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| I’m excited to see many more flowers blooming as spring nears. |
At 4:30 am, the next-door neighbors, renting for only four nights, moved out. They must have had 20 pieces of luggage taking one out to their car at a time with doors slamming and heavy footsteps.
The front steps, about eight, are in the process of being renovated. I imagine the renters were being careful going down them, taking only a few items at a time, although they seemed sturdy to us.
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| Not enough time today to identify this flower. Does anyone know what this is? Notice the black tips. |
We easily recall the steps that collapsed under our feet (at the time nothing indicated there was an issue with those steps) on our anniversary two years ago, injuring me in such a way that it took many months to fully recuperate.
We both were awake when the renters were moving out and for long afterward. Worried I’d be an exhausted mess if I didn’t go back to sleep after trying for an hour, I took a Tylenol PM which I do on occasion, read a book on my phone, and 15 minutes later I fell back to sleep. Tom dozed off shortly before me.
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| Hopefully soon, the cloudy days will end and blue skies will return. |
With Julie arriving tonight, today we’ll do our weekly comprehensive cleaning as opposed to the dusting and sweeping we usually do every three or four days. This condo, although lovely and well-appointed is relatively easy to clean. When a property is in good repair, it always seems easier to clean, doesn’t it?
As far as condos go, we definitely prefer to rent a house over a condo, mainly due to the likelihood of it being quiet as opposed to the sound of doors banging, toilets flushing and people coming and going.
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| Swimmers on the beach below the steep cliffs. |
In most locations in Hawaii, if one doesn’t want to spend over $10,000 a month, a condo is the only option especially in upscale areas such as Princeville. The only stand-alone houses we rented in Hawaii was on the Big Island when our family came for Christmas, the two houses coincidentally next door to one another, one considerably more expensive than the other.
In other countries, we’ve been fortunate to find affordable private houses. The only places we’ve lived in a condo have been in Belize which was a condo in a resort; in Dubai, UAE on the 38th floor of a 95 story building and in Vancouver while we awaiting our cruise to Hawaii, all of which had full kitchens.
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| The waves and the rocks below the cliffs. |
We’ve had a number of short and long-term hotel stays, most only one night except for Paris and London, which we spent two weeks each without a kitchen, dining out for all meals.
Generally, stand-alone vacation houses cost more than condos, depending on the location. In Madeira, (see our archives from May 15, 2014, to July 31, 2014) for that stunning house overlooking the sea which was only $1350 a month.
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| There are many varieties of beautiful grass that easily grows with the rain and humidity in the Hawaiian Islands. |
The fact that we often stay for two to three months (our four months here in Kauai is the rare exception) most property owners see fit to provide us with somewhat of a discount, which makes sense. Plus with our substantial worldwide readership, the owners may benefit from our mention of their properties with links, such as here in Princeville, Kauai.
Unquestionably, we’ll be able to provide a great review for this condo. The fact that remodeling is in progress for the unit below us and the resulting noise, won’t have a bearing on our review. Condo living has these issues, of which most renters are aware before signing the agreement.
Going forward to the next two-plus years to the South Pacific (with only one 75 day gap which we’ll soon fill), every property we’re renting is a either private house or a stand-alone house in a resort, as is the case in Fiji for 89 days.
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| There’s rarely a day when the mountains aren’t shrouded in “vog,” clouds of humidity. |
In Trinity Beach, Australia, our next vacation rental beginning on June 11th, the property we’ve rented is a ground floor lower level of the owner’s main house. The reason we chose this type of property is the high cost of rentals in Australia in general, comparable to the costs here in Princeville.
The owners with whom we’ve communicated often, seem very kind and friendly. We anticipate that we’ll all spend many good times together. After all, Australians are known for being “overly friendly” not unlike the people of Kauai and South Africa, the most friendly environments we’ve visited in the past 29 months of travel.
I suppose the fact that other languages are spoken in many of the countries in which we’ve lived has had a huge bearing on our perception of friendliness. Developing friendships with whom one can’t converse with, is tricky.
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| More amazing view of the sea near our condo. |
Now, we’re off the pool and fitness center at the Makai Club where I’ll work out while Tom takes the car to fill it with gas for mine and Julie’s upcoming sightseeing outings, beginning after she’s rested.
Off we go to get a few things done. We’ll be back tomorrow with more. Soon, we’ll have many more new photos to share. As always, all photos we’ve posted today are new, except the one-year-ago as posted below.
Have a happy day!
Photo from one year ago today, March 12, 2014:
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| A view of the Medina from the rooftop of our vacation rental which was a private home, although attached to neighboring houses. There are no stand-alone holiday houses in the Medina and few in Morocco in general. For more details, please click here. |
