Welcome to Kauai!
I awoke as the ship was entering the port in Kauai. We passed by two lighthouses, the first one was quite tall and understated. Behind it was the Kauai airport. A plane flew low, right over us as it was landing. Yikes, it startled me a little!
The first two photos are of the main lighthouse. As we got closer to docking we also passed by a “baby lighthouse” as I like to call it. As we sail through this journey, I will continue to take photos of lighthouses.
One of the lectures we attended several days ago was about lighthouses of the world and I found it to be an interesting topic. They are all so unique! Behind “Baby Lighthouse” is a small beach where Mark and I are planning to go this afternoon.
This morning, however, we are going to a Sugar Plantation. Here is a description of this excursion:
Witness the lush scenery of Kauai, the “Garden Island” and get a glimpse of Hawaii’s past at a sugar plantation. Meet your guide at the pier and transfer by motor coach to the Kilohana Plantation, a historic landmark that offers its visitors insight into Hawaii’s heritage. Upon arrival, you will board a train then enjoy a two-and-a-half mile ride through the estate, passing sugarcane and taro crops. Your conductor will provide interesting narrative as you admire the lush vegetation and groves of mango trees, banana plants, papaya and pineapples. At the center of this 27,000-acre sugar plantation lies a magnificent 1930’s Tudor-style mansion. Enjoy a hula demonstration by the pavilion followed by time to explore; see the work of local artisans, stroll the manicured gardens or pause for a taste of local rum at the Gaylord’s bar, before returning to your ship.
Did you know that after Christmas Santa’s job is to drive a tour bus? Ha!
We boarded our bus and headed to the Kilohana Sugar Plantation which is owned by the Gaylord family. They not only grow sugar cane, but also many varieties of fruit. They also produce their own rum. They do not ship their rum and you can only purchase it in Hawaii. Mark was going to buy a bottle as a souvenir, but decided that it would be one more thing to haul home. Instead he bought two shirts!
As we approached the plantation, we were impressed with the lush beauty of the plantation AND the many CHICKENS! We learned that chickens and pigs were brought to the island by the first inhabitants as a food source. Now, they are too plentiful, especially the chickens. The Hawaiians make many snide comments and jokes about all the chickens!
There is a beautiful tutor style home here that is the original dwelling. It is referred to as “the mansion” and is around 16,000 square feet but only has three bedrooms!
We boarded a little steam engine train that used to transport the sugarcane produced here when it was a big industry. Currently very little sugarcane is grown here. Sugarcane fields have caused much erosion and caused damage to the soil, plus the production of sugarcane is not as lucrative a business as it once was. Replacing the sugarcane fields has been done at this plantation by growing many varieties of fruit trees: banana, avocado, pineapple, tangerine, orange, lemons, mango……. Our little train took us by several “fields of fruit”.
Next we stopped by a “field of animals”: several varieties of pigs, horses, donkeys and cows. It was fun feeding them! Chickens were everywhere and followed the train, probably looking for a handout!
These animals LOVED being fed, especially that cow!
Next stop - Hula Show which was very well done and we enjoyed it a lot!
Next up - tour the mansion and try out their speciality Mai Tai made from their signature rum and fresh sugar cane. Mark liked it!
Our Selfie of the day!
We headed back to the ship and enjoyed a light lunch, then took a walk to the beach by the “Baby
Lighthouse”. Since we are docked at a port, the walk wasn’t very pretty. Around another ship, through a parking lot and around a shipping company and we were there! Spent about an hour enjoying the beautiful weather! Feet in the sand and toes in the surf! Or is it, toes in the sand and feet in the surf? The walk back to the ship was typical Hawaii weather - downpour that ended just as we arrived!
Here’s a photo of our beautiful ship as we walked towards it on the way back.
Back on the ship and ready to set sail! This was a short visit to Kauai but we packed a lot in! Now let’s talk about THE DOG and THE WHALES!
Whenever a ship docks or leaves a port they are assisted sometimes by a tugboat and always by a pilot. A pilot boat arrives by the ship and the “pilot” gets on board our ship to maneuver the ship in the right location. We had both. The tug secured us to itself and put us in position so that the pilot could get us out. This morning when we arrived, we saw a dog enjoying his ride on the pilot boat and it got so excited when the pilot left our ship and got back on his own. It happened so fast that I was unable to capture a photo. It sure made us smile though! This afternoon as the yellow pilot boat stayed by our side the whole time the pilot was on our ship, the dog sat and waited patiently! I took several shots, but a fellow blogger got a better one, so I’m using that one instead. It was so fun watching it all happen!
AT THE SAME TIME that all this chaos was happening we spotted several Humpback Whales surfacing and jumping near our ship! What a wonderful sight! We felt so lucky to see it! No photos, of course!
Dinner this evening was enjoyed in The Restaurant. It is normally my favorite place to dine, but not tonight! I was trying out my OPEN concept, but failed completely! I normally do not like scallops, but tried them as my appetizer course - nope! Then I tried as a main course one of the special entrees which was a shrimp pot pie - nope! It was basically a pile of mashed potatoes with itty bitty shrimp tossed in. It was a pretty presentation, but I didn’t like it at all! So, I settled for a Shrimp Cocktail followed by a Lava Cake and called it a day! YUM!
It was a great day and this view from our balcony topped it off!
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