Pictures from Honeymoon On Kaua'i

Here are some of the pictures my wife and I took during our honeymoon in Kaua'i, Hawai'i. We took a lot of pictures so I will have to publish them in bits and pieces. Plus, the Picasa/Hello imaging software for this blog sucks and I don't know how to publish a bunch of pictures all at once and thus have to do major editing.

Our stay on Kaua'i was fantastic and we really got to do some major sightseeing. On the first day, it was a major downpour but I looked at it as a blessing. The Hawaiians say that rain is a definite blessing on a special occassion and thus I took the rain in stride. We were tired from our flight from Los Angeles to Lihue, Kaua'i via Honolulu so we more or less went out to grab a meal and then do some grocery shopping since our hotel was equipped with a kitchen.

Oh, before I go on, I will give you a brief introduction in reading Hawaiian. The Hawaiian language consists mainly of vowels: A, E, I, O, U. A is pronounced "ah", E is "eh", O is "oh", U is "oo". You can go to Eye of Hawaii or to the Basic Hawaiian Language Workshop for more information.







As you can see, the place we stayed in was not at the luxurious Princeville Resort on Kaua'i but it was the humble Best Western Plantation Hale (Hale, pronounced Ha-leh. It was a nice and quiet, one bedroom suite with a complete kitchen located on the east side of the island in a city called Kapa'a.

During our stay there, I made friends with the resident rooster that I named Mr. Chicken. He would come by every day to say hello. My wife thought I was wierd but I just cannot help liking all kinds of animals. It's not that I'm a tree hugger because I like to eat meat, but I only eat stuff that comes wrapped in a package and not free roaming if you know what I mean.






As you can see, Mr. Chicken is a rather beautiful cock. One of the best cocks I have ever seen. Kaua'i is teaming with wild chickens to the point that they are almost like pests. However, Mr. Chicken was pretty cool. He would arrive to the back porch with an entourage of hens. What a stud!

The day after we arrived on Kaua'i, we decided to begin our sightseeing tour despite the gloomy weather. Yeah, it was still raining but we figured it isn't snow and the air was warm!

We started our tour towards the west and north parts of the island and took the following pictures along the way.






The pictures above is the world famous Lumahai Beach. This beach was filmed in Blue Hawaii and From Here to Eternity. The picture would have been much better had it been sunny that day. Still, it is a nice place to see even in the rain.

The drive to the North Shore of Kaua'i was rather interesting. The road was very narrow with a series of one lane bridges. The people that live in the area all seem to be caucasian. Not just ordinary caucasians but more like the hippie types that love nature (tree huggers) and the use of wacky tabacky. It felt as if I was not in Hawai'i but in Santa Cruz, CA!

The road ended at a place called Ha'ena. It is very beautiful with lots of beaches. Ok, the whole island is full of beaches since it is surrounded by water. Anyways, in Ha'ena there are a couple of old lava tubes and here is a picture of one of them. This cave is called Waikanaloa Wet Cave.



Hawaiian legend states that this cave is the home of an ancient serpent and that the water reflects her hair coloring. In ancient times, the water was reddish. Now, the water is on the grey side. I guess the serpent is rather old! Actually, the cave was formed as a lava tube and was pounded by the sea. Eventually, fresh water springs filled the cave. The cave sustains no life except for nasty bacteria called leptospirosis. Pretty nasty stuff!

As we headed back to our hotel, we stopped in Hanalei. It is a beautiful place full of taro fields. This valley has not changed at all! I remember seeing this valley when I was a wee boy and it definitely looks the same.



The only way to get to Hanalei by car is through a single lane bridge. No motorized water craft is allowed on the stream.

Below is the taro fields up close. Taro is where poi comes from. What is poi? It is steamed and mashed taro root and is like a paste. Some say it taste like wall paper paste. I don't know what that tastes like since I don't go around tasting that stuff but I like poi. Taro was a staple food for all Polynesians. It is very healthy and is a great source for calcium. The entire plant is edible. The cooked leaves tastes similar to spinich.



I hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures. I will publish more later on. Until then, aloha a hui hou (good bye, until we meet again)!