Waking up in Kilauea

A fellow with whom we were chatting today on the Kuilau Trail said, as we fumbled around with Hawaiian place names of various trail heads and roads by which to access them, "Well, whatever the street or road name is it probably starts with a "k" and ends with a vowel." We all chuckled.....yup....here we are on Kauai, staying in a cottage near Kilauea on the North Shore.

Bruce and I are happy to be "home" on Kauai. He has asked numerous times in the last four days, "Why have we waited so long to come back?" This has been one of our favourite places over the last almost thirty years. In fact Bruce had lived on Oahu shortly before we were married and I know that I fantasized about our living together in Hawaii. We both love it here.

Kauai is truly one of the most beautiful places on earth, with clean air, lush vegetation, bountiful fresh water and turquoise seas. It is a spiritual place with mist shrouded mountains whose green ridges seem to rise and fall slightly, like ribs covering giant lungs.

Beneath these vibrant mountains, there are still taro paddies being tilled the way the ancients cultivated this precious, tasty (to them!) root vegetable. There is a trend here to live respectfully on the land and much of this impetus comes from native Hawaiians as well as long term Haoles. Just like  Salt Spring Island, there is great pride in locally grown produce, cultural traditions and Ohana...family. There are signs everywhere "Malama Aina" ....meaning "caring for the land."

We are struck by the similarities between the Hawaiian culture and language and that of the Maori in New Zealand and a resurgence of pride and political power amongst these "First Nations" peoples.

By hiking we get close to this land and some understanding of the people who are its stewards.

Yesterday we climbed this ridge overlooking Hanalei. (an "H" with a vowel this time!!) It has been ten years since we have done this hike. The official name in the guide book is Okolehao. (oops two vowels to start and finish!) The guide book says "This trail is a puffer. It gains 1250 feet in less than 2 miles. This means the grade is steep, tiring and unrelenting. It will seem much longer than it is." Hooray for these two old farts....we made it without a whimper! The folks from New Hampshire who took this picture also told us about a flat loop trail in the neighbourhood which is on the agenda for tomorrow!!!

Being at the meeting place of ocean, mountains and air is a powerful experience.

..and we have experienced this as well.

So envigorating, challenging and yet healing to be in this vast landscape on a small island.