Paradise on the
Hawaiian Island of Kauai
(Above, a small, roadside church next to a swaying palm greets visitors on a quiet drive along the island of Kauai).
By George Medovoy, Editor
Ah, wonderful Lomi Lomi!
Here at the Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort's new-age Anara Spa, it's the way to unwind.
And, while enjoying the wonders of this massage, which uses lots of elbows, we learn that Lomi Lomi - meaning "to touch with loving hands" - was actually favored by Hawaiian kings, who would spend all day long on the massage table.
Kauai itself will massage your senses - from the sky-high Na Pali cliffs rising 2,700 feet above Kauai's western shores, to Manawaiopu Falls in the rugged interior, where Stephen Spielberg found his primeval setting for "Jurassic Park."
Not to forget romantic Lumahai Beach on the north shore, where Mitzi Gaynor sang "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" in "South Pacific."
This oldest geologically of the Hawaiian islands is almost circular in shape, 25 miles long by 33 miles wide at its furthest points, with most of the 50,000 residents living along the coastal areas.
Only three percent of Kauai's land area is developed for commercial and land use, leaving the remaining 97 percent divided between rugged valleys, tropical rain forests and carpets of taro and coffee plantations.
In Kokee State Park, for example, on the island's western face, Hawaiian forest birds turn into aerial performers, making rainbow splashes of green and yellow, and red and orange across the landscape.
Kauai's legislators have been very considerate of the environment, writing something called the "Coconut Law."
The "Coconut Law"?
Whatever could that be?
It's a law that forbids construction of a structure any higher than a coconut tree, or no higher than four stories -- about the height of a mature coconut tree!
A good way to begin to appreciate Kauai, beyond climbing one of those coconut trees that sway in the gentle tradewinds, is by the island's two main highways -- 56, along the eastern shoreline, and 50, which circles the coast in the opposite direction to the west.
Hanalei Beach
We headed for Hanalei, a fairy-tale valley of green taro ponds threaded by the gentle Hanalei River ... and legends of Kauai's fabled, tiny Menehune people.
Departure point was Lihue, the island's capital and location of one of Kauai's earliest sugar plantations, Grove Farm, circa 1864.
Today, all that's left of the once flourishing plantation is a museum with splendid old lodgings set on well-manicured lawns.
At the Wailua River, flat-bottom riverboats meander through thick tropical grasslands to the island's famed fern grotto.
We stopped at Kela's Glass Gallery in Kapaa, THE place for contemporary glass art from local and international artists, and where they say you have to "make three laps around the gallery" to appreciate it all.
On the north shore, we passed through rolling green pastureland and dairy farms to the Kilauea National Wildlife Refuge, where the Kilauea Pt. Lighthouse sits on the edge of a sheer drop and makes a great place for bird watching.
Pristine Princeville
The crown of the north shore, Princeville, is home not only to the spectacular Prince Golf Course, but the lush Hanalei Valley, where farmers raise taro on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands.
The taro provides feeding for the area's water birds, plus protective cover from predators. We loved the lookout point for its view of the Hanalei Valley - a patchwork of green fields broken by the meandering Hanalei River, just the kind of fairy-tale stuff that inspired folk singers Peter, Paul and Mary to write their famous "Puff the Magic Dragon."
From the lookout point, we drove down into the valley itself and followed the river, crossing over a rustic one-lane bridge and catching two people slipping under our noses in a slow-moving canoe.
Plantation Days at Kilohana
It's easy to step back to the 1930's at Kilohana, a magnificent Tudor-style mansion on 35 acres of gardens and exotic plants, built when sugar was king on the island.
The plantation dates to 1935, when Gaylord Parke Wilcox built it as the most expensive and most beautiful home on the island.
The interior was filled with furniture from Gump's of San Francisco and was graced by exquisitely landscaped grounds.
Today you can tour the lovely home and also take a horse-drawn carriage ride around the property for a one-hour cane field tour and an education on Kauai's sugar history.
At Kilohana, we enjoyed lunch in the lovely Gaylord's Courtyard Restaurant, where island breezes drifted across cloud-covered mountains. Kilohana is centrally located just outside the main town of Lihue, on Kaumaulii Highway.
Up, Up and Away
You can see this garden island on foot, on a bike, by car, in a canoe or a kayak, but for the best overall view, hop aboard a helicopter.
It felt a lot like being in an elevator, as Captain Roger Olson of Hawaii Helicopters lifted off at Princeville Airport.
During the 45-minute ride, we listened over earphones as Olson described the scenery below to the sounds of "Sail Away."
On our return, the company presented us with a video of your flight. What a magnificent show, flying over Waialeale Crater, the island's original volcano and tallest point, where 550 inches of annual rain makes it the wettest spot on earth.
From up here, as Olson actually dipped into the crater, we could appreciate central Kauai's remote mountains and its many spectacular waterfalls, including one from "Jurassic Park."
Olson lifted the helicopter up into a rainbow and then headed west over a green ridge, beginning to circle Waimea Canyon, whose reddish mountains and green valleys prompted Mark Twain to call the region the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.
To see the Na Pali coast from a closer vantage point, "Capt. Andy's" catamarans will take you along a route where your shipmates will be swift dolphins and migrating whales.
PLANNING YOUR TRIP
For more information about Kauai, contact the Kauai Visitors Bureau at www.hshawaii.com/kvp. The County of Kauai Office of Tourism is at www.kauai-hawaii.com.
For information on the Hyatt Regency, visit www.hyatt.com.
Hawaiian Airlines has frequent service from the mainland to Kauai. For information on Hawaiian, including its First Class meal-and-wine service, call 800-367-5320 or visit www.hawaiianair.com.
Kauai has 43 white sand beaches - more beach per mile of coastline than all other Hawaiian islands. It also has the only navigable rivers in the state.
Climate is near perfect year-round, with daytime temperatures ranging from the mid-70's to the mid-80's, slightly warmer in the summer.
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