07 Jan Kauai’i: The Garden Island

Kauai’i is one of the islands in Hawai’i. There are 8 main islands including, Hawai’i, Maui, Oahu, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Kauai’i and Niihau. There is also an island that isn’t part of Hawai’i or ruled by anyone, it is called Lehua. Now back to Kauai’i.

Kauai’i is known as ‘The Garden Island’ because of it’s extreme vegetation and greenery. When you land in Kauai’i you feel like you have landed in Jurassic Park…well, that’s because it was filmed there but the real reason is because of the rainforest surrounding it. There are plenty of hikes to go on, plenty of canoeing to do and plenty of sunsets to watch. I was staying in a little town called Waimea, nicknamed ‘the walking town’ because of its small sizing. The main beach in Waimea is the Black Sand beach and that is where I went to watch the sunsets each evening. You can’t imagine how vibrant the orange and red is as the glowing orb sinks beneath the waves. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can see a green flash just as the sun disappears. I went to plenty of beaches including, Glass Beach, Shipwrecks Beach and Poipu Beach. I really enjoyed Glass Beach because it is full of sea glass. There used to be a dump on the beach but when it was removed it left behind glass which later became the infamous sea glass.

Whilst I was in Kauai’i I didn’t travel to the other islands but I felt like I had traveled to another world! There are Chickens roaming around like pigeons, (They wake you up at 5:00am so you watch the sunrise and hear the dawn chorus, gorgeous!) and a trip I went on in a kayak down the Wailua river and then I hiked to Wailua falls and had a swim. Sometimes I’d pass the historic town of Hanapepe (Home of Lilo and Stitch) and see little patches of giant green leaves, I was convinced that if I looked high enough I would be able to see a giant or Jack climbing down with the harp and goose.

I went to a little bookstore in Hanapepe and went on a puppet workshop. When I had made the puppet I performed with it in a show, ‘The Little Red Hen’. Guess who I was!

There are so many ways to get creative around the island. I chose to make art pieces out of sand, driftwood and sea glass. When you go somewhere new, find something creative that you can make and take home as a little (or big) momento of your trip.

Hawaiian is a beautiful language. Their alphabet only consists of the letters: AEHIKLMNOPU and W. Those letters make up words like Mahalo: Thankyou and Aloha which means: I love you, Hello and good bye. It doesn’t just have a literal meaning but it’s also a way of life.

Happy 2016!