Hawaiian Islands Cruise - Kauai - Day 1

Kauai was also a two-day stop on our cruise itinerary. Although we had the second day planned, the first was unscheduled. However, the previous day in Kona we met a man at the pier selling tours for Kauai for the following day. We made reservations and were told we weren’t expected to pay until the end of the tour, which was reassuring. 

I'm wearing a lei, & two flowers in my hair

For a 5-hour bus tour with four points of interest, in a 20-passenger bus, the man was charging $50. As it turned out, similar tours by the cruise line were on a 50-passenger coach and cost about triple what we paid. The bus had large picture windows, which made for wonderful views, and the size of our group made it easy to socialize. We certainly enjoyed that tour for so many reasons.

As we left the ship to meet the tour, we came across a group of about 25 seniors, sitting at tables and working away. I approached them to see what they were doing.

Each week the seniors work together to create leis and flowers for the ladies who come off the NCL island cruise. They also gather all the flowers themselves by hand. Our cruise docked three hours early, so we certainly threw them off their production schedule!

You’ll see from the photo of the back of their t-shirts they are a branch of an Alu Like Inc program. Each of them donates their time to greet visitors, with their oldest volunteer being 96 years old. The organization is sponsored by the state and this particular group has been in existence since February of this year.

 

This lady was bold enough to get Greg to dance with her, although he needed a little coaxing. The lady in an earlier photo gave him a lei for me, and then gave him a hug and a kiss. Now that’s a warm welcome!

There was also a band playing Christmas carols in a traditional Hawaiian style. The sign above them shows the complete name of the group. It was difficult to flatten out the lady's t-shirt to show the complete name :)

On our bus tour, first we went to Wailua to look at their famous falls. Coming from Niagara Falls, it’s usually a little bit of a non-event for us to see waterfalls, but they were beautiful. Their claim to fame is that they were used in the filming of the TV show, Fantasy Island.

Nearby, a few vendors sold their wares, near the “No Vendors Allowed” sign! I bought an amazing coconut cake that was still warm; it was delicious and didn’t last long. Those in my family reading this will laugh as my mother was famous for loving coconut. I’m certainly following in her footsteps, and I thought of her when I bought the cake :)

We then went to the Kauai Coffee Company, known to be the largest coffee plantation in the United States. Not surprisingly, we were offered free coffee, and those not on a scheduled tour could do a self-directed tour of the growing area. It was interesting to see rows and rows of coffee trees, similar to the way we’d see grape vines laid out in the Niagara region.

We then went to the majestic Waimea Canyon, known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. We were fortunate to have a relatively clear weather day, although it was still a little hazy in the canyon. We had a 98-year old Asian lady on our bus and she had no difficulty walking up the steep slope and stairs to the lookout. She was amazing!

My photos just don't do it justice, as the views were spectacular. You'll see the strata of various colours though, including some lush green areas.

This photo was taken from the same spot as the previous one, but is looking to the left. The colouring was quite different.

Can you make out what the black patch is in the centre of the photo? It may be difficult to see in this photo.

There were mountain goats (the white patch is the horns) scaling the sides of the canyon. How they managed to not slide down on those steep canyon walls is beyond me!

Our final stop was to view the Spouting Horn, which was a natural blow hole along the scenic Poipu coastline. Vendors at small wooden stands sold handmade items to the tourists. We learned from our tour guide that these vendors pay $3,500 a month in rent. We realized there needed to be quite a markup to cover what seems like an excessive cost.

We learned so much about the culture of Hawaii from our driver, who is a native Hawaiian. One interesting fact was the reason why chickens and chicks can be seen running lose everywhere on the island.

An aftermath of one hurricane was that domesticated chickens were released into the wild.  As native Hawaiians don’t kill them, and the chickens don't have any predators on the island, the population thrives.

This chicken is taking advantage of the remnants of coconut being sold by a vendor at the canyon.

We'd seen Kauai from the sea on our way to the island. This day we saw it from the land. The next day we saw it from the air. It was quite an experience!

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Hawaiian Islands Cruise - December 10 to 17
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Part 1 - Honolulu & Maui
Part 2 - The Big Island - Hilo
Part 3 - The Big Island - Kona
Part 4 - Kauai - Day 1 
Part 5 - Kauai - Day 2