May 4, Second Full Day in Lihue

Once again, Patrise woke up early this morning, in preparation for an important, business conference call. This was the same call she woke up for yesterday morning, which was rescheduled. She had her call and was done by the time I awakened. Shortly after I woke up, I set the table for our breakfast. We had pancakes and bacon that she made. Our first home cooked meal since we left Atlanta on March 26. It was sooooo goooooddddddd!

After breakfast, she had a second conference call. I washed up and dressed for the day. After her call, we left our rental to head out for the morning. Our plan was to go along HI-56 north today, to see the remainder of the east and part of the north portions of the island.

(Morning view from balcony; waves are higher [l]. Waves seen from a lookout point along route HI-56, [c, r].)

(Waves and information sign about the whales that transit the region.)

Our primary goal, however, was to get to a local pineapple farm, to purchase fresh Hawaiian pineapple and learn more about the agricultural practices surrounding growing it. After a lot of twists and turns on back roads – mostly unpaved – we found the pineapple farm. Once we had made it to the end of the road, a woman came over to us and said they only gave prescheduled tours, and they did not sell pineapple there. We would have to wait until Saturday morning and find them at a local market.

The road into the Sugarloaf Pineapple Farm and the first pineapple plants we see.)

(Flock of Nene geese in the pineapple fields. The Nene is the state bird of Hawaii, it is only found in Hawaii, and it is an endangered species.)

We decided to continue traveling north to see more of the island and to make our way to the Kilauea (Kill-uh-Way-uh) Lighthouse. It was an overcast day, and we wondered whether we would run into the intermittent rain that we could see in the distance. We made our way to the lighthouse, which is located in a national wildlife refuge. On the way, we passed through the small town of Kilauea. It had a coffee place, a shaved ice station and a small museum. We thought we would stop there on our return trip.

We arrived at the national wildlife refuge that was a preserve for several types of birds, some of which are endangered. The principal bird being preserved is the Nene (Nay-nay) or Hawaiian goose. It is endangered and a unique species, found only on the Hawaiian Islands. The lighthouse was on a point that juts out into the ocean. However, we could only see it from a distance because the lighthouse can only be visited by reservation. There were a lot of red-footed boobies and albatrosses nesting and flying around the lighthouse location. Probably some other types of birds too, but I could not identify them. Still, all in all, it was picturesque. We took several pictures, then left.

(Red-footed boobies nesting in Kilauea National Wildlife Reserve.)

We stopped at the Kilauea town center and wandered around browsing, waiting for the shaved ice shop to open (at 11am). We bought cappuccinos, some pastries, and sat in the shop waiting for the shaved ice store to open. We looked at the “museum” exhibits about Hawaiian culture on sugar plantations in the early 20th century. It was very interesting. For me, a bit of history that I was particularly unaware of was that about the 1300’s AD, Polynesians on Hawaii eventually stopped their contacts with Polynesians on other islands – Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, etc. From that time until James Cook landed, they developed a culture that was unique among Polynesians. The shaved ice shop opened, and we each ordered a small cup: cherry for Patrise and a mango/guava/lemon mix for me. Shaved ice is a unique food feature of the Hawaiian Islands; you see many shaved ice shops throughout neighborhoods and commercial centers. (For you folks familiar with Cincinnati, it’s analogous to Cincinnati chili. Unless you have spent a lot of time there/here, you wonder how can so many stores sell just one type of food and still remain commercially viable. Hard to explain, but true.)

Once we had our shaved ice, we headed back to Lihue and our rental unit. Patrise took a nap right away, a long nap. I stayed awake and finished our blog entry from yesterday, as well as drafting this entry for today. Later in the evening, we had dinner as we watched episodes of Gunsmoke and Law & Order.