Waimea Canyon

This morning we had a short breakfast at the Aloha Café, then we boarded the bus with Roberts Hawaii for the Journey to Waimea Canyon excursion. Waimea Canyon is considered the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific,” with many brilliant layers of colors and lots of vegetation too. We were very excited to see it. Our tour guide was a little quirky but very informative and gave us lots of info about the island of Kaua’i. On the way we stopped first at a blowhole, which was similar to the one we’d seen before but which had greater height – it was pretty neat. Across the street from that state park there were condos being built, which our tour guide said started at $1 million. Pretty pricey, eh? In the blowhole’s park, there were lots of chickens and roosters, which we learned had been let out of their fences during the 1992 hurricane, and which have been roaming around since. Some of them had baby chicks following them around – too fun! We had one more stop at a random gift shop on the way to the Canyon, where we got some Mauna Loa macadamia nuts (a big brand in Hawaii) which were Onion and Garlic flavored…interesting, but a little too strong, so I ate half the bag and threw the rest away – ha! On the rest of the drive to the Canyon we could see the island of Niihau, a smaller island in the chain that is not far from Kaua’i. We learned that at one time about 100,000 people had lived there, but that as Kaua’i began to advance in technology (electricity, plumbing) people began moving off the island, because it is so small and there really hasn’t been any effort to get modern amenities there. Now about 7,000 people live there, and they can come over on Tuesdays and Thursdays to go to the new Costco on Kaua’i!

The view of Waimea Canyon was simply breathtaking – you’ll have to look at the pictures to see what I mean! It was formed over many years by a river, just like the Grand Canyon. The tour guide was nice enough to take our picture with the part that is more vegetated – too much fun!

After viewing the Canyon we headed back toward the ship. On the way we stopped at the Kaua’I Coffee Company, which is surrounded by its coffee fields. Their coffee is good like Kona coffee, and isn’t as strong. They also have lots of flavors!

Once we were back to the ship we got ready for the luau. We left before some of the other people who went to the luau because we booked a ride on the Plantation Train around the luau site. When we got to the luau we both got leis – I got a beautiful orchid lei and Jarrett got a shell lei. Then we went on the train ride. The plantation has fruit trees including mango, banana, coconut and avocado, a cashew tree (did you know the cashew nut is actually the seed of the cashew fruit, and that it must be roasted before eaten because in its raw state it is poisonous?), sugar cane, bread fruit, etc.

We also saw the pigs, donkeys, and horses they keep on the property, lots of palms, the Cook Pine, and lots of the beautiful grounds.

After we got back from the train ride we wandered around the demonstrations and craft tables. They had a couple of sets of boys playing traditional Polynesian games, and there were several craft sites – we got an ornament for our Christmas tree! They also had temporary tattoos, and I got a turtle. We next went to the hut where they had the pig cooking in the sand. They bury it in leaves with hot rocks around it. It had been cooking since 7:30 that morning They had taken the guts out of the pig, so it didn’t look quite as disgusting when they got it out ;) They also had a little ceremony including dancers dancing with halved coconuts which had been lighted with fire, and a lady singing a Polynesian song with a male Polynesian drummer – very cool.

It was an open bar, so you know what that means! We had lots of Mai Tai’s, a couple Blue Hawaiians, and a few LIT’s. That just made the luau that much better – ha!! ;) The food was presented buffet style, and they had broken the pork up like bar-b-que from home – it was really good!

The show was truly amazing. It was the story of the migration of the Polynesian people from the Marquesas Islands to Hawaii. They used the stars, currents, winds and migration of animals as their guide to the new islands. The show included fire dancers, which was also really cool!

After the show we headed back to the ship and had a snack, basically just because we could, but also to kill the buzz ;) Next we went to the Newlywed Game, the Liar Show, and stayed for a bit of the Late Night Dance Party – then it was off to bed! We hope to shop a little in the morning, and then enjoy a little more relaxed day of vacation! Until tomorrow, Aloha!