Kauai

Globe Trekker - Hawaii

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• published: 18 Jul 2014
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Traveller Megan McCormick begins her journey in the island paradise of Hawaii on Kauai, the least explored of the islands. She is invited to a Hula ceremony and learns that dancing was how the natives expressed their history and culture in the days before the Hawaiian language evolved. The main staple of the Hawaiian diet is a vegetable called taro. Megan lends a hand with the harvest, and is invited to taste the fruit of her labours at a Luau the following evening. Meanwhile, she kayaks down the Wailua River into the rainforest and treks into the forest to an isolated spot where she takes a refreshing dip in a waterfall. From Kauai, Megan flies to Oahu, the most populated of the islands. At the tourist haven of Waikiki she heads for the beach and takes a surfing lesson, learning how to feel the manna and ride the waves. The next morning Megan goes to the Honolulu fish market to find out how to tell the quality and shelf-life of a fresh catch. Although Hawaii has been an American state since 1959, the Japanese community makes up a quarter of the population and Megan learns that today there’s a growing sovereignty movement among native Hawaiians. She attends a ceremony in remembrance of the attack upon the US marine base by Japanese bombers on December 7th 1941, when more that 2,500 people were killed and the course of the Second World War was irrevocably altered. Megan hitches a ride with a bunch of young marines who are heading for the North Shore to check out the surf. Further along the north shore, Megan is invited to an intimate marriage ceremony. Same sex marriages are commonplace in Hawaii, although a recent referendum asking Hawaiians to vote in favour of same-sex marriages was lost by a narrow margin. Nevertheless, David and Scott make a great couple. Megan flies to Maui and, as hitch hiking is illegal on this island, she hires a car. She takes the Hana Highway all the way to the Haleakala Crater, the largest inactive volcano on earth and camps out overnight so she can witness a stunning sunrise the next morning. She then meets up with a mule guide to head down into the desolate, peaceful landscape inside the crater. From Maui, Megan journeys to ‘Big Island’, where she goes hula pipi, rounding up cattle with the paniolas. It’s an exhausting day, and Megan is glad to find peace and meditation at the Buddhist B&B; nearby. Megan can’t possibly visit Kilauea and not see the lava flow, so she meets up with a local guide who takes her to the active crater Halimaumau. Here she sees the spectacular work of Pelli, the fire goddess who is said to have created the islands. It’s a perfect end to her stay in Hawaii, and Megan has discovered that although Hawaii is one of the fifty states of America, the Hawaiian spirit continues to flow strong.