memories of an Hawaiian vacation

In 2005, 6 couples traveled together to Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands.  (like herding cats, the friend who organized the trip said!)

Here I present a few memories from that trip.

scene from a hike--river flowing to the sea

My (much older!) cousin Rick searching for the perfect wave to ride!  Even though the beach said "CLOSED," he strode out into the depths, returning unharmed.  I, on the other hand, while standing in ankle deep water, got knocked down by a rogue wave, loosing my glasses and pulling a muscle in my leg.  This photo is particularly poignant to me because it reminds me of Rick's adventurous spirit and love of life.  Sadly he died a couple years later on his birthday at age 65. 

Kauai, called the Garden Isle, is verdantly lush with abundant waterfalls.  This was taken from a helicopter by my husband.  Sadly, I was chicken to go and soon regretted my decision.  The next year, my husband and I decided to go back to Kauai.  I, dosed with motion sickness medicine, had a blast flying above the beautiful island!

Here I am on the beautiful beach of Ke'e (pronounced kay' ay).  Yes, there were a number of trees with exposed roots like this.  This is the beginning (or end) of the famous Na Pali Coast, cliffs that plunge thousands of feet straight down into the sea.

 Na Pali Coast from Ke'e beach.

 Na Pali Coast (pronounced Nuh Polly) as seen from the helicopter (by me!) the following year.

LINKS:
Kauai  a previous post with photos of the Na Pali Coast & Waimea Canyon

Lush and Lava (Kauai, part 2)  another previous post with more photos and a map of Kauai

SOME FACTS:

☼ Pali means cliffs.  The Na Pali cliffs rise as high as 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above the Pacific Ocean.

☼ It is believed that the Na Pali coastline was the first area of Kauai to be settled by the ancient Hawaiians. 

☼ The numbers:  Kauai is circular and emcompasses about 550 square miles.  There are 113 miles of shoreline, 50 miles of which are sandy beaches.  Almost 3/4 of the island is inaccessible by foot.  97% of the land is used for agriculture and conservation. 

☼ Mt. Wai'ale'ale (3,000 feet high) is the wettest spot on earth!  More than 430 inches of rain pours on its peak each year.  This creates the magnificent abundance of waterfalls on the island below.

Personally fun for me was learning to pronounce the name of the state fish.  It took lots of practice!  Humuhumunukunukuapuaa  Every Letter is pronounced individually in Hawaiian!  This is a trigger fish.  (easier to say, huh?  But not nearly as much fun!)
UPDATE:  I posted about how to pronounce the word HERE!

Alphabe-Thursday is a favorite meme! Come and join in the fun! You will be charmed and perhaps even enlightened! See more entries HERE. This week our letter is "H."

photos by me © 2005 and 2006