Day 9, Aug. 15 - Thursday

This morning, while jogging, I saw two monk seals where last night there was just one. They seemed to like being near each other. Someone had taken some chairs and strung up "crime scene" type tape around them so people wouldn't get too close. There were several, though enjoying the site from afar. The family adventures started today with a trip to Lydgate Park, a beach that is close to where we're staying. The surf there is very rough. So much so, that there are "no swimming" signs posted by most of the water. However, there is a wall made of lava-rocks that break the surf making a very tame pool for swimming and snorkeling. The snorkeling was very good, actually. There were lots of interesting fish to see. There were white ones, long thin needle fish and also bright colorful ones. It was almost as good as Hanauma Bay. We left, coincidentally right at lunch-time, so we headed off for Bubba Burgers. This is a very colorful and famous place on Kauai. They have free internet access, though using a very clumsy system. They also have pretty good burgers but charge extra for lettuce and tomato because of the high cost of shipping it from the mainland. It's a fun place for cheap eats.

This afternoon, we enjoyed the Kauai Museum in Lihue. We learned about the geological history of the Hawaiian Islands, the history of the sugar plantations on kauai, and even a bit about Captain James Cook. Apparently, he and his crew were thought to be gods when they landed here. They spent three weeks living it up at the expense of the islanders, wore out their welcome, and left. Then, when they had weather trouble and had to come back, events quickly led to the islanders killing him and some crewmen, ripping off his flesh, and distributing his bones among several chiefs in the area. The moral: be a good guest.

Around Lihue we saw more chickens all over the place. We learned that there are a couple of reasons for the abundance and lack of supervision of the chickens. First, when people brought the chickens from their native land, they didn't bring any mongoose (or the mongoose drown on the way, depending on the story), so there aren't any natural enemies to the chickens. Then, when hurricane Inike hit Kauai on September 11, 1992, the storm destroyed a lot of the birds' cages and people weren't able to round them all up. They began to multiply and take over. It's still confusing to me why people haven't just caught them and cooked them up for dinner or kept them for eggs. Either way, we love seeing the chickens and roosters.

After the museum, we went by the local Hilo Hattie store and then back to the hotel to rest a bit before our big luau tonight. We went to the "Drums of Paradise" Luau at the Hyatt in Poipu. It wasn't what I expected in a Luau. I guess you could say it was a bit disappointing. I was expecting to be outside, on the beach, see an imu ceremony, which is when they take the roast pig out of the underground oven and eat Poi. Well, I got to eat poi, alright, but the luau was held in the grand ballroom of the hotel, and while that had one end completely open to the outside, it was far from the beach. Also, the pig had already been taken out of the oven and completely stripped of all the meat before they wheeled it out on a cart so we could take pictures of the empty carcass. Well, at least strapping island men carried the pig out! The entertainment was a bit cheesy, which we loved, but the dancing was very good. The food was fine and the pig really did taste good. There was lots of fresh fruit, which was great. All in all, it was a successful evening with a few disappointments. Next time, though, we will look harder for authenticity.

 

 

Writing by Jenny Wood ~ Web Design by Andy Wood