Kaua'i, Hawai'i - 22Nov2007
Happy Thanksgiving! On a cruise ship it certainly doesn’t seem like a Holiday until you turn on the TV and see the Lions losing to the Packers at 8am Pacific Time.
Robin is off to a Zip-line tour and her mom and I are renting a car and going to see the National Botanical Gardens in Poipu and then the Waimea Canyon along the west coast of the island.
7am – Arriving in the Nawiliwili Harbor (SE portion of island) we get to see the Niini Lighthouse and Kauai Lagoons Golf Course on the grounds of the Marriott Resort. The resort is adjacent to the Lihue Airport, where Barn Owls are regularly seen hunting the open fields (I would dip on this trip, however). Cruising into port I did manage to scope a pair of endangered Nene (Hawaiian Goose) on the golf course, along with several Hawaiian Coots and Golden Plovers.
8am – Esther and I picked up our rental car and headed off to Poipu. We found the Botanical Gardens and walked the grounds for a bit. I got a few pics of Japanese White-eye, Zebra Doves, a Northern Cardinal, and heard a pair of Western Meadowlark. The gardens were a bit on the small side and tour buses were headed off to the larger, preserved gardens. We were short on time, however, so opted to head out to the Waimea Canyons (Mark Twain called them the Grand Canyon of the Pacific). Just before we left, however, I spotted a White-rumped Shama, which posed long enough for several dozen images, and even digiscoped images and a video. Jungle Fowl were ‘everywhere’ as the chicken farmers lost all of their livestock during the Hurricane of 1991.
Waimea Canyon was windy, but gorgeous. We stayed only a few minutes, as we had to return to the ship for an afternoon Kalamaku Luau at the Wilcox Plantation.
Robin is off to a Zip-line tour and her mom and I are renting a car and going to see the National Botanical Gardens in Poipu and then the Waimea Canyon along the west coast of the island.
7am – Arriving in the Nawiliwili Harbor (SE portion of island) we get to see the Niini Lighthouse and Kauai Lagoons Golf Course on the grounds of the Marriott Resort. The resort is adjacent to the Lihue Airport, where Barn Owls are regularly seen hunting the open fields (I would dip on this trip, however). Cruising into port I did manage to scope a pair of endangered Nene (Hawaiian Goose) on the golf course, along with several Hawaiian Coots and Golden Plovers.
8am – Esther and I picked up our rental car and headed off to Poipu. We found the Botanical Gardens and walked the grounds for a bit. I got a few pics of Japanese White-eye, Zebra Doves, a Northern Cardinal, and heard a pair of Western Meadowlark. The gardens were a bit on the small side and tour buses were headed off to the larger, preserved gardens. We were short on time, however, so opted to head out to the Waimea Canyons (Mark Twain called them the Grand Canyon of the Pacific). Just before we left, however, I spotted a White-rumped Shama, which posed long enough for several dozen images, and even digiscoped images and a video. Jungle Fowl were ‘everywhere’ as the chicken farmers lost all of their livestock during the Hurricane of 1991.
Waimea Canyon was windy, but gorgeous. We stayed only a few minutes, as we had to return to the ship for an afternoon Kalamaku Luau at the Wilcox Plantation.
4pm. – The three of us boarded a bus for the Luau, and I was a bit uncertain that I’d enjoy the evening. We’d be joining 1500 other people for a large outdoor buffet and entertainment, and ended up having a wonderful time! A train ride through the plantation gave us great views of Taro ponds holding Stilts, Coots, Egrets and Plovers, and field with wild pigs, Jungle Fowl, and cattle. Small craft displays and native entertainers were lovely to watch and photograph. The grounds and evening were exquisite. The Coolpix P5000 did not have a strong enough flash to take stills of the evening’s entertainment, but allowed for really good videos in low-light situations. I filled the memory card with a bunch of short videos of the phenomenal show. We highly recommend this luau to anyone looking for a great time!
