Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Today was our day to move to the other side of the island.
We would leave the dry west side and spend the next 3 days on the wet east
side. We went to the pool one last time and turned our lounge chairs to face
the ocean, in the shade of some palm trees. Looking up…….
We ate on the balcony one last time from the dwindling
grocery supply, just crackers and cheese, veggies and dip. Had a few moments of
panic as we were packing up when we couldn’t find the passports, but then we
found them.
Next stop was a town called Waimea, just up the mountain a
bit. This is where the climate changes, and sure enough, there was a fine mist
when we got there which everyone ignored. Believe it or not, this is cowboy
country. There is a giant ranch called Parker Ranch owning 35,000 cattle which
roam the rolling grassy hills. They ship their cattle to Canada by plane or
boat, and then truck them to Texas. I think the Parkers own the whole town—we saw
Parker Centre, Parker Store, Parker Square, etc.
When we arrived on the east side of the island, we found our bed and breakfast called Orchid Tree and met Steve the owner. He is an interesting guy who is nearly 60 but loves to surf. He built the beautiful and unique addition to his house, which was our accommodations. It had lovely furnishings and a pineapple motif in décor (symbol of hospitality).
When it started to get dark, we started hearing all of these
strange noises. It turns out that the noises are made by these tiny frogs called
coqui frogs which have invaded the island. They were brought in accidentally
from Puerto Rico a few years ago and the population has grown so fast because
there are no predators like snakes to eat them. The government has tried
everything to control them, I think they have given up now. You have no idea
how loud they are, and this goes on ALL NIGHT LONG. I was afraid to open the
patio door. I thought a swarm of frogs might come in, like a Biblical plague.
This is the price you pay for being on the lush green side of the island.
Did the frogs actually keep you awake??
ReplyDelete(For some reason I can't see two of the pictures in this post. But no worries - I'll soon get to see all the Hawaii pictures in person!)