Waimea Canyon is billed as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific but it's nowhere near as big or arid as its mainland brother. We rolled into the canyon one afternoon and shortly after it started to rain. There wasn't much to see, and there were no bowling alleys around, so there wasn't much to do. In the evening we hung around the Waimea Canyon Lookout for a while waiting to see if it would clear up a little. As the sun set, it got under the cloud cover and created some classic Kaua'i stock photo opportunities. We stayed in the area a few days and eventually the rain did go away. Koke'e State Park is just to the North of Waimea Canyon State Park, and includes the Northern tip of Waimea Canyon, and the Po'omau Canyon which runs off of Waimea. It has a number of viewpoints over the Na Pali coast and many hiking trails.
 Lower Waimea Canyon |  Li'l house in the canyon |
 Yurp, that's a whole entire rainbow right there (G barely visible bottom center) |  |
 |  Isle of Niihau from Waimea Canyon Lookout |
Waimea Canyon from the main lookout
 Waimea Canyon and Waipo'o Falls |  Waipo'o Falls |
The main viewpoint was a bit of a zoo in the middle of the day because all the tour buses stopped there. Past the Canyon Viewpoint the road was unsuitable for the large buses and none went up any further into Koke'e, which was a good thing in my opinion.
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We hiked part of the Canyon Trail, which ran along the North end of Waimea Canyon and crossed Koke'e Stream for a view of the falls from the East side.
 Archivist prepares to cross Koke'e Stream just above Waipo'o Falls |  Waipo'o Falls from the East side |  Ginger-lined road |
 View along Canyon Trail |  G getting some photos of the falls with ubiquitous helicopter in background |
On our first full day in Koke'e it was still raining. The Archivist was starting to complain about the cold and damp conditions. The camp showers only had frigid mountain water. Refreshing! We almost sold out and got a cabin but there were none left by the time we asked. Our tent was the only one in the campground. We were trying to decide what to do and drove down to have a look over some of the canyon viewpoints again. At one viewpoint a guy hopped out of his pickup and started chatting with me. His name was Vince and he managed the water in the park. As early as 1907 a network of ditches were constructed to deliver water to plantations in the area and in the lowlands. It was his job to continue looking after the system. He offered to take us around to a couple of places as he did his work. We were a little hesitant to get into a stranger's pickup but he had a cross hanging from the mirror so we knew he couldn't be a psychopath. He took us to collect maile vines to make leis, pick some pears on private property, and showed us where to steal some flowers from a lady's garden. He had appropriated an abandoned plantation cabin up in the woods where he usually spent a few hours before heading home from work. He said he normally finished work by mid-day but didn't want to go home too early because he thought it might look cocky to his neighbours. Hey, this guy's my hero.
 Vince's pickup decor |  Opening the floodgates |  Fishin' |
 Vince takes time to smell the roses |  Classic cabin decor including Thriller album |  "To get water you must first turn off the banana patch" |
This trail headed makai (seaward) from Koke'e Park to overlooks of the Na Pali Coast. It ended with what had to be one of the best views we saw anywhere on Kaua'i, helicopter trip aside. The pictures don't really do it justice.
 Worm-like thing |  Interesting 'shroom |  Eviscerated mouse |
 Goats |  Ignoring warning sign |  Wee! |
 Nu'alolo valley (left) and Awa'awapuhi Valley (right) G at center |  Awa'awapuhi Valley |
 |  G watching a helicopter |
There are some great views of the Kalalau Valley in Koke'e but the mist moves in and out quite often. It can be clear one minute and you won't be able to see anything the next. I think a lot of tourists must see nothing and leave without knowing any better. Route 550 comes to a dead end at the top of Kalalau Valley. Originally they planned to build it straight through to connect with 56 on the North Shore, but not long into the project they realized it was a stupid idea and abandoned it. We took a short hike along the Pihea Trail, which followed the start of the aborted project and continued along the rim of the Kalalau Valley. Back in the day the native Hawai'ians had trails connecting this trail to the Kalalau Valley floor. The trail was quite muddy and the unprepared were tip-toeing around in futile attempts to avoid soiling their running shoes. I wanted to descend into the Alaka'i Swamp for more fun but The Archivist was not up for it.
 Going... |  Going... |  Gone! |
 Kalalau Lookout |  'Apapane on ohia lehua tree |
 View at Kalalau Lookout |  Lights from Koke'e Air Force Station at night |
 Pihea Trail - mud... |  and more mud! |  I noticed this when The Archivist was taking a photo at the cliff edge |
 West side of Kalalau Valley from Pihea Trail |  East side of Kalalau Valley from Pihea Trail |
 Part of the Pihea Trail |  |  Looking across Alaka'i Swamp toward Mt. Wai'ale'ale, "wettest spot on Earth" Average annual precipitation 450" / 37.5' / 11.4 m |
The day we left Koke'e they had a festival honouring Queen Emma (1836-1885). She was the wife of King Kamehameha IV and was known for her humanitarian work, including the founding Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu. We stuck around for a little food, music, and hula. One hula performance was totally devoted to describing the characteristics of a Hawai'ian chief's penis. Jeez, how much attention does a schlong deserve? Chief-o must have written that one himself.
 VIP seating area ready for festival Note our tent in the background |  |  Queen Emma |  Party time! |
 Emma went to Canada eh |  Sorry, no fruit salad How about a pronto pup? |  Musical accompaniment to hula |  VIPs watch hula |  White boy hula!!! |
Hamura's Saimin is a popular family-run hole-in-the-wall in Lihu'e. Vince highly recommended the lilikoi (passion fruit) pie here so we dropped by to have a look. Unfortunately we left the pie in the car for about 10 minutes and it melted.
Sugar was once one of Hawai'i's biggest industries and the first commercial plantation was established on Kaua'i. Nowadays most of the cane fields on the island have been re-planted with other crops or just abandoned. The small amount that is still harvested gets sent to California for processing. Sugar cane also grows wild in many places. They sell cane segments in the grocery store but we just chopped some from the roadside and put another local farmer out of business.
 They apparently have a gum problem |  Saimin |  Lilikoi pie |
 Pie after 10 minutes in the hot car |  Mural outside Hamura's |  Packaged sugar cane Everyday high! You lose! |
 Making noni juice |
Noni fruit (left) itself is not eaten as food, but its juice is used for its medicinal properties. Some of the companies that market noni products make it sound like it can prevent or cure just about any ailment or disease, including cancer and high blood pressure. The owner of the cheapo motel we stayed in one night was fermenting his own in the courtyard. He put noni in sealed jars under the sun until most of the fluid ran out of them, then drank about a shooter of the juice every day. I took a whiff in one of the jars and it smelled a little like a stinky cheese. The fruits start out white coloured, like those in the bottom of the jar in the photo, and are about the size of a potato. The picture at right shows items we picked up on our travels around Koke'e Park (except for the cane). Shown are a couple types of strawberry guava, a few varieties of lilikoi (passion fruit), pears, sugar cane, passion fruit flower, and maile, a vine used to make leis. That orange passion fruit at center was mighty tasty. |  Horn of plenty, less the horn |
At the Lihu'e Airport cafeteria you can buy the "Local Boy Breakfast". Just keep the defibrillator handy. Bonus shot of souvenir items.
 Local Boy Breakfast with hot sauce |  Looks even better close up |  Not for breakfast |
By the time we reached Waimea we had been living in a car for more than a week, so it needed a little tidying.
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