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Hawaii’s Back Yard
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi
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COURTESY KAUAI PLANTATION RAILWAY
Participants in the Train-Hike-Lunch-Orchard Tour will take a 40-minute train ride around Kilohana Plantation...
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A Garden of Eden grows in Iniki’s wake
A little curiosity sometimes yields big discoveries. So it was in January last year when construction on the track for Kauai Plantation Railway's train tour at Kilohana Plantation was completed. (See "
Nostalgic train trip chugs into Kauai's past," "Hawaii's Backyard," Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 1, 2007.)
The track runs right by Kahuna Nui Valley, so Fred Atkins, general partner of Kilohana Plantation, decided to walk down and see what was there.
"Lo and behold, he found an incredible maze of plants, shrubs and trees," said Pepe Trask, Kauai Plantation Railway's general manager. "The ground there is always moist, so everything grows in great abundance."
When Trask explored the valley the next day, he recognized dozens of tropical species, from myrtle, monkeypod and monstera to hau, heliconia and hala.
"It was a surreal experience," he said. "Imagine walking over, under and through an array of bright colors: green, yellow, blue, red, orange, pink and purple. Nearly every step I took, I was crouching and moving aside leaves, flowers and branches."
A commercial flower farm was operating in the valley when Hurricane Iniki devastated much of Kauai on Sept. 11, 1992. The owners abandoned it, leaving their crops to become integrated in the vivid tapestry that nature had created.
COURTESY KAUAI PLANTATION RAILWAY
... walk a switchback trail that meanders 250 feet down into Kahuna Nui Valley ...
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"The valley is too beautiful not to be shared, so the next step was to create a new Hike-Lunch-Orchard tour and incorporate it with the train tour, which was already running," said Trask. It took five months for him and two helpers to clear a trail, and the new three-hour, 40-minute tour launched on Oct. 22 last year.
It includes a 40-minute ride around Kilohana Plantation in a train pulled by either a 1939 Whitcomb or a 1948 General Electric diesel locomotive. Along the way, you'll view the elegant Tudor-style mansion built in 1935 by eminent Kauai entrepreneur Gaylord Wilcox, sugar plantation "camp houses" dating back nearly a century, and gardens of fruits and vegetables.
Midway along the 3-mile route, passengers disembark to feed a snack to a herd of friendly goats, sheep and pigs. After that, participants on the Train-Hike-Lunch-Orchard Tour walk a short distance to the start of a switchback trail, which meanders 250 feet down into lush Kahuna Nui Valley.
"There are many magnificent botanical gardens throughout the state, including two national botanical gardens on Kauai, but most of them have exhibits of pruned plants that you aren't allowed to touch," said Trask. "In Kahuna Nui Valley, all the plants are growing in their natural state. You have to touch them because you're walking so close to them -- most of the time, right beneath and through them."
Indeed, the growth is exuberant, riotous -- a jumble of fantastic colors, shapes and smells. "It's nature doing her own thing, which to me is far more beautiful than a manicured garden," said Trask. "Even local people, who you think might be familiar with tropical plants, love being in the valley; they stand still and are completely in awe of what they see around them."
COURTESY KAUAI PLANTATION RAILWAY
... and see lush plant and flower life.
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KAIMANA KENZIE has been the sole guide for the Train-Hike-Lunch-Orchard Tour since its inception. "If you're a plant lover, this is the tour for you," he said. "The canopy is at least 60 feet high and blocks out the sky. Everywhere you turn, there's an entirely different array of plants and an entirely different view."
Highlights include a 60-foot-tall mango tree with a figure in its gnarled bark that resembles the face of an elderly Hawaiian man. "Although it looks like the face was carved into the trunk, no one tampered with it," said Kenzie. "We've named it Chief Kahuna Nui (High Priest) after the valley, and we like to think he's the one who watches over and protects it."
The various colors, shapes and sizes of the 20-plus species of ginger in the valley also fascinate him. As you might expect, the Indonesian wax ginger's red flowers feel like candles.
White with pink tips, the shell ginger emulates the delicate beauty of seashells. It's easy to see how the yellow honeycomb ginger got its name; it's shaped like a beehive and smells as sweet as honey.
Norfolk Island pines form a lofty border on one side of Kahuna Nui Valley. "They're native to Norfolk Island, which lies between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia," said Kenzie. "Whaling ships brought them to Hawaii in the 1800s to replace damaged masts."
You'll enjoy lunch in the shade of the pines before strolling to the orchard where Kenzie offers succulent samples of whatever is in season (at this time of the year, it's tangerines and oranges). Then you'll hop back on the train for the scenic ride back to the station.
"The Train-Hike-Lunch-Orchard Tour is a great way for people to relax and acquaint themselves with nature," said Kenzie.
"I could be having a bad day, but when I'm in the valley and the orchard, all my negative thoughts and feelings disappear. Nature has a way of calming your spirit, clearing your mind and lightening your heart."
If You Go ...
Train-Hike-Lunch-Orchard Tour
» Time: Check in 9:30 a.m. Mondays to Fridays at Kauai Plantation Railway's train station, Kilohana Plantation, 3-2087 Kaumualii Highway, one mile south of Lihue, Kauai
» Price: $75 for adults, $60 for ages 3 through 12. Kamaaina pay $60 and $45, respectively. Cost includes a veggie wrap or a turkey-and-cheese croissant sandwich, cookies, chips, juice and bottled water.
» Call: (808) 245-7245. Reservations required at least 24 hours in advance.
» E-mail: Train@hawaiilink.net
» Web site: www.kauaiplantationrailway.com
» Notes: Wear comfortable clothing and shoes. Although the mile-long nature walk isn't rugged, there are many inclines and descents.
» Also: Luau Kalamaku, held at Kilohana Plantation on Tuesday evenings, offers craft demonstrations, Hawaiian games, a lavish buffet dinner and a show chronicling the Polynesians' migration to Hawaii. Cost is $95 for adults, $65 for ages 12 through 18, and $45 for ages 3 through 11. Kamaaina receive a 25 percent discount; call (877) 622-1780 to reserve. The micro-distillery and tasting room Koloa Rum, (808) 332-9333, is expected to open at Kilohana Plantation in the fall.
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Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based free-lance writer and Society of American Travel Writers award winner.