Kauai is the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the most remote. This is known as the Garden Island and it has is a high diversity of birds and other wildlife.

A nice sunrise greeted us as we approached the island. Unfortunately, it was a short day and we had to be back on the ship by 1:30pm. We hadn't made big plans to see the whole island.

A replica of the ancient Polynesian canoe

Our plan was to follow this stream up from the shore.

It led us out to the field where a horse and a mule were anxious to greet us.

 
The mule was especially friendly and later actually stepped on my foot as we walked along a narrow trail through the cane brake. Oww. The bruise was immediate and lasted for a couple of weeks, but no bones were broken, so that was good.

An acacia blossom at the edge of a thicket.

When we reached the shade under a wide spreading grove of trees, our new best friends stopped following us.

The shade was so dense, that almost nothing grew under the trees. Another factor were the cattle also in this field that ran into hiding as we approached, so the livestock standing in the shade probably added to the lack of floor vegetation.

 
For a while we tried to walk through the 8' tall bunching grasses, but finally moved to higher ground for easier passage.

 
Lion's ear (Leonotis nepetifolia) is in the mint family and native to India, but now it has escaped around the world.

Yellow rain lilies.

 
A citrus tree of some sort. The fruit was only slightly sweet.

 
A beautiful Hawaiian Torch aka white shrimp plant (Justicia betonica).

We'd walked back to the mouth of the stream where a native Hawaiian gallinule basked in the late morning light.

A dog in search of a friend or a thrower, at least. We crossed the stream and headed for the main beach.

A wet bridal party was having photos and a video taken in the water. Afterward, they checked out the footage.

 
The lawn at the back of the beach was shared by Asian gods, chickens, and us.


Dean caught a sun-dog rainbow up through the palms.

Eventually we made our way back to the ship and spent some time on the back deck with our feet propped up, sipping iced tea and eating our lunch. This was done after showers and complete change of clothes because we were muddy and hot. The view was not too shabby.

A lighthouse marks the spit of rocky shoreline as we sail away.

5 sea days and 5 lectures until we arrived in Vancouver. We flew home via Houston airport and finally arrived home at 12:30 am. We slept in that next morning to catch up. Now we wait for the next big adventure, the 2018 World Cruise.