December 20, Thursday

December 20, Thursday

We arrive in Kaua’i this morning and dock at the Nawiliwili Port in Lihu’e.  I see the sun rise over the ocean.  This has been our furthest distance travelled in one night, since the Island of Hawaii is at the southeast end and the island of Kaua’i is at the Northwest end of the Hawaiian Islands chain.  We did not get to stop in on the islands of Moloka’i or Lana’i which are in between Oahu and Maui. 

Kaua’i is called the “garden isle” of the Hawaiian Islands.  Kauai is the fourth largest island,  geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the northern most.   It is considered by many to have the lushest greenery and most distinctive natural beauty.  The entire population of the island is only about 70,000 (not counting the tourists).

My excursion today leaves at 8:30, but I don’t have to worry about taking a boat to get to shore this time.  I’m heading for Waimea Canyon, the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific” according to a Mark Twain quotation.  It’s a 5 hour excursion and of course there are some obligatory shopping stops along the way.  I’m really sick of these; they should have shopping excursions for those who want them and regular tourist excursions for the rest of us who want to spend more time seeing the natural wonders instead of wasting time in shops. 

We are on highway 50 for the first part, then turn off on highway  520 towards Poipu and its fabulous beaches. (where Elvis Presley danced in Blue Hawaii)

 Maluhia Road (Tree Tunnel). These eucalyptus trees were planted in 1911 by a Scotsman who began cattle ranching in South Kauai.

We drive through “Old Koloa Town” which has old style Cowboy Western style shop fronts, a huge golf course where the championship Kiahuna Golf Club is located (where the PGA tournament of Champions used to be held)

  Kiahuna Golf Club

We continue on to Poipu where there is some type of archeological / historical site, but our driver never tells us what the name is and I have not been able to find it on the internet. It could have been one of the following: (but there also seemed to be a monument dedicated to Father Damien on the grounds)
-  The walled Kihahouna Heiau (temple) that once existed near Poipu, Kauai was 130 feet by 90 feet; dedicated to Kane, a major god of Hawaii. Three hala-lihilihi-ula trees situated on the outside of the naupaka hedge mark the heiau perimeter.
-  Stone and coral tools found at Keoneloa Bay, meaning “long sand”, helped archaeologists determine that early Hawaiians used the area between 200 and 600 A.D. as a temporary fishing camp. Later Hawaiians left remnants of heiau, or temples, and ahu, or altars.
OR

-  Lava rock walls near Hapa Road indicate that Hawaiians lived on Kauai in the Poipu area around 1200 A.D., although the road dates to the late 1800s.

 

 

 We follow the coastline and stop to see the famous Spouting Horn blow hole. “Called puhi by early Hawaiians, water from the Pacific rushes under a lava shelf, up through an ancient lava tube, and blasts upward at heights of 50 feet into the air.”

We are stopped ½ hour at the Kauai Coffee Visitor Centre / coffee shop to sample some of their coffee. One of the rare plantation areas where coffee beans are harvested by machine. And it’s not Kona coffee. I don’t care for the taste of it, so I’m outside in less than 5 minutes, by-passing the shop and going to walk among the coffee shrubs and flowers.  

 A tiny bird's nest in one of the coffee bushes

One of the coffee fields where the beans are picked mechanically

Back on the bus we continue along highway 50, heading west along the southern part of the island, toward the driest part of the island.  Kaua’i is the wettest of the Hawaiian islands and we are told that you rarely get to see the two main mountains: Mt Wai’ale’ale (5,148 ft) and Mt Kawakini (5,243 ft) which are located in the middle of the island, because they are always shrouded by clouds.   Kaua’i's volcanoes are extinct. 

We continue west past the town of Waimea, where there’s a statue of Captain Cook,since it is one of the locations where he landed.  Busy guy!  

This canyon along route 50 was used in the filming of Jurassic Park.  Other movies filmed in Kauai: Pirates of the Caribbean, Soul Surfer (in Hanalei), Avatar, Raiders of the Lost Ark, South Pacific. and many more.   TV programs were also filmed here:  “Gilligan’s Island”  and parts of “The Thornbirds” (yes, surprising since the book is set in Australia).

We turn off on the 552 north to Waimea Canyon.  It’s about a ½ hour drive up to the Waimea Canyon Lookout along a winding road from sea level up to a level of 3,400 feet. 

 The colours are spectacular.

The Canyon is 10 miles long, 1 mile wide and more than 3,000 feet deep.  “The mammoth chasm with four million year old lava rock reveals variegated hues of red, purple, green and blue.” It was carved thousands of years ago by rivers and floods that flowed from Mount Waialeale's summit. The lines in the canyon walls depict different volcanic eruptions and lava flows that have occurred over the centuries.

Our stop here is only ½ hour.  A 5 hour trip, the bulk of it on a bus, for a ½ hour stop.  I’m thinking of the excursion I’ve got booked for tomorrow, another 5 hours..... and I’m wondering if I really want to spend my last day in Hawaii on a bus….   NOT.

Teeno, our driver provides us with a lot of information about the island, but his attitude towards us gets on my nerves; he is arrogant, asks us if we know the answers to his questions, then berates us when we don’t know.  But, he does provide us with a lot of details about the flora and fauna. 

PS:   Gas costs on the island = $4.41/gallon for regular and $4.52 for the higher octane.

Our drive back to the ship only takes about ½  an hour once we are back on highway 50.  I can’t wait to get off this bus.  I’m back on the ship in time for lunch and head back to my room to enjoy my balcony.  The sun is out, but my balcony is in the shade and it’s not too hot.  I indulge in a few hours of reading before guilt gets me to take out my laptop and start writing out the notes for my blog and annotating some of my photos.  The download doesn’t work as easily with this new camera.  It wants to use a different program and I want to use the same one for all my e-albums.  It seems to take forever to get them downloaded.

There is a Luau on shore this evening, but I’ve opted out.  The last one caused me to be sick for more than 24 hours and I don’t want to risk a repeat performance on this cruise.  I’ve also seen quite a few of the Polynesian Shows now and they are much the same from one area to the next.  I’ll go to the dining room instead, which should be a lot less crowded than usual, and have a nice meal with some wine and go listen to some music after.