Kauai was our favourite; laid back and quiet.

Kauai oldest island Queens favourite island and colour for island is purple. Pupui nut makes a laxative. Wiliwili tree was native and has gone extinct due to a wasp. Queen Victoria’s she would say to grandson William: "Now Willy Willy" so the name was adopted as NaWwiliwili. Kiki = word for child

Spouting Horn Park (sea water enters a lava tube and spouts up on shore)

Untouched shoreline.

Flowers at the entrance to coffee plantation and coffee tasting.

Last sugar processed in 2008 in one of the factories. Now 3 plants last. At one time the industry here employed 30000 people. No windmills due to # of birds. Burn wood of Albeezia - they were brought in for lumber. The Robinson family owned a lot of land and took it out of production so there is much land with wild sugarcane. Sugar grown today makes Koloa rum. Many Portuguese families settled agricultural and farm lands after coming to work in sugarcane. Our guide's parents - father native Hawaiin and mother is Portugese. They lived off the land by fishing and hunting. Many homes have a boat in the garage.

Halea tree craft tree. Shred and dry. Then rehydrate and weave. State flower is hibiscus. Some plant tea bushes in front yard to repel evil spirits. Only one type of palm is native.

Parboil cubed breadfruit, then dry, cover with caramel sauce made with caramel sugar and coconut milk and broil.

Movies made here - Fast and Furious and South Pacific, Donivans reef w John Wayne, HANAPEPE - Town animated in Lilo and Stitch movie as well as lighthouse from island. Also movie White Heat

Red dirt T shirts - invented here because iron in dirt would stain clothes so company made red dirt shirts by adding red dirt to washing machines. Look for 'original Red Dirt shirt' on front of tshirts.

Note the red dirt of the canyon walls. Sugar cane grew on plateaus.

Video from lookout at Wiamea Canyon State Park

Another video of Wiamea Canyon

Cape and helmet that was given to Captain Cook 300 years old (before he was killed) is in museum in Oahu. Cape specially made for honoring royalty or others was painstaking to make as small number breast feathers from tiny birds gathered, then bird released. Thousands of feathers used in each cape. Feathers were traditionally woven into wooden mat which had been pounded thin to make the cape. Hawaiian language contains no swear words.

We snorkelled at this beach, but found the swells stirred up sand making it difficult to see in the water. The waves also took me out quickly so the water was over my head; that's when you don't panic. The photo was taken from the cruise ship so was within walking distance.

Our ship the Norwegian Jewel.

Video of NaWilliWilli harbour.

Video of North Shore of Kauai.

The drivers on the various excursions we took scared me a bit; they drove while talking about what we could see by the road. Some of the roads were next to open canyons. One driver also attempted to hold a map up for us to see while pointing to locations that we could not identify. 3 out of 4 drivers were women, but that's ok, we all know how well women multitask.

North Shore of Kauai covered in cloud, looks like Jurassic Park movie.

Proof that Trish and Stew saw Wiamea Canyon.

Ah hooey Ho - until we meet again