Hawaii Insider

Tuesday, Mar 17th, 2009 by Andy | Leave a Comment
Filed under: Blogging, California

If you like the idea of a Hawaii-themed contests as in my last post, there is one every Sunday on the Hawaii Insider travel blog—but they’re easier so you have to be quicker.



Source: sfgate.com

Hawaii Insider is mostly a blog for visitors, done by the Hawaii writer for sfgate.com and the San Francisco Chronicle. Since the San Francisco Bay area (or Los Angeles) is probably the single biggest US market for Hawaiian visitors, I always wondered if they really had a full-time writer just for Hawaii (can you say “dream job?”). So the blog covers airline discounts, hotel tips, and restaurant suggestions, but in an independent voice that genuinely seems to enjoy helping people have a good vacation.

There is also a fair amount of historical, cultural, and outdoorsy topics to keep me interested and learning things about the other islands. I really enjoyed the story about Father Damien (soon to be Hawaii’s first saint) with lots of interesting info and links. I was wondering if they ever wrote about other Hawaii blogs, and then just today I saw they covered Hawaii Photo Bank which they dub the Trailblazers online (can you say “scoop!“).

But if you’re in the Bay Area, Hawaii Insider is actually a great resource for all things Hawaiian happening here. Last Friday, there was a lunch-time concert in downtown San Francisco promoting all things Kaua’i, with a drawing for 6 free vacations to Kaua’i. Sadly, I found out about it too late and had too much work to go anyways. But there are also some free Hawaiian music concerts at Gordon Biersch brewpubs every Friday this month. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it this week either, but you should definitely go if you have the chance, those are some great musicians.

This is all part of a Hawaii tourism bureau marketing campaign—heck they even call it a blitz in the URL to their website (mouse over that concert link). I just hope it’s not the dying thoes of Hawaii’s visitor industry. As much maligned as it is, now that sugar is nearly gone, Kaua’i doesn’t have much else to support itself. Here’s another example of the blitz, a “full page” ad on sfgate.com, the San Francisco Chronicle website. Always on the lookout for images of Kaua’i, I noticed that’s a picture of Hanalei Bay—with contrasting news photos.



Source: sfgate.com

And speaking of contests, they also reported on the demise of the United’s Halfway to Hawaii game (if they haven’t trademarked that, they should’ve). I finally won that game last summer, on the flight home after “winning” the interview for my job in San Francisco. My strategy: ignore the wind and just calculate the halftime of the flight. My prize: 3 small cans of Macademia nuts—my daughter loved them.

Vanity, and a Contest

Sunday, Mar 15th, 2009 by Andy | 7 Comments
Filed under: California

When we moved to California at the end of last year, I was looking for ways to remind myself of Kaua’i in a positive, hopeful way. And I suppose, I also wanted a way to tell others “Hey, I just moved here from Kaua’i.”

So, for the first time in my life, I really wanted a personalized license plate on my car. It fits both roles, although a little too much of the second one for my liking—they don’t call them vanity plates for nothing. But the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. You can pay them even more and get a pretty picture on the plate. That’s usually not my style either, but they have a humpback whale tail that seemed to be a sort of connection between Hawai’i and California (ignoring the fact that the whales are actually migrating to and from Alaska).

My idea of a personalized plate is not something so straightforward as “I ? Kauai.” That’s almost too, dare I say, pedestrian. I always liked the plates that are little word games or make you think about what the driver (author?) intended.

It turns out, the California DMV (dept. of motor vehicles) has a fun little website where you can enter the text to see if it has already been taken. In the process, it creates an image of the plate, and I knew immediately where those would end up (here!). Unfortunately a lot of the good plates are taken:

Inspired by Brother IZ, this was my first choice. What could be better than a song that specifically talks about going back to Kaua’i, and names all the beautiful places there. Here’s a link to the lyrics and the song (plays automatically). Such a great idea that it was already taken.

Next were some other names for Kauai. Kauai a Manokalanipo would be great if it weren’t so long, so I tried the English nickname, the Garden Isle. Already taken, but I find it rather trite anyways.

Much better would be mokihana, Kaua’i’s symbolic plant found in the island lei, on the county seal, and in the forests of Koke’e. Not available.

Still in the plant kingdom, naupaka. Not really special to Kaua’i, but associated with the romatic legend of two lovers separated, one in the mountains, the other by the sea. A bit too melodramatic for my situation, and also taken.

After the plants, how about animals? What could be more obvious than a whale picture and its Hawaiian name. So obvious it was taken, and can’t really be associated with Kaua’i.

Maui nokea and Kaua’i nofea. So local that it must be some other transplants who have these plates already (and probably deserve them more).

I used to live in Wailua. It’s the name of a river, but mostly thought of as a neighborhood by the locals. It’s not a town yet it’s well-known, and it is historically significant. And I’m not be the first person from there to want a personalized plate in California.

What about my other favorite places on Kauai?

The Na Pali coast is unique and distinctive of Kaua’i. Often pictured and already on a license plate.

I’m in no way the most experienced Kalalau hiker (by far), but I was hoping to be the first to want to memorialize it on a license plate here. I’m not.

After some more thinking, I chose the following (so now it’s taken too):

But what does it mean?

It’s Hawaiian obviously, but you can’t find it in Google. You can probably find it in a dictionary, but there’s more to it than just the literal translation. I will send a bar of Organic Kaua’i Chocolate to the first person who finds the connection and leaves a comment with valid email (in the address field so it is not public). I’ll be on Kaua’i at the end of March to buy the cholocolate. The contest ends April 15th, that’s when I’ll eat the chocolate.

Interior Adventure

Thursday, Mar 12th, 2009 by Andy | 1 Comment
Filed under: Hiking, Waterfalls

Deep into the interior of Kaua’i, there are many streams to explore. This is but one of them, though nowhere as deep or as spectacular as the Wailua gorge—although I’ve heard rumors, so maybe I just didn’t go far enough…

I will not be giving any directions on how to get there, just some photos of the terrain. But I’ll still give you fair warning:

WARNING: crossing rivers, boulder-hopping, and swimming in waterfalls are dangerous activities. Rivers can flood quickly and may sweep you away easily or to trap you on the other side. Waterfalls sometimes carry rocks and branches with fatal consequences and the nearby cliffs are unstable. All surface water in Hawai’i has a risk of leptospirosis–know how to protect yourself. Hiking where there is no trail is also dangerous due to steep slopes and drop-offs. Derelict structures are unsafe. Exercise caution and proceed at your own risk.

The trusty 4WD saves us a lot of walking and a little mud. I always like to think the car has fun in the puddles. Actually, I think that’s a stream, and it does look a little deep, but we made it across.
When we get out to walk, we find a ditch to follow. These old irrigation works are all over Kaua’i, but this one is still in use.

One appeal to the area is to get views you don’t get from elsewhere:

This very recent repair replaced an old aquaduct with a siphon. The black pipe is about 3 feet (1m) in diameter. I think all this water is used for hydro-electricity, so they have to keep it flowing.

And here’s the first reward, a weir that creates a big swimming hole. Notice how the ditch goes straight into a tunnel behind a metal gate on the far side, and the access trail consists of steps carved into the rock.

Hiking up the streambed now, we’re in a lush, wet forest, with fern growing on the steep hillsides. I really like the polished lava rock in the foreground.

After a while, the steep hillsides turn into sheer 60-ft (20 m) walls of rock that the stream has cut through. Given that this is a death trap in case of rain, we turned around here.
Just as well because on the way back down, we found an awesome natural slide rock. Notice that we did have a long stick nearby for testing the depth and for rescue in case of currents.
We went exploring a bit further along the ditch, I couldn’t resist those rock steps seen earlier. We didn’t find any more interesting streams, but we did find another old aquaduct. This is one end of an old, fallen-down aquaduct that carried the ditch across a small ravine, maybe 150 feet (50 m) wide—you can see the other end at the top of the photo. Unlike the new siphon seen earlier, this one seemed to have been bypassed long ago with a regular ditch and then a tunnel.

Somewhere along the trail, it climbed up a bit over a ridge, and the mists parted long enough to get a shot even deeper into the interior. And indeed there are waterfalls up in there that we’ll have to come back and explore another day.

Kayaking the Hanapepe River

Thursday, Mar 5th, 2009 by Andy | 9 Comments
Filed under: Kayaking, Maps

I realize there’s been a lack of activity reports on this blog lately, so here’s one—with map goodness.

Kayaking the Hanapepe river is a quiet and easy outing if you’re on the west side, for example if you’re camping at Salt Pond. It certainly isn’t as lush and tropical as the east side or north shore rivers, and it is lacking a certain pitturesque quality that keeps it from being a major activity, but all in all, it’s another little corner of Kaua’i that is fun to discover.

The best place to put in is on the west side of the old one-lane bridge through town. Turn inland on Awawa Rd, the little road right next to the falling-down building, and then take the little dirt road down the levee and park out of the way. You should see an easy walkway down to the water a little back towards the bridge. Here’s a picture of the building, it was ruined by Hurricane Iniki in 1992 and never rebuilt.

HanapepeRuin

I once tried to put in down at the harbor, but that was a bit tricky. I wanted to launch on the beach by the river mouth, but I had to carry the kayak down some rocks, and I think that is actually a corner of private property. You could probably walk right down the boat ramp, but then you’d have to paddle out around the little jetty. You’re still relatively protected inside the main breakwater, but this is also an active port.

You’re much better off paddling downstream from the first launch I described, because then you don’t have to deal with the ocean waves unless you want to. That section is very wide and unlike the Wailua river, the river mouth is plenty deep to ride out into the ocean and back in, if conditions allow. Because the bay is partly sheltered, the waves are a bit calmer here, and it can be a fun place to catch a few with the kayak.

From the put-in to the river mouth, you go under the old brige and past a really cool art-house next to the new(er) bridge. That house is even more interesting if you walk on Puolo Rd, which you would do if you took a short walk to Lappert’s ice cream after you put the kayak back on the car–just a suggestion. From the newer bridge, it’s about a half-mile to the ocean, floating past some old-time Hawaiian homesteads. Nothing fancy, but sometimes I wish I had a back porch overlooking a lazy river.

Alternatively, you can skip the whole section of the river downstream of the bridges, or save it for the end of the paddle if you want to earn your ice cream.

From the put-in, most people head upstream towards the “Swinging Bridge.” This is the cable and wooden suspension bridge for pedestrians to cross the river and access some homes on the other side. A lot of visitors walk across from the downtown area, but not many get to paddle underneath.

HanapepeKayak1

The bridge looks surprisingly longer from this angle on the river. I got the whole thing in a picture, and then it was too small to see. So the photo above is just the town-side of the bridge.

While the bridge is the biggest and most famous landmark on this whole paddle, this section of the river is almost ugly. The channel here runs between two levees that keep the residential areas from flooding but prevent you from seeing any of the town from the river. And the levees themselves are covered in weeds that are alternatively growing out of control or shriveled up brown, probably from herbicides that are sadly overused.

So once you go under the bridge, keep paddling until the next big turn. There, the first red rock walls of the Hanapepe canyon start, and the shore seems more natural. It isn’t really natural, these banks have been dug up and bulldozed and driven-on over the years, but it does look prettier with some nice monkey-pod trees.

HanapepeKayak2

This is the prettiest part of the river, but it only lasts a half-mile before the river gets too shallow. As the banks start to close in, and the rocks reach up from the bottom, you’ll see a split in the river. To the left is very shallow, and to the right are some rocks and this broken dam:

HanapepeKayak3

You can float almost to the dam, but then you have to get out. Once out of curiosity, we pulled the kayak though the openings in the dam and got back in, but we didn’t go much more than a tenth of a mile further. After grounding again, my wife walked a little to take in the scenery where the river is finally looking natural and free—even if there are more farms and homesteads just beyond the trees.

HanapepeKayak4

If you go, some practical considerations:

  • This is the west side, it is hot in the summer, even on the river. Go in the early morning or evening.
  • It’s only a mile from the second bridge upstream to the broken dam. We made the round-trip (2 miles) in less than 90 minutes, and we took our time. Add another 1.5 miles (and 60 minutes) if you paddle out to the ocean and back.
  • Beyond the levies, all the land here is private and actively farmed. If you get out at the dam, do not wander too far on the dirt roads or you’ll end up in someone’s backyard or planted field.
  • I really don’t want to oversell this river. There are some pretty spots and I got nice pictures of those, but it does not compare to Hanalei, Wailua, etc. However, it is a nice spot for an uncrowded outing, and despite some man-made ugliness, there is still some beauty of the land to be seen.

And I almost forgot the map from my GPS track (you can also download it as a Google Earth file):


Source: maps.google.com (click for larger version)

Kauai Chocolate

Friday, Feb 27th, 2009 by Andy | Leave a Comment
Filed under: Food

I was catching up on some of the other Kaua’i blogs, and North Shore Kauai covered a topic I’ve been meaning to write about: locally grown chocolate. The article in question comes from The Garden Island newspaper and covers the dream of Koa Kahili, a Hanalei guy who wants to launch the third chocolate crop in Hawaii, the only place in the US where chocolate will grow.

To summarize the article, Koa has been promoting chocolate as an organic, sustaiable crop around Kauai. I don’t think he has the capital to start his own farm, but he has the experience to promote, advise, and plant for those who do. He has been raising saplings in pots and tending the trees he has planted over the years. And at the same time, he has been experimenting with the processing of the first cacao beans he has grown, discovering the best way to ferment the beans in Kaua’i’s climate. The idea, I gather, is to have some sort of co-op, where farmers and people with the land to grow an orchard provide the raw fruit and he would turn it into a high-quality chocolate.

His website is promoting the planting and harvesting of cocoa, with some great arguments about sustainability and food independence for Kauai. It has lots of pictures of the trees and beautifully colored fruit, if you’ve never seen them before:


Source: gardenislandchocolate.com

I know Koa (I’ve mentioned him before), and I have been following his chocolate enterprise closely, though mostly out of self-interest. You see, ever since living in Europe, I’ve been hooked on good, dark chocolate, usually 70% cacao and above. I try not to be snobbish about it, but certainly like tasting all the subtle difference in various brands of dark chocolate from around the world. And I also like locally grown products, so I had really been looking forward to tasting Koa’s chocolate.

Last summer I finally got the chance when he brought some of his first batches to a potluck, and that stuff was delicious. He had made enough to sell me some of his first real chocolate bars, a dark chocolate and a goat’s milk chocolate pictured below (still over 60% cacao). The flavors were excellent, even the slight tartness of the goat milk went very well with the chocolate. And knowing it was grown organically, right here on Kauai, was like the cherry on top.


And now I see he has been processing larger batches and selling it in stores. The website lists 2 flavors, and places around the island where they’re available (Papaya’s, of course, and others):


Source: gardenislandchocolate.com		 Ingredients: Organic Kauai-grown cacao, organic Kauai-grown macademia nuts, organic evaporated cane juice, organic Kauai coconut, organic Kauai-grown vanilla beans.
Ingredients: Organic Kauai-grown cacao, organic Hawaiian sugar, organic shelled hemp seeds, organic Kauai-grown vanilla beans, mint oil
Source: gardenislandchocolate.com

And come to think of it, one of my Kauai neighbors planted some cocoa trees recently, so I’ll have to ask him how they’re growing and when he’ll have some chocolate to share…

  • While researching this article, I found that Mars, Inc, the candybar maker, is the self-proclaimed “global leader in cocoa science” and is working with IBM to sequence the cacao plant genome. Somehow, I don’t think much good will come of that, and certainly not better chocolate.
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