November 25- Nawiliwili, Kaua'i, Hawaii

The ship rolled along all night giving us a sure sense of progress toward land. Woke up this morning about 6:30 to see a beautiful sunrise, a lovely lighthouse, and land!!!!!

Harbor Entrance

Sunrise- November 25

Kaua’i is the oldest and farthest west of the major Hawaiian Islands. Scientists believe it bubbled up out of the ocean floor 5 million years ago. Roughly circular in shape and covering more than 550 square miles, the island is sunbaked and dry in the south and west, while the north is lush and green. Dictating tis weather pattern is Mt. Waialeale, at the island’s center, which traps the passing clouds and often gets more rain than any place on the planet- 460 inches annually- but that is only around that mountain. Most areas average 50 inches a year in rainfall.

Centuries of growth have formed tropical rainforests, forking rivers and cascading waterfalls. This is sometimes called the “Garden Isle.” In Kaua’i no town surpasses 10,000 people and by law no building is taller than a coconut tree or 60 feet tall. The spotlight shines not on the manmade, but on nature’s great outdoors and proves that small really is beautiful.

We were off the ship at about 9:00 for a tour. Our guide was a tall guy named Sunny. He gave lots of information and had some really funny lines. This area in the 1970’s raised pineapple (25%) and sugar cane (75%) but pineapple began to disappear and various EPA regulations and loss of a sugar subsidy caused sugar cane to also disappear.

We saw lots of shopping centers with names of big box stores and chains we all know. Looked much like home.

Kilohana Plantation House

Our first stop was the former sugar cane planation Kilohana which until the 1970’s raised 22,000 acres of sugar cane. The Gaylord Wilcox family ran the plantation ad lived in a mansion that is 16,000 square feet big with only 3 bedrooms. Our train cars were made of Philippine mahogany.

On the train

The property contains wild pigs, cows that are of a mix of brahma,  heifer, and several other breeds. There were also goats and sheep plus some horses. There was lots of experimental farming methods since the Wilcox family let other farmers use their land to try different ways of raising plants and trees.

We saw banana trees, mandarin and ruby red oranges There was even a Rainbow Eucalyptus with a colorful bark. The ratio of pigs to people is 5-1 so no wonder they are everywhere.

In 1992 a huge hurricane hit the island and leveled all the homes and hotels. We saw lots of neighborhoods with houses that were exactly 22 years old because of that. 

We saw colorful chickens everywhere and learned that they had been in cages all over the island for the sport of Cock Fighting, but cages were all destroyed and the chickens now run wild all over everywhere- except the KFC parking lot.

Gasoline was $4.07 a gallon.

Opaeka Waterfalls

We stopped at the river Wailua to see the beautiful Opaeka waterfall. The scenery was beautiful. On the bus the radio was playing what sounded like a Country and Western station and at the break the announcer gave this slogan “keeping Kaua’i country.” Gives a whole new meaning to country and western music.

We saw the taro plant growing- it is a perfect plant giving lots of nutrients and is what is the basic ingredient for poi. Poi is a Hawaiian word for thee primary staple Polynesian food made from the underground plant stem of the taro plant. It is a traditional part of Native Hawaiian food.

Taro Plants growing

 

Poi is produced by mashing the cooked corm (baked or steamed) until it is a highly viscous fluid. Water is added during mashing and again just before eating to achieve the desired consistency, which can range from liquid to dough-like (poi can be known as "one-finger", "two-finger" or "three-finger" poi, alluding to how many fingers are required to scoop it up in order to eat it, which depends on the consistency. Sunny said you ate it with two fingers- one to put it in your mouth and the other to scrap it out of your mouth. Since we haven’t yet tried it I can’t comment.

Pineapples growing

It takes 2 1/2 years for Pineapple plants to yield a pineapple- actually several. BUT then in 2 years the fruit is so small it is not suitable to eat. 

Back at the ship we went through a long security line and then headed to our home-925- rested a  bit and went to the Pool Deck for a burger. Lazy and good day!!!!