14th day of our vacation - 12-29-15

Tuesday, December 29th, 2015

11.32 a.m.  We are on the northern side of Kauai.  Gregg stopped at another incredible overlook, with the most beautiful view of bright green fields, trees and lush vegetation.  

There was also a warning sign that said, "Danger - Buffalo - Private Game Refuge - No Trespassing".
We didn't see any from our viewpoint.  

Couldn't take my eyes off that view.  We were at the Hanalei Valley overlook, which is on the highway before you get to Hanalei. Those are taro fields below.  A nearby marker read, 

"The demand for taro, the source of Hawaiian poi has decreased.  Competition for lowland areas with adequate fresh water has resulted in less cultivation and higher prices for taro.  

Through a cooperative program farmers here at Hanalei raise taro in ways that benefit wildlife."

We were in a traffic jam near one of the single lane bridges that I mentioned before.  There are about 30 cars to go before we can cross, and several behind us.  We are remembering the rules and had a reminder when we stopped right next to a sign that actually said 5-7 cars at a time.

Gregg's sister's husband mentioned yesterday that there was a botanical garden at the end of the north road.  

We owe him a big thank you as that is where we went today.  It is called the Limahuli Garden and Preserve.  You can see some of the flowers I took which I posted here if you missed them.....  

plus this one with a little visitor.

The surroundings were breathtaking and photos do not give this place the justice it deserves.  

Incredible, with mountains for a backdrop, one of the most beautiful places I have been to so far, like a little Shangri La, and it wasn't too far from here that South Pacific was filmed.  In fact before I forget, they have had the show playing on Kauai for many years, a local community production and from the reviews many love the show.  You can see their website here.  Also if you go here you will find other movies that have been made on the island.

  

The above is a repeat but I shared it again in case you missed my other post.

At the visitor center we met a lady, perhaps in her late 70s.  She was a sweetheart and we enjoyed talking with her.  I recognized another nature lover right away and she was a wealth of information. 

We came across several lizards on our walk. 

Here you can see a traditional Hawaiian house called a Hale.

  Constructed just as an ancient one would have been, it has been over a hundred years since a traditional Hale was built.  This one was erected in 2013, from lashed strawberry guava, an abundant hardwood in the forest. The roof was made with the native fan palm.

At one point we sat next to a stream.  There was a bench and also a water station, both of which we made good use of.  



It was humid and the water was very welcome, as was the rest.  I loved listening to the gurgling of the water as it cascaded over the rocks.

We were joined by more tired, thirsty people, and as we had been there for a while, we moved on so that they could have the bench.

At the beginning of our walk there were a couple of dozen walking sticks offered, which were in the corner on the outside porch of the visitor center.  There was also a spray bottle of mosquito repellant on a table.  It had 'skin-so-soft' printed on it.

I'm afraid there were mosquitoes in this little bit of paradise, but I'm convinced the spray helped, a lot.  If two people stand side-by-side, the one who is the paler of the two knows that the nasty little things will have a party and see her as the main course.  (I love all things in nature but am not too fond of mosquitoes.)  So, if you are standing next to me, rest assured, you will be safe from being treated as a pin cushion, because that pin cushion is me. 

Look very carefully at the photo above and you will just about make out another 'family' who were also enjoying this beautiful garden.  More photos of what has become my most fun bird of this holiday in Saturday's post.

In my ignorance I have always wondered if walking sticks were a help or a hindrance. I like to walk free of anything in my hands, preferring to swing my arms while singing hey, ho, here we go.  Not really but you get the picture.  The trail, however, was not our usual manicured walkway, with small rocky obstacles along the path in parts, and steep.  I would have had a harder time walking if it were not for the walking stick, and the light bulb finally went off that these were a darned good idea.  

I will be looking around for one before our next adventure.  We returned them to the visitor center and met the nice lady who wanted to know how we enjoyed our walk, and we enthusiastically told her we had fallen in love with Limahuli Gardens. 

We could have stayed a lot longer and hopefully we will return one day to see the rest.  It is definitely a place I can highly recommend to anyone who visits Kauai, if interested in botanical gardens and even if not.  It is one of the most natural and most beautiful gardens we have ever been to.  One day I hope we will be able to revisit.

I will have more photos from Limahuli in another post but I realize I have shown enough for today.

On the way back we stopped at a juice bar where they also offered Acai bowls....  

      and though the taste was a little different to the one on Oahu.....

     it was refreshing and greeted the taste buds very nicely.

I enjoy these colorfully decorated stands.

We stopped at the supermarket on our way back to the condo.  It was very pleasant listening to the Hawaiian music while shopping.  I bought some tropical themed greeting cards, a few postcards, a can of Spam made with Portuguese sausage (we are in Hawaii after all), a packet of deli sliced honey baked ham, a large can of Angry Orchard Cider that we will share (I was shocked our favorite cider was there), another favorite a bottle of Newcastle Ale (shocked again), 2 bottles of Pelegrino, three small bananas, pre-cut veggie snacks and one of those spam, rice and seaweed wraps that I tried years ago on Oahu and didn't like.  This is called a Spam Musubi and you can get its history and a recipe here.  Thankfully my tastes have been developing into the non-plain as I found it very tasty.  It was fun to browse around the different products that we don't get back home, but there were also a lot of things that we could.  

The condo today was a welcome sight as we were both feeling a wee bit tired.  We opened up the patio door and enjoyed the lanai until it was time to go to bed, with the sound of the surf yet again in our ears.

If you missed any of my daily journals and would like to catch up, I am sharing their links below.

Oahu

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Kauai

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