Spending my birthday in Kauai

Cabin decorated for Karen's birthday.

Alan wearing a kukui nut lei.

The NaPail Coastline.

Day Four: My Birthday in Kauai-Mostly cloudy, 81’
I woke up to a beautiful day in Hawaii. It was my birthday and I was thrilled getting to spend it in my favorite place in the world! We went up to the Hukilau Café for our omelets. Did we go to Hilo Hattie’s in Kaui and/or Hilo???? We hopped on board the Hilo Hattie’s free shuttle, as there were a few items I was looking for as gifts. I found a nice green leafy lei with orange flowers on it that I thought would be nice to wear during our vow renewal ceremony the next day. I also found some nice flower hairclips with large hibiscus flowers so I bought several different colors. They’re so pretty and I can wear them when we get back from vacation too. We found green flowered matching dress and shirt that we wore to our vow renewal ceremony as well. When I went to pay for my items the cashier said that my credit card wouldn’t work. I knew it should as I had just checked and it had plenty of money on it. How embarrassing. I stepped out and called Alan and he paid for the purchase with a different credit card. When we got outside the store I called the credit card company and they told me the hotel had double charged us. Alan and I spent the next two hours going back and forth with the Credit Card Company and Royal Hawaiian Hotel to get things straightened out. Apparently, the hotel hadn’t removed the holding charge on our room thus causing double charges, at $350 a night that came to quite a bit of money. With all this going on my stomach was growling and it was pretty hot outside. At first we were going to walk to the Starbucks that was relatively close. Just down from them was a small local café so we decided to there instead. I ordered a BLT and ice tea. It was so refreshing after the walk in the hot sun. I didn’t have my handy little scooter with me so walking kind of did me in. After eating our sandwiches I ordered a sweet roll and it was so tasty. It was nice to cool off in the little café. We didn’t go to Starbucks so we walked back to Hilo Hattie’s to catch the shuttle back to the ship. On the ride to Hilo Hattie’s the driver gave us quite a tour and narrated it all the way to the store.

Since our ship was leaving around 12:30 we had to make sure we were back by 11:30. When we returned I saw a nice little shopping place that was right down the road so I hopped on my scooter and we headed towards it. It had local items for sale and I found a beautiful Jade necklace for my boss, Sieglinde that had string instead of a chain necklace. She loved it and it was adjustable. We went into the store next door where Alan bought a beautiful silver and opal earring/bracelet set. The opals were set into delicate silver turtles. The turtle represents peace and longevity? This was quite the appropriate gift as it was close to our silver anniversary and on my birthday. Alan searched for a Hawaiian birthday card for me and found a blank card with a pretty old fashioned Hawaiian dancing on it. He wrote happy birthday in the Hawaiian language for me after he asked the Hawaiian ambassador on the ship to write Happy Birthday Sweetheart in Hawaiian. That’s really special. In fact when we gave Marie (our friend at Starbucks) her birthday card and earrings from Hawaii I was able to write Happy Birthday and her name in Hawaiian. When we got back to the ship we unloaded all our goodies at our cabin and headed off to get some lunch before I went to my first hula lesson. I wanted to learn all I could so I wouldn’t embarrass myself too much during the Hula Graduation Show at the end of the cruise. I headed up to the Aerobics’ Room and was given the paper with the words to the four songs we would be dancing the Hula to. The names of the songs we danced to were: My Little Gras Shack in Kealakekua Hawaii, The Hukilau Song, A Hawaiian Lullaby, and Holoholo Kaa. One might not realize how much exercise dancing the Hula can be. I got quite the workout and had to sit in my scooter during a lot of the lesson. We worked on the first two songs that day for an hour. June was so patient us, a great teacher!
My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua

I want to go back to my little grass shack
In Kealakekua, Hawaii
I want to be with all the kanes and wahines
That I used to know long ago
I can hear the old guitars playing
On the beach at Hanaunau
I can hear the old Hawaiians saying
E komo mai no kaua I ka hale welakahao
It won’t be long till my ship will be sailing
Back to Kona
It’s a grand old place that’s always fair to see,
You’re telling me
I’m just a little Hawaiian
As homesick island boy
I want to go back to my fish and poi
I want to go back to my little grass shack
In Kaelakekua, Hawaii
Where the numinumunumu
Go swimming by.

The Hukilau Song

Oh we’re going to a hukilau
A huki huki huki hiki hukilau
Everybody loves the hukilau
Where the laulau is the kaukau
At the big luau
We throw our nets out into the sea
And all the amaama come a
Swimming to me
Oh we’re going to a hukilau
A huki huki huki hukilau
What a beautiful day for fishing
That old Hawaiian way
Where the hukilau nets are swishing
Down in old Lale bay
Oh we’re going to a hikilau
A huki huki huki hukilau

I had a lot of fun learning to hula!

Since we were going to be sailing around the NaPali coastline around 2:30 we hurried to our cabin after my hula lesson. We were able to see from our cabin balcony. Believed by historians to be the first area settled by ancient Hawaiians, this rugged yet beautiful coastline is the island of Kauai’s biggest attraction. As inhospitable as these cliffs appear, they provided the settlers with all the basics of life: fresh water from the mountain streams, native vegetation, fertile ground in the valleys and unparalleled fishing in the vast ocean. Beginning at Ke’e beach and continuing around the north and west portion of Kauai the cliffs extend upward 3,000-4,000 feet! Numerous sea caves, small beaches and high waterfalls add to the beauty and uniqueness of the landscape. Movies such as Jurassic Park, Six Days and Seven Nights, Indiana Jones and South Pacific have been filmed along this coast using the steep cliffs as a dramatic background. Once a person has experienced this place they’ll see why the NaPali coastline is one of the most photographed spots on earth. I got some breath taking pictures as we sailed by.

After sailing past the NaPali coastline it was time for the lei making classes, which June also taught. Alan joined me for the class and we both learned how to make kukui nut leis. I was surprised that the class was free. June taught us not only how to make the leis but the history behind the kukui nut, also known as the candlenut. The kukui nut starts out white, then as it starts turning brown it gets spots on it. Some nuts are even a grayish color. June was so patient and kind while teaching us. Some people had started making their leis before she started and she simply said, ‘some of you have started making them your way, now let me show you the right way to make them’. She showed us the ancient way of knotting the ribbon between each nut. After making our leis we went to the Cultural Center where I bought several different kukui nut kits along with packages of different shells. I was looking forward to creating some different styles of leis when I got home. I bought some kukui nuts that had flowers painted on them. I wasn’t the only one wanting to buy the kits. There was a crowd all the people swarming around the different kukui nut kits. The kits was a good buy at $7 each and June gave us the nice long brown ribbon wire needles to string our leis. I made several leis when I got home and they turned out so nice. I even figured out how to create matching earrings from the shells. When I wore them to work I received a lot of compliments. I gave one of the kits to my friend Marie from Starbucks since she loves making jewelry. Here’s some information about the kukui or candlenut tree.

The candlenut tree is the state tree of Hawaii and the symbol of the ‘Aha Kupuna, the Council of Elders of the Nation of Hawaii. Native to Southeast Asia, it was brought to the islands by early Polynesian settlers. The beautiful silvery-green leafed tree provides shade and many products. It got the name of the candlenut tree due to the ancient practice of stringing husked nuts up a palm frond rib. Then the nuts would be lit from top to bottom (often the duty of the children) to give light into the night. Some uses of the Kukui Tree are:
Nut husks-pierced, sometimes carved and worn in traditional leis (garlands) or carved into pendants. They have also been mounted on gold and used in finer jewelry.
Nuts:
*Note: The seed contains about 50% oil. It ignites and burns like a candle up to 45 minutes.
1. Medicinal: strong purgative. In combination with other plants, used to treat skin ulcers, rheumatic joints, and deep bruises and wounds. There is some evidence that small amounts of the roasted nut reduce blood pressure.
2. Food: the nut is slightly poisonous, but the toxin is removed by roasting. Small amounts of the roasted, chopped nuts are flavored with salt and sometimes chili peppers and eaten as the condiment Inamona.
*Note: raw nuts should not be eaten as they contain a strong purgative. However, roasted seeds are eaten but only in small quantities because of their laxative effect. In Hawaii they are made into a condiment called inamona by pounding them into a paste that is mixed with salt and then mixed with seaweed, minced chili peppers and bite sized cubes of raw ahi fish to prepare a favorite Hawaiian dish called inamona poke. The cooked, mashed seeds are used in similar Indonesian dish called sambal kemiri. Candlenut paste is also used to thicken and flavor Indonesian and Malaysian curries.
3. Soot from burned nut: used to dye tapa, for tattoos, and to stain surfboards. *Note: Tapa is a local cloth made from the bark of the paper mulberry, breadfruit, and other trees.
4. Crushed roasted kernels: spread out on the sea acts like a lens. The Hawaiian proverb, ‘when the kukui nut is spat on the water, the sea is smooth’ is equivalent to ‘pouring oil on troubled waters’.
5. Oil extracted: Used as varnish and to preserve wood, to waterproof fishing nets and paper, as a paint oil, in soap making, as a substitute for rubber products, and as an insulating material. In the early 19th century up to as many as 10,000 gallons were exported, principally to the Russians in Alaska as a substitute for linseed oil.
6. Burned for illumination: On a palm leaf rib, as mentioned earlier, but also in stone lamps and torches.
Flowers: Strung into garlands. Parents chewed the white flowers and then rubbed the paste inside the child’s mouth to heal mouth sores (thrush) of children.
Leaves: Strung into garlands representing Molokai, whose color is silvery green.
Sap: Used for mouth sores, chapped lips, cold sores, and mild sunburns, also a strong purgative.
Inner bark: Yields a dark red dye used for tapa and fishnets; tanning in the dye strengthens nets and preserves them.
Roasted kernels: pulverized by fishermen while on the reef or in canoes, were strewn upon the ocean surface where there were small ripples and waves. The film increased underwater visibility by creating a lens on the water’s surface.
Gum: Strengthens tapa. The Hawaiian proverb “the gum sticks to the candlenut tree: refers to a parasite or child clinging to its mother.
Trunk: Made into canoes and fishing net weights.
*Note: A mashed nut (sometimes the raw kernel, sometimes the roasted) or the sap of the green nut was often used in combination with other traditional Hawaiian medicinal plants, particularly when a purgative for constipation was needed. The potency of this plant is so strong that those with experience in these matters administer these internal remedies very carefully. The late Uncle Harry Mitchell of Keanae recommended the use of kukui nut for high blood pressure. He suggested one teaspoon a day of the ground-roasted kernel. Sometimes this is mixed with pressed garlic juice. For bad cases of ulcers and other skin sores, the baked meat of ripe kukui nuts was pounded and mixed with other plants, such as rip noni fruit. In the treatment of rheumatic joints or deep bruises and wounds, kukui and noni leaves were wrapped around the afflicted places and heat applied by hot packs of salt, sand or rocks wrapped in tapa cloth.

Is it any wonder the Polynesians brought this tree with them? It had a lot of uses. The kukui tree is a classic example of the wisdom of ancient voyaging Polynesians. The plants that they chose to bring on their canoes had to serve many useful purposes. The kukui is such a plant.

By the time we got done with our kit purchases it was time for dinner so we headed down to the dining room. We never made reservations but were always able to get a table without having to wait, especially since we didn’t mind sharing a table. Since it was my birthday Alan had asked the waiter if they could bring me a cake and even though prior arrangements hadn’t been made the waiter came by at dessert time with my cake and sang Happy Birthday to me along with several other waiters. That really impressed Alan and I both. That made my day special. The couple that sat with us enjoyed the celebrating my birthday with us too. After eating our cake we had just enough time to get to the show, ‘On Broadway’. It was a sample of Broadway Shows done by the NCL Production Cast showcasing some of the newest hit shows currently playing such as: ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Wicked’, ‘Movin Out’, and ‘Hairspray’.

All in all it was a pretty special birthday, one I’ll cherish for a long time! We watched Eye of the Dolphin on our way to ‘Dreamland’.