South Pacific Sojourn March 30, 2008

After beginning the vacation in a fashion most true to our nature (we stayed up too late on our first night together in eight months and consequently missed our flight the next morning, pushing back our departure one day…which was fine, because it was a good day of waiting to leave), we had, undoubtedly, the best time I’ve ever had.  The most perfect, special, beautiful, idyllic, and romantic moment in my life happened on Day Three, as we were stuck on a bridge, in a freak rainstorm, with rainforest jungle waterfall on one side and wide blue Pacific on the other.  It was pure magic.  The first place we stayed was literally perfect.   Every single detail was arranged perfectly, from the food, to the customer service (the entire staff knew our names by the time we checked in), to the landscape design, to the massages, to the lighting, to the unassuming sophistication of the decor…it was just perfect.  Seriously, if you’re ever looking for a perfect get-away, check out Kona Village Resort.  Our private hale was about a half mile walk along the beach from everything (pool, dining areas, concierge office, parking lot), so we got to enjoy lush trails on the way to and from our perfect, private, thatched bungalow.  The shrimp I ate on the first night of our arrival was the best I’ve ever eaten, and I’m sure only three hours out of the ocean.  The restaurants were 5 star, and we ate like queens three times every day.  Because my computer’s battery is low (as usual), the highlights:  snorkeling daily with the sea turtles that live in the bay opposite outdoor dining area number 2, the helicopter ride over the very-recently-active volcano Pele, (my favorite) the hike around the rim of an extinct volcano in Wai’pio Valley to the rainforest waterfall, shopping on Scenic Route 19, cruising around the island in our hot rental convertible, the snorkeling day trip to a marine sanctuary 7 miles down the coast from our hotel, the sunset cocktail cruise where we drank pina coladas and saw baby humpbacks, parasailing at 1200 feet on a hazy day over Kauiluhau, the jet ski rentals that took us to the middle of a large, choppy bay, and the gigantic, blue-tiled hot tub complete with waterfall and surrounding fresh water pool which spilled into a large pool, perfectly heated so as to feel cooler but not cold, underneath the palm trees on a full moon.  Perfect, romantic  m a g i c. I have never felt so happy or so content in my entire life.  Odd that that could happen with my ex-girlfriend.  Not surprisingly, I’m having a hard time staying her ex.  We just have so much fun together.  She’s my favorite adventure companion, my perfect dinner date, the softest shoulder to sleep against.  Our problems didn’t dissolve because of ten days in paradise, but there was a certain measure of perspective granted me; we love each other too much, and get along too well, and have entirely too much fun with one another, to just give up.  Nothing has changed…I’m still single and she is whatever she is, but my heart has changed, warmed, softened, or maybe just remembered what it feels like to have such a perfect counter-weight.  I am missing her badly since our return to the mainland.  I’m finding it hard to sleep alone in the bed we shared for a year.  I crave the color of her eyes; more blue than even the waters of the Pacific.