6/21/11 - Ono Pono Kauai

Ono Pono Kauai

6/21/11

“Ono” means “ultimate or first-class” and “Pono” means “righteous or sacred” and to me Kauai is both…the most ultimate, sacred, and beautiful paradise on earth!  Its landscapes and seascapes rival any others I’ve seen. Besides all the chickens everywhere…this is one of Mother Earth’s most spectacular places…and I got to spend an entire week there for my birthday this year!

The first day was spent scoping out the island via helicopter. Brad and I wanted to get an aerial view of all there was to see in Kauai so we booked two window seats on the Safari “Bird of Paradise.” Up we went and here’s what we saw: 

First off, we got an aerial view of the Kauai Airport and some surrounding reservoirs. Although water isn’t a problem in Kauai (I’m told it’s the third wettest landmass on the planet) distribution can be challenging. When Christian settlers came to the island, they decided to cultivate sugarcane as a primary resource.  Unfortunately, in the past several years of encroaching competitors and an economic nemesis, the sugar industry went belly-up in Kauai. While the sugar industry may or may not recover, the disrupted and thus desecrated waterfalls never will. When the white settlers (known as Haoles or “Howlies” which to the Hawaiians mean “without spirit”) diverted the water for irrigation purposes most of the sacred, spectacular waterfalls off the Napali Coast dried up and were destroyed.  Although still rugged and majestic, one can only imagine what the Napali Coast would have looked like before Christian civilization with all the breathtaking waterfalls cascading off of the cliffs. I was lucky enough to capture a rainbow even though the pilot said that they hadn’t seen any rainbows that entire day. (Maybe it was an omen that perhaps someday the Napali Coast will be restored to all its brilliant glory.)  Mother Earth has a way of reclaiming Herself.                                                     

But we did get to see some spectacular waterfalls including the famous “Jurassic Park” falls that can only be seen by air (or if we wanted to spend an extra $100 the pilot would land us so that we could walk around). We opted for a cayaking expedition later in the week to the spectacular 120 ft. Wailua Falls seen on many a tropical movie backdrop.  One needn’t guess why!

Another one of Kauai’s pristine claims to fame are her beaches.  Unfortunately more than half of the beaches in Kauai are owned by the U.S. Military known as the “Barking Sands Beach.” This may keep some Natives “barking” as they try to “reclaim” some of their own sacred spaces.

Ho’oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness and I pray that the Native Hawaiians can someday forgive us “Howlies” of many the atrocities that we’ve done to their sacred Kauai Island.

On a brighter note—on our scuba adventure on Captain Andy’s Catamaran (remember the movie, “Bird on a Wire”) a pod of dolphins and a giant sea turtle greeted us just as we were sailing out of the harbor. We snorkeled off the Napali Coast where I got some great shots of another giant sea turtle (or perhaps even two ;) on my underwater camera.

With all joking aside (or not) Brad and I had a great time on Captain Andy’s (we even got free T-shirts to boot) as we drank more “Paradise Punch” than either of us could remember and had a “Sunset Buffet” just as we were coming around the cape at Kekaha.

Don’t you just love the Hawaiian language that contains only12 letters: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 7 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w)?  All of the “aui” names kind of get confusing for me but I must admit my favorite street in Lihu’e was Nawiliwili Road.  Someone should get an award for naming that one!  Some of the other interesting features in Kauai were the many quaint Christian Churches and Cemeteries noting the persuasive Christian influence on the island.    

One of my favorite Christian sites was the “Immaculate Conception Cemetery” noting the Catholic influence on the Virgin Mary’s sexuality. Of course, that would all depend on your definition of “immaculate” as in Webster’s dictionary it is defined as “showing faultless perfection” so I’d definitely consider the conception of all eleven of my children “immaculate.”

Also another point of interest shared during the “Hula” presentation part of the Luau at the Smith Family Garden was the fact that for centuries the Catholic Church forbade any of the female Natives to perform the sacred hula in public because of its sexual provocativeness. I’m sure glad they changed those rules as the Hula Dance is one of the more romantic elements of these exotic (and erotic) islands. BTW—we almost got caught in the act that night on our balcony under the stars—we were that drunk and that sexually aroused from the Hula Dances.

Of course we did get some non-Christian flavor of the Island of Kauai as we mocked the “Gods” of Easter Island and got a great photo of a Zen Buddhist Temple. Hey, I’m the first to admit I’m non-denominational when it comes to poking fun at religions!

    

Of course one of our most memorable experiences was zip-lining on my birthday in the Mount Wai’ale’ale backcountry. Didn’t we get some great action shots—some of them while we were actually zip-lining hundreds of feet in the air!

On the day of our departure we decided to visit the Kauai Coffee Plantation as neither of us had ever seen real, live coffee beans. We took a self-guided tour and ended up with some great photos along with some fresh-ground Kauai Coffee to take home with us on the plane. (Yes, we actually do drink coffee as well as…never mind!)

    

Well, I can’t say I feel an ounce of guilt about spending all of our hard-earned money on a vacation of a lifetime! I suppose if the world does come to an end in 2012, I’ve spent some quality time appreciating the supreme majesty of some of Mother Earth’s most sacred places. Perhaps that is one of the emotional influences that will actually save our Mother—appreciation!