The last full day

We once again woke up early on the last full day we had.

We had to check in with Ali'i Kayaks at eight thirty, and just as we got there, a could burst opened up on us. Stacey got a little video from the very end just as it let up.



After check-in, we placed our belongings in a dry-bag, and it was time to put in and start paddling up the Wailua.

Someone* decided to take a picture instead of paddling. Love how it looks like I'm about to dial her in.

*Stacey

Our guide was pretty informative - apparently the Wailua valley was kapu, or forbidden. If you were caught in the area and not ali'i (highest rank of Hawaiian society) you would be put to death.

The western marker of the kapu area.

The eastern marker, also known as The Sleeping Giant (this is his head; high point is the nose, chin to the right, eybrow and forehead to the left, respectively).

The whole kapu system of laws, which include some real zingers, were eventually abolished, but their mark still lives on, with signs reading "Kapu!" if you're not supposed to do something (like trespass, defacing monuments, etc).

The paddle up the river was scenic, with the mountains and such in the background, and several large bushes that had black-and-yellow flowers on them.

One of the many, many flowers on the river bank.

After about forty minutes of paddling we hit the beaching site and started the hike towards the islands interior.

The beaching point.

The hike was mostly easy. There were a few rough spots, but nothing that was insanely challenging or tricky.

Stacey photobombing me on the trail.

The hardest part of the hike I think was probably fording the Wailua river. It was just about waist deep, but moving swiftly.

To be fair, it's only waist deep in the center...where it's also the fastest moving.

Down river from the fording point was a debris pile probably twenty feet high - from the last time the Wailua went all insane with a flash flood. I asked Stacey to get a picture, but was met with disdain and the look for vocalizing my artistic direction.

But she still took the picture!

Once across, we continued inland for maybe ten minutes.

Me, our dry bag, and my trusty PVC hiking pole...that I almost snapped in two on a slip.

Saw some cool sights as we went, and even passed the site of an old ali'i villiage, as evidenced by the numerous lava-rock foundations scattered around the site. There was also a peculiar rock that seemed out of place. Apparently, under it's moss was a glyph alerting any who passed that they were entering a kapu area.

The ali'i village/kapu marker stone.

Just up the trail from the village was the terminating point of the trail; Secret Falls. At the bottom of the falls is a small pool that is just deep enough for swimming. And the water was cold, coming down from on high, the wettest spot in the world. It was a little odd, after swimming in the ocean for two days, to be in fresh water and not have salty jerky-lips.

Shrinkage!

The falls are strikingly tall, and to get perspective I had to back up to the very back of the accessible area, probably around four hundred feet or so. Otherwise all I could get was bits and pieces of it.

Even then I couldn't get the whole pool in with it (we figured it was about one-hundred-twenty feet tall).

After swimming and hanging around for a bit, It was time for the hike back. It was mostly along the same trail with one minor deviation. Along that deviation we saw two things of interest; a walking tree and a parasitical umbrella tree.

The walking tree apparently gets it's name from it's roots. Mature trees will send out a new root towards their water source. When it sprouts the new root, it will break off a root in the opposite direction, thus it "walks" to it's water source.

To be honest, the new roots look like the tree is just well endowed.

The parasitical umbrella tree was interesting, as it was a tree growing out of another tree. Somehow it managed take root in a fairly large limb of an older tree and just decided it would live there. According to our guide that's something that is seen fairly often on Kauai.

The Hawaiian parasitic umbrella tree.

We also saw evidence, that indeed, the damn chickens are everywhere on Kauai.

Even deep in the jungle.

From there it was back across the river, which thankfully had gone down while we were at the waterfall instead if rising. (Remember, the Wailua changes drastically with rainfall.)

Coming back it was only hip-deep (pictured is our shoeless guide, Rick).

Then back to the kayaks, and downriver we went. At the meeting point where we assembled prior to heading back into the loading ramp, we saw what was probably the most colorful spider of the trip. Also, the couple next to us capsized their canoe, but we didn't get any pictures of that.

A cross spider on the riverbank.

After the kayak tour, we went home and showered, and headed back out to check out the Kauai museum. The museum was pretty cool, they had two parts; a natural history section, with some awesome artifacts (like a four-hundred year old feather-cape for starters). The other part was a more modern history exhibit, with artifacts and photgrpahs from the plantation days, artifacts from the first Asian immigrants, a whole collection of Ni'ihau shell leis (that Stacey and I estimated to be worth like three hundred thousand dollars), etc. The shell leis and their story were most impressive; Apparently not a whole lot of flowers grow on Ni'ihau (the Forbidden Island), at least not enough to make leis from. Instead, because of the currents, the locals are able to go hang out in the surf and collect all manner of shells. They then hand-drill and -string the shells together into a lei. They are considered the finest of all Hawaiian leis, with Hawaiian royalty often seen wearing them in numerous photos. Their price seems to support this: we saw "cheap" examples for around five hundred dollars, and even a few worth twenty-five thousand dollars. I think the median was probably around five thousand dollars. (This is what we used to estimate the shell leigh collections monetary value, though we were probably off (low) a fair amount.)

However, the Kauai museum had one massive flaw that really left me in a mood: no pictures. For what ever reason, they confiscate cameras and cellphones with cameras at the door. The only two pictures of the entire museum venture was of an old steam plough out front, and its associated signage.

The steam engine...

...and the aforementioned associated signage.

To try make up for it, I got a picture of the monument that was given by the Japanese as a gift (in, I think, the sixties) that sits across from the museum.

It's cool, but no consolation when compared to hundreds, nigh thousands of years of tangible history just out of pictorial reach.

After that it was back to the crew house for a dinner of pineapple, papaya, more kalua pork, and some smoked marlin. We also started laundry since we'd be leaving the next day. While talking with one of our flight nurses, we finally learned the actual name of Turtle Beach; Brennecke Beach.

The property owners papaya tree.

The end of the day kinda snuck up on us; we had been doing laundry and such when we sat down on the couch to take a break. It was a few hours before we awoke and got back up, and even then it was just to go to bed.