In the winter of
2011, we visited the island of Kauai. Some
images, below, show you some of our adventures. Please
contact us, or Gary Palmer at Portland Community College, for more
information on the Kauai adventure. Travel
dates for next year will be March of 2012, and will probably include two islands. Deanna is our
travel person. Her email address (and Gary's): "Gary Palmer"
<gpalmer@pcc.edu>, "Deanna" <dea@wtpdx.com .
Kauai Canoe Club--where we'll launch from one morning. Pro-kayaker, Joe, with Co-instructor, Nancy, getting ready....
Being sure seats are attached and water bottles packed. Our Hawaiian guide, Joe, supervising our progress.
Toes (Stenger's) point toward the opposite shore. Plenty of time & quiet water allow for site searches.
Coming ashore at the beginning of the ancient wall.
Our guide, Joe, literally standing on the wall. We have been invited to walk along it for a short ways. In this photo, you can see the dirt and roots that have accumulated over this stacked rock feature.
Entering the Menehune Fish Pond. The rocks of the Menehune Fish Pond are barely submerged at low water. They are visible here in the foreground, before the opening of the trees.
Our amazing paddle to the Menehune fish pond--quiet, relaxing, and mystical. We were visiting the Kauai's past.
The water is quiet, the scenery spectacular, and the stories our guide tells are wonderful. This is an amazing trip, possible only by boat and by permission of the landowners.
We will also visit the prehistoric taro fields, that are still being utilized!
This historic photo shows the fields as they were many The fields as they are today.
years ago.
View of the taro beds, which remain in water. Old equipment from an earlier time lays near the fields.
Inlet where Captain Cook first landed in Hawaii.
Fruit stands abound on the east side of the island. On the west side is the Russian Fort, being exposed from its grassy burial for visitors.
The Menehune Ditch is only marginally exposed today, but it is visible on a short stretch of a side road. The stones were said to be cut and placed by the ancients--a mystical race whose work was legendary.
The vegetation on Kauai is beyond easy description. A trip to the botanical gardens is a fascinating way to spend time that is unscheduled with class outings.
Newly added sites are shown below:
This cave, technically a 300 feet deep cavern, contains both old and modern petroglyphs and pictographs. The
newer rock art has been done in traditional style. Unfortunately, some "helpful" person has used a white colorant
to highlight the images.
Old and new images co-exist.
The dark form may represent a mythological creature, a spirit, or a real animal. Like most rock art images, that
information was lost with the maker.
Groupings of figures are unusual, and always a welcome find.
This newly cleared site is part of the Poli'auh heiau complex. Importantly, it is on a hillside above the
land once owned by the ruling chiefs of Kaua'i.
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