My Trip to Kaui

Hi folks
Here are a few photo's from my Hawaii trip.
I down loaded to my sisters computer every night expecting to purchase a flash drive and then wasn't able to find one so....
Here are a few of the ones I did have on my Camera.
Here is a photo of Puff the Magic Dragon. Our rented house was across Hanalai Bay and we sat on our Lani (covered deck) every morning and evening so we talked to him.
Yes the song is about smoking the funny stuff however we were told while the songwriter was doing his smoking he looked across the bay and could see this dragon in the landscape, hence the song about him. This photo shows him with some rain clouds in the background and he shows up the best. It's like his chin is in the water and his eye is the big red patch.

Here are some of the"left over" flowers from the wedding. They are sitting on the dinning table in our rented house.
Flowers there were AMAZING and were everywhere even though September is not the best time of year for them.

And here are some of the orchids which were almost the size of your hand and the Bridal Bouquet. Oops sorry about the sideways, I don't know how to fix on here. My computer does it automatically for me all the time.

Last one for now.
Saying good night to Puff.

OHMIGOSH Ann, what beautiful pics :-)
The Orchids (and other flowers) are outstanding .. so glad you had a good time with PUFF looking out after you .. ^_^

~M~

Kauai is The Garden Island!
I was fortunate enough to be there for New Years---and there were flowers everywhere then too!
We stayed near Poipu.
I would have liked to tour the two botanical gardens on the Island, but they were closed for New Years.
There was a small garden near the big resorts near Poipu---it ws beautiful and many plants in bloom. Many interesting cactus and succulent plants.
Caroline

Whatever way ya look at it Caroline, it's a hecuva alot nicer than looking at yards full of dead leaves soaked in rain with a cold NW wind blowing in your face LoL

Hawaii is on my 'bucket list', just not to thrilled with the length of time in the air !! Course, once you get there, who cares ^_^

~M~

Ladies
I was amazed at how "non" comercialized this island was. The pace of life was real slow and even though I only had a week there and it was a wedding week, I felt like I'd had a holiday.
If I could get a bit of moola together I would do this place again. We were on the North end but our first night/day was out of Poipou on the South and I did tour a garden there. I have the name at home but it was a queens garden with many viarites of palms and plants from around the world the space it took was very large and has been used for movies too. We got a history lesson as well as plant information on our tour.
Traveling has sure changed over the years and I'm looking forward to winning the lotto Max and being able to travel more easily.
LOL
Ann

Going back is on my bucket list, too.
And the long flight is no joy!

I know travelling home (Ireland) is extremely tedious, and, now that the relatives are dwindling in #s I don't go back often .. besides .. they love coming to Canada ^_^
But .. I think the 'macheavelian' in me, might prod me along to take plunge and 'DO HAWAII' .. in this case .. the END would justify the MEANS !!

~M~

The Moir Garden on Kauai.

Hibiscus was in bloom everywhere at New Years.

Cannas too.

And Orchids!

I now have my memory stick with some more photos so here we go with a few more.
This is the Hanalai Bay where our house was. If you can spot the dock that comes out into the bay, that is at about 12 oclock our house is at about 2 O'clock on the beach. I splurged and took a Helicopter ride which was something I now have checked off my Bucket list.

Here is an Orchid that was on one of the trees at our House.

Here is another Orchid in a tree. Same yard

The next few photo's are from a garden down by Poipou that is a National Botanical Garden it's called Allerton Gardens. The land was on a Queens land who had been instrumental in gathering plants from all over Tropical locations in the world. She brought Bougenvillia (sp?) in many colors to Kaui. It is here to where they have groves of Palms and trees and it's all cataloged and tracked.
Down at a beach is her summer home which is still maintained and rented for special occasions.
This garden was also used in movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and Jurasic Park. The tree root where the boy found the raptors eggs is a grove of three with very wild roots.
Here is the beginning of the tour off the porch of the sign in house.

Here is the coolest plant grouping ever. Yes it is all this color!

Here is a small man made waterfall , one that has been here for a very long time.

Here is the biggest flower ever, I think it was called a meat flower as from a distance it looks like a chunk of meat on a stick. Close up it was very intricate.

Here is the tree from Jurasic Park which is some kind of giant Mango from Australia, if you can imagine these squiggly roots are as tall as a person! The circle part on the lower left was where the eggs were found in the movie.

Here is the coolest flower ever. They were on a tree many had fallen and here I staged a flower, seed pod and a fruit . This flower was bigger than the palm of your hand and looked like a fiber optic thing a majig.
It was down at Queen Emmas summer retreat cottage.

Here is Queen Emma's cottage. The beach front which the house faces is a protected site for Green Sea turtles to lay their eggs. When the eggs are there people are not allowed to walk near them and research folks are monitoring them all the time.

The Pirates of the Caribbean main camp is visible down below on this grassy spot which is beside the river that runs through this small valley. The photo was taken from a small road that led down to the gardens.

This red flower is used in dye's for coloring garments and cosmetics they are growing on trees.

A parting shot from the house we were in that shows the dock that you could see from the helicopter photo. Here is our Lanai.
Thats all for now,
Alberta Ann

Ann .. the pics are lovely .. the Orchids .. well .. amazing ... I do like the last pic taken of the Lanai and the ocean, hard to leave something like that.
You certainly made a dint in your 'Bucket List' by doing the helicopter ride .. good for you .. were you nervous at all ??

Thanks for sharing ^_^


~M~

"M" Not nervous, actually it was funny as I went with my Brother in Law and two other couples both of which were honeymooners/
The pilot kept saying this was an opportunity to have a kiss and my BiL kept elbowing me in the ribs so we had quite a chuckle about that. I also enjoy roller coasters and in comparison the ride was very smooth. No need for the "bags". It was about an hour long and our Host ,Pilot Steve, was amazing, little stories, lots of history and a good amount of humor. The scenery couldn't be topped and it was a fabulous way to see a lot in a little time.

You are welcome. It's fun to talk about.
Alberta Ann

The helicopter ride lets you appreciate the remote parts of the Island which even experienced hikers can't reach. It was beautiful.

Lovely pics. Thanks for sharing them.

I just rejoined after many months away. I am going to Kauai in January. What are the highlights for a gardener? Theresa

Great trip and great pics.

Some of those flowers I have seen in Africa - others not. Love all the variety of orchids.

I think it would be lovely to have a winter get-away place where a lanai was useful and necessary.

Thanks for sharing, both of you.

Hi Theresa
There is an Allerton Garden on the South side by Poipou and up on the north west coast almost at the end of the road is another one that is run by volunteers I think. It's very old and has terraced gardens from the early people who landed here. Lots of History to be learned and the North gardens have some almost extinct plants and are cultivating native species.
I took the guided tour in the Allerton gardens and that was good as lots of tidbits plus plant info was given and it was a nice walk and ride program. If you are there in January I would do a whale watch thing. The Helicopter trip was outstanding for me.
We filled up with food at Costco and that lasted our group most of the week. If you have a kitchen getting a fresh fish at the market was cool too.
Just walking around the town for us was fun as we were minutes to downtown and we usualy walked there. In Hanalei bay town is a small store that roasts nuts and has a million of fresh roasted ones, brought some home and they were delicious.
Are you staying on the North or South side?
Ann

If I were to go back, the Allerton Garden would be on my list.
There was also a tropical fruit orchard that I would like to visit. I think it was in conjunction with the Plantation Railway.

There was an interesting eatery on the north side.
The menu only featured things grown on the farm. I think it was called something like "The Garden" restaurant. It was about a mile off the highway. I remember having a fresh fish burger with salad and purple sweet potato fries. We were told the fish was fresh from the creek? They also featured a vege/fruit smoothie---I did not try, but it was a main feature.

At one of the Communities on the north side there is a Slack Key Guitar Concert
which I would like to go to.

Thanks ladies! Great information. We have a huge house on the north side of the island which we are sharing with two other couples and any miscellaneous offspring who can get away. My daughter is coming from El Salvador! It all sounds wonderful!

I think there was another Botanical Garden on the north side too.

Just stumbled upon this great thread.
Lovely pictures Annabell.
Thanks for sharing them.
Another place to add to my bucket list.

I am glad that you bumped this thread up,
as it brings back many happy memories for me.

Yes, everyone should have Kauai on their bucket list.
It is the Garden Island of the Hawaiin Islands.

Caroline

Hi Scott,
I am guessing you have been there as well ?
If so, where can I see some of your pictures ?
kell.