Rain rain

Ok, here's a little word association to describe our first experiences here:

rain : excessive
hotel : amazing
luau : big disappointment
helicopters : dangerous

We were looking forward to the luau, and it was only semi-entertaining. Because it had threatened to rain they moved it indoors. So it was in the hotel banquet hall, which just made it seem like a Hawaiian Bar Mitzvah.

The front page of the local paper delivered to our room featured a massive image of .. a helicopter crash! 4 people dead on a helicopter tour in Princeville. I can't think of many things that would have been worse to read on our first day (contenders would have to involve a tsunami, earthquake, nuclear holocaust, or a Bush re-election) since we're booked for one on Sunday. Um, at least it's with a different company?

Also, we had planned to hike the Na Pali coast this morning, so we drove up halfway around the island - 1-1/2 hours from where we're staying in Poipu - but we had to turn back because it was raining too much and clearly wasn't going to be enjoyable. Bummed, we ate some pretty good burritos at a very local-friendly place called Tropical Taco, and headed back.

At least the day afforded us time to relax after our long day of travel, so it wasn't so bad. Still, we really hope this isn't a theme for the rest of the trip.