A budding social life…Who knew that Kauai would be such a friendly environment?…

The Wai’olo ha Church in Hanalei, a popular church and point of interest in the area. For more information, please click here.

When one first arrives in beautiful upscale Princeville, it’s easy to make assumptions that with its certain sense of affluence, that it may not be an easy area to make friends. How wrong we were!

From what we’ve been able to determine there are seven one-lane bridges in Kauai, most of them in the Hanalei Bay area. Hawaiian residents and tourists are highly cooperative in letting several cars pass at a time. Often, we’ve observed signs posting stipulating that one allows six or seven cars to pass before proceeding. Surprisingly, the flow moves quickly.

Many former mainland (USA) residents moved to Kauai to get away from it all full or part-time. Welcoming short term residents such as us, most likely not returning anytime in the near future, may not be a top priority.

As for making friends with tourists, we find this highly likely on a cruise sharing the commonality of interests on the confines of the ship. Otherwise, while traveling, most of the friends we’ve made have been residents of the area. 

This one-lane bridge crosses over the Hanalei River.

On a few occasions, we’ve met tourists open to making new friends while they’re traveling as in the case of the two couples we met this week, thoroughly enjoying time together with Vicki and Jerry, at the beach and Jessica and Ed, our next-door neighbors for another week.

Yesterday, at the Makia Golf Club pool where I now work out and we both lounged at the pool several times per week, we met Richard, a former attorney from the Midwest, who kindly invited us to a house party on February 4th, a monthly tradition for a relatively good size group of locals observing the full moon.

Another one-lane bridge crossing over the river that flows from the sea in Hanalei Beach.

Of course, we were delighted to RSVP on the spot, especially when Richard happened to have an invitation with him with the location and particulars. What a marvelous opportunity to meet locals with whom we can socialize during our four months (as of today) that we’ll be living in Princeville. 

Shortly, after meeting Richard we met Shayna, a neighbor of Richard’s and a permanent resident who was also welcoming and we hope to see again soon.

Many beaches are lined with trees such as these, providing some shady areas.

We never have expectations about meeting people in a new environment. Tom and I both are very friendly.  But, under certain circumstances, one can detect the demeanor of others that doesn’t invite conversation. 

I find this to be the case when working out when others appear to be caught up in their own exercise routine, seemingly exuding a “don’t talk to me” persona. In fact, I may be guilty of this same thing when working out, deep in concentration on doing my best in form and intensity.

Today’s soaking rain will certainly be advantageous for Kauai’s abundant vegetation.

It seems to us that the relaxed setting of lounging by a pool, sitting at a bar in a restaurant, or casually lingering at any venue provides the best opportunity for friendliness and idle chatter.

We took this photo at the exact moment as the rooster stuck out his neck in order to loudly crow when we stopped on the side of the road. Perhaps, he is warning the hens and chicks that danger looms, amongst many other reasons.

At this point, we’re considering attending a Super Bowl party at the golf club, but we’re awaiting an email with the particulars. Apparently, yesterday we were informed that there will be a cost for all members to attend. The amount and circumstances of that fee will determine our attendance. If food is included, most likely, none will be appropriate for me. We have to pick and choose those events that make sense for us overall. We shall see.

So far, we’ve only seen haze near the mountains, most likely due to the green hills covered with vegetation. This particular scenario was common in the hills of Madeira, where we lived this past spring and part of summer.

Today, it’s raining hard enough that we may stay indoors. We’ve been out every day this week and one day at “home” will be fine. We attempt to go out each day to take new photos for the next day’s post. 

Fortunately, we still have plenty of photos from this week that we’ll happily share over the next few days until the sunny skies return and we head out for more exploration.

A fountain at the entrance to a residential area in Princeville, Ka’iulani.

Here’s to wishing each and every one of our readers a fulfilling and pleasant Saturday, rain or shine, snow or warmth, and anywhere in between.

                                         Photos from one year ago today, January 24, 2014:

It was one year ago that I dropped my Acer laptop, breaking the screen. I continued using it over a period of weeks attempting to use it in this condition which ultimately failed. Living in Marloth Park, South Africa didn’t provide us with many opportunities for promptly making a new purchase especially with my requirement of a Windows 8 touch screen. Within a few weeks, a solution was in place when Okee Dokee and I traveled to Nelspruit/Mpumalanga to make a new purchase. Please click here for details of that day’s post.