Nishan grew up in Saskatchewan (among other places) so naturally, I’ve heard about Saskatoon berries more than a few times. And that’s how we found ourselves in the car on our second day in Calgary heading to the town of Okotoks, just outside of Calgary.
We had breakfast at their on-site restaurant, but the real highlight was sampling the Saskatoon berry ice cream. Okay, I get it. This stuff is good. Creamy, sweet, and super fruity. Why don’t they carry this in the states?
The farm carries other produce and baked goods, as well as tons of plants, so if you like to get your Canadian gardening on, this is the place.
From Okatoks we got back in the car and headed back towards Calgary, where we spent the rest of the day at the Calgary Turkish Festival, sampling kabobs and coffee.
We got up early the next day to drive to Lake Louise in Banff National Park. Tim Hortons in tow, of course. The last time I was at Banff, everything was covered in snow and I was convinced I was going to freeze and pass out from the cold. This time, we approached Lake Louise in tank tops and t-shirts. The sun was shining and the lake was gorgeous.
After lunch at the adjacent Fairmont Lake Louise, Nishan and I began the easy hike around the lake. Lake Louise is pristine, and the ice blue to emerald color of the water comes from rock flour carried into the lake by melt-water from the glaciers that overlook the lake long ago.
We were famished by the time we got back to Calgary, so we stopped at the market and picked up a few ingredients for dinner. Nishan cranked out homemade saffron tagliatelle while I made the lobster and scallops to top the pasta.
I first visited Calgary last winter, and like a true Californian, I wasn’t prepared. But despite the freezing cold, the city won me over, and I went back in Calgary in July to visit Nishan and visit the Calgary Stampede — one of the world’s largest rodeo festivals. Yes, you read that right. I went to a rodeo. And it was awesome.
But first things first. Phil & Sebastian is my favorite coffee shop in Calgary, and we stopped there first to fuel up before heading downtown.
A piece of freshly-baked bannock bread kept us sated as we began to roam the Stampede grounds. Bannock is an unleavened flatbread fried in oil and native to Canada’s First Nations, and in this rendition, the bread was sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon for a sweet, warm treat.
We roamed the Indian Village on the bank of the Elbow River, peering into tipis that re-enacted elements of their traditional lifestyle. five nations of the Treaty 7 – the Tsuu T’ina, Piikani, Stoney, Kainai and Siksika – are represented at Indian Village. Made in 1877, the Treaty 7 was an agreement between Queen Victoria and several mainly Blackfoot First Nations tribes in what is today the southern portion of Alberta.
Next we headed into the exhibition area to view (and pet!) the livestock. Horses! Llamas! Sheep-shearing contest! The little kid in me was delighted.
No visit to Stampede (or, uh, Canada) is complete without poutine, so we grabbed a container from La Poutinerie before the rain began. Southern Alberta was still recovering from some of the worst flooding the province had seen in a century, and the rains were still tapering off. We found shelter in a corner and dug into this delicious, comforting snack.
Dinner was even heartier at Charcut, a trendy and upscale downtown steakhouse. We shared a plate of the steak tartare as an appetizer followed by, well, more steak as our entrees. Hey, it’s Alberta. These guys do steak right.
We’d spent the first four days of our vacation making day trips around the island, so on our fifth day, Nishan and I stayed close to home. After a hearty breakfast at Living Foods Market in Koloa, we made the five-minute drive to nearby Allerton Garden.
Allerton Garden is one of the United States’ five National Tropical Botanical Gardens. All but one are in Hawaii and one is in Florida. Queen Emma of Hawaii formerly resided at Allerton Gardens and in the 19th century, it was purchased by the McBryde family until it changed hands again in the 1930s, this time by Robert Allerton. Allerton designed the landscape into a series of individual gardens, and today the grounds maintain much of its original roots.
But enough about that. These gardens contain the larger-than-life Moreton fig trees that were featured in Jurassic Park. I got a kick out of realizing that the trees’ roots are, in fact, taller than me. Giant trees! So cool.
After our lazy day at the garden, we stopped at Koloa Fish Market on our way back to the condo to pick up some tuna sashimi, tuna poke, and cucumber salad for dinner. What’s better than a meal of fresh fish while you take in a stunning view of the Pacific?
Our sixth (and last day) in Kauai was just as lazy. After another breakfast at Living Foods Market, we made another five-minute drive to Poipu Beach. Poipu Beach is one of the island’s most popular beaches, both for its clear blue waters and its calm surf. Calm enough for a rookie like me, even.
The beach is popular with non-human visitors, too.
After Poipu Beach, we stopped at Koloa Fish Market for another meal of assorted poke, because, really, is there ever such a thing as too much poke? Probably not.
We spent our last evening relaxing in the back yard of our rented condo, taking photos and snacking on arare. A sunshower left us with a huge rainbow as the sun was setting and just like that, the day was over. Too bad I couldn’t bring some poke back with the mainland but until next time, I can always recreate the flavors of Kauai in my kitchen.
We woke up bright and early on our fourth morning in Kauai and headed from Koloa to the west side of the island. Nishan and I were headed to Waimea Canyon, but first, we stopped at Ishihara Market in Waimea for some poke.
Ishihara Market boasts the most expansive (and freshest) poke selection I had during my time in Kauai. Nishan and I picked up a few containers of maki sushi, tuna poke, and the most tender lobster poke you can imagine. I only wish we bought more, because soon we were out of time and had to get back on the road towards Waimea Canyon.
Waimea is Hawaiian for “reddish water”, a reference to the erosion of the canyon’s red soil. Known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, Waimea Canyon is unique in that it was formed not only by the gradual process of erosion, but also through the sudden collapse of the volcano that created Kauai. Intense island is intense.
After spending the the afternoon at the canyon, we headed back towards the town of Waimea for Jo-Jo’s Shave Ice. Next up: Port Allen. Port Allen is the halfway point back towards Koloa on the south shore, and we had scheduled a boat ride around the Na Pali Coast which departed from this old port town.
The Na Pali coast encompasses sixteen miles of rugged coastline along the northwest side of Kauai and is inaccessible to vehicles. Na Pali means “high cliffs” in Hawaiian, and indeed, these cliffs rise as much as 4,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean.
We were lucky to see the coastline on an exceptionally calm day, which meant that our boat was able to sail further north than usual. Between the dolphins, the crystal-blue waters, or the intensely colorful sunset, we took in the gorgeous views as much as we could. You know the saying “photos don’t do it justice”? Yeah.
By the time we returned to Port Allen, it was nighttime. We settled in for a quiet evening at our condo, tired but happy from another day well spent on the island.
The roadside scenery in Kauai is so beautiful that it’s hard to not be distracted behind the steering wheel. On our third day on the island, Nishan and I headed to the mountains in search of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery. Located near the Wailua River on the east side of the island, the monastery (also known as Kauai Aadheenam) is a traditional South Indian-style monastery-temple complex. Founded in 1970, the 363 acre grounds house two traditional Saivite Hindu temples, the Kadavul Temple and the San Marga Iraivan Temple, an all-granite temple currently being carved in Bangalore, India, and assembled on Kauai.
But really, all we wanted to do was hang out with our newfound furry friend, who we lovingly named Hindu Cat.
After the puja, or ritual prayer, we explored the monastery grounds, a larger-than-life Shangri-La surrounded by lush greenery and waterfalls. This place was incredible, and I can easily see why a monastery would be erected here of all places.
After the monastery, we continued our drive toward’s Kauai’s north shore, stopping at Kilaeua Fish Market for some poke and lunch.
The poke was fresh and delicious.
My plate of grilled ono fish? Not so much. Covered in too much sweet sauce and too much mayonnaise, I could hardly finish half my plate and focused instead on my salad and plain rice. Nishan felt sick from his ono tacos too. We called the meal a wash and got back on the road towards Tunnels Beach.
Tunnels, also known as Makua Beach, is surrounded by dramatic mountains and is an island favorite for snorkeling. Be forewarned: the roads to Tunnels Beach are a bit treacherous so be careful, especially if it’s rainy. Parking is also hard to come by so be patient. We arrived soon before a rainstorm hit, so we couldn’t spend too much time lazing about in the sun. After an hour of taking in the views, we got back in the car and drove back from where we came from, lest we face the roads in heavy rain.
We couldn’t help but quickly stop at Hanalei Bay, though. The storm was approaching and the bay’s usually picturesque crystal blue waters had turned into a murky green. Oh well. Back in the car we went.
The best part of our drive back from the north shore turned out to be the Hanalei Valley Overlook, an incredible view of hundreds of acres of taro fields. Grown for over 1,000 years, over 70% of all taro grown in Hawaii comes from here.
Looking at all that taro made us hungry, so we stopped in Kapaa on our way back for a quick snack of spam musubi and thai iced tea with coconut milk at Mermaids Cafe.
Back on the south shore, we had dinner at Josselin’s, a tapas-style Hawaiian restaurant in Koloa. We started with a deconstructed ahi roll, which was tasty but could have used more flavor. Some vinegar maybe? More salt?
The salt and pepper octopus made up it in flavor. Super crispy pieces of of seafood paired perfectly with a spicy-sweet pineapple-flavored dipping sauce.
Next we shared a roasted heirloom eggplant salad. The eggplant was good, but the real star was the fried goat cheese fritter on top. So gooey, so creamy, so delicious!
We also shared plates of hoisin braised short ribs, slow-cooked butterfish, and malasadas for dessert. Malasadas are kind of like Portuguese donuts and they arrived in Hawaii in the nineteenth century when Portuguese laborers came to Hawaii to work on the plantations. I like the occasional donuts, but these were too sweet for my taste. Still, Josselin’s was one of my favorite meals in Kauai, and the ambiance was perfect for a swanky night out.
Happy and satisfied, we drove back to our condo for the evening to rest. We’d driven so much that day, and tomorrow would be no exception. Next up: the west side of Kauai.
