Showing posts with label Kauai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kauai. Show all posts

7/7/12

Tropical Topics: the Kauai Marriott

Here's another blog post from our trip to Kauai. United cancelled our flight home due to mechanical troubles and put us up for a night at the Marriott in Lihue. This has happened to Guy before, so he knew to hurry to the ticket counter right away once the flight was cancelled to be sure we got a room at the best hotel. Well, who's to say we got the best hotel; we didn't take a passenger census the next day. It was definitely nicer than where we usually stay. We'll leave it at that.

The Marriott has a lovely a resort garden.

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The koi pond was jam packed, but none of my pictures of the koi came out. Here's a bird instead.

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Ixora coccinnea is the tropical equivalent of bedding azalea. Although, I suppose it makes more sense to use Ixora coccinnea in Hawaiian landscaping than it does to use azaleas in many places where you commonly find them used here. Like the Getty in Los Angeles.

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The view from our room on the 11th floor, facing west.

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They didn't even bother to put rooms on both sides of the building.

Looking south.

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Along the north end of the lagoon.

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Sort of looking around the corner.

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Looking down.

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The beach here is mellow. No rocks or coral, and no riptides. It was windy the whole week we were in Kauai, so the water in Kapa'a was rough. It was nice to have another day to swim in mellow water. No rocks or coral means no fish to snorkel with, but the water itself was worth it.

6/28/12

Tropical Topics: Return to the Moir Garden

We saw this aloe garden before, in full sun, back in 2010. This time we had some cloud cover.

I can really appreciate this garden's of overgrown, over-planted, over-the-top succulent stylings...but I have to say it looks better in photography than it does in real life. Some gardens are just like that. Mine is like that. What makes that happen? Is it the framing? Selective editing the zoom? Digitial colors? I don't know.

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It's an alien landscape...

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With all kinds of strange specimens.

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A giant, possibly 80-year-old Euphorbia abyssinica (syn. E. neglecta) towers into the trees in the back corner

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And its long arms hang down pendulous, unfurling like a writhing mass of serpents.

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Lava rock walls point the way.

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How old are these stands of large, arborescent Kalanchoe beharensis? How big were they when planted?

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Sansevieria-lined paths lead to tiered, circular koi ponds

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Besides the aloes, Plumeria flowers here.

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And if I had to guess, I would say the yellow-flowering tree is Thevetia thevetioides.

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Thevetia thevetioides?

Thevetia thevetioides?

Thevetia thevetioides?

Nearby an old iron tub of water lilies, endlessly trickling.

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