kill. I watched some TV. The only good thing I could find was CNBC. It was so bizarre to see them doing their ‘power lunch’ segment since it was only 6:30am, but on the east coast it was after noon.

Larry called me around 8am and told me that I should try to get on the earlier flight to Kauai that leaves at 9:30. I still had time so I caught the 8:30 shuttle to the airport and waited for my flight. On Tuesday in Atlanta I bought an “ID90″ pass for Aloha Airlines. An ID90 is a pass that you buy for travel on another airline at a 90% discount from their regular full fare price, but it is standby travel. I made it on that flight with no problem, as it was over half empty when we took off. Since it was now daylight, I could finally see Hawaii. Taking off, I was able to see the island really well out of the window. The beaches and clear blue waters certainly looked inviting and I couldn’t wait to get out into the water. I was surprised at how ‘far’ Kauai was from the main island.

After about 30 minutes, Larry and Amy arrived on their flight. We got the rental car and were off to get some lunch. We stopped in a little place that had fish tacos. We then headed to the rental house. The house was in a really nice area with other nice houses close to the beach. It is a large three-bedroom house with lots of windows. The living room has a great view of the ocean and there is a nice deck outside that you can feel the breeze and soak up the sun.

When we were settled in, we went to a beach to try out the water. We stopped in a couple of shops along the way where I rented some fins. At the beach we set out to go snorkeling. I used Amy’s old mask and snorkel. I had a problem with the mask leaking and it made the experience frustrating instead of enjoyable. What I could see was incredible though. There were so many fish underwater that could easily be seen because the water was so clear. The underwater formations were nice too because of the reef and occasional coral. After snorkeling around for a bit we got out and stayed in the sun for a while. By this time, it was getting late so we went back to the town area for dinner. We ate at this little place that used to be a schoolhouse. After dinner we wanted to see the sunset from a beach with a good view out to the west. Larry wanted to go out into the water, but I didn’t feel good about swimming so soon after eating - not because of cramps, but because it felt strange to get into the water when full. After a few minutes I joined him, and this area was nice because there were some underwater ‘valleys’ that you could follow. Also at this time, I had rented a new mask since the other one leaked so badly. The new mask was perfect and didn’t leak at all. The new snorkel was good to because it had a ‘flap’ on the top that better prevented water from getting in. I can’t stand it when water gets into the snorkel and I have to come up and spit the water out. I absolutely hate that.

I got out of the water before the sunset so that I could dry off and actually see the sun set beyond the horizon. I stood on some lava rocks (they were all smooth) and watched the sun ‘quickly’ dip behind the horizon. I wish I had brought my camera, but will bring it next time we go see the sun set.

After we got back to the house, I read more of my book and went to bed. There was no air conditioning so we had all of the windows open. At first it was warm enough to sleep with only a sheet, but later at night it got cold enough that I had to use the blanket.