Today we woke up to rain again. Actually, it wasn’t just raining, it was freakin’ POURING. It was raining sideways in a way that makes November in Victoria look like rain kindergarten. It was ridiculous. It was also one of those days when none of us could get our shit together to do anything. We flopped around, looking out the window, sitting down on the couch, making tea, getting up again, looking out the window again.
Finally we decided to get back in the car and find the sun. We had planned to go to Koke’e National Forest Reserve, with a stop at a local saiman (noodle) shop in Lihue.
After driving all around Lihue for forever and a day, and managing to actually drive right past the damn place without knowing it, we finally made it in the door. According to the locals, it is completely packed all the time, regardless of day or time. Today was no different. We stood inside the door forever waiting for a place to come free at the Formica counters that wound through the room, and watched in amazement as a little old lady boiled, grilled, and fried order after after. Two other women took orders and ‘cleaned’ tables.
We finally got a seat and waited for the waitress, who looked like she may have been in the restaurant since 1964, (that’s her on the right above) to take our order. There isn’t much choice; it’s basically noodles, noodles or noodles, with a couple of variations like shrimp or pork on the side. This is helpful for the Ancient Grumpy Waitress Lady as she doesn’t speak, English or otherwise, unless entirely necessary. She has reduced the whole business of taking orders down to a sharp tipping back of the head/jutting out of the chin motion , in the general direction of the person ordering, combined with a dismissive backhanded wave toward anyone else who may have the nerve to want to order.
So we ordered noodles (just to keep things easy), and waited for them to show up. And waited. Once or twice Ancient Grumpy Waitress Lady came by with something we hadn’t ordered and we tried to explain to her that we hadn’t ordered it. She would frown and either take it back to the kitchen, or give it to some other unsuspecting customer.
Eventually, we got our food, and it was definitely worth the wait.
Except for the Spam. That wasn’t on the menu.
The best part was the Lilikoi Chiffon Pie for dessert. SO GOOD.
After lunch, we ended up at the a thrift shop, where Jacob scored himself a ‘new’ shortboard.
Which luckily we could fit in the car.
We still hadn’t found any sun so we carried on driving around the south west coast of the island to Waimea, where it is obligatory to buy a Shave Ice at Jojo’s. They must be absolutely terrible for you, but they do taste good. I had POG and Zoe was into the rootbeer and raspberry.
One little tiny guy in front of me ordered the horrific sounding coffee, lime and blueberry. Or rather, his dad (who I will call Brian) ordered it for him, apparently without thinking if that was a good idea, or if the mom (Kirsten) would approve:
Brian: Yeah I’ll get a strawberry for myself and Dylan here will have a…what did you want Buddy? Coffee, Lime and Blueberry? Yeah he’ll have Coffee, Lime and Blueberry.
Dude: That’s one strawberry and one Coffee, Lime and Blueberry? You sure?
Brian: Yeah thanks that’s good. Right Buddy?
Brief musical interlude while we wait for Brian and Dylan to get their shave ices, and Dylan’s mom, Kirsten, appears on the scene….
Dude: One strawberry and one coffee lime and blueberry
Kirsten: Dylan did you order that? Brian did you let him order Coffee…oh that looks disgusting. And it smells awful! Why didn’t you get pineapple? Coffee? and lime??? gross!
Dylan: mummy can I have my ice
Brian: That’s what he wanted…sorry I didn’t…
Kirsten (with icy look at Brian): Dylan honey mummy’s going to get you a better shave ice. Daddy wasn't thinking. Again. This is just like that time with the steak and mushrooms.
Dylan: but mommy
Kirsten: We’ll have a strawberry and pineapple please. Why did you ever let him order coffee and lime together? And blueberry!
Dude: I’m not here to judge…I just take the orders.
At which point we left as Brian was starting to look a bit pissed off. I was hoping to hear more about the steak and mushrooms but it was getting a bit late.
On our way into town, we had spotted an area where lots of cars were parked along the side of the highway. Always a good sign that something interesting is nearby, in my experience. We parked and found a trail through the trees. About 200 metres later, the trail opened onto this:
These secret beaches are the best – no one around, just sand and waves. We had a great couple of hours here, and Jacob tried out his new board:
Comment of the day goes to Zoe, while playing in the waves: “I’m never getting out of here, ever!”
After the sun went down, we packed everything back to the car for another nighttime drive back to Hanalei, where the torrential rain was still coming down. Ah well. It will be sunny tomorrow.
Thanks for reading
Cheers,
Jane
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