We headed 3 miles down the glorious Wailua River which was calm and easy going on the way out but windy and hard paddling on the way in. We stopped at a rocky inlet where we tied 3 kayaks and 2 outriggers together and headed through the jungle on a slippery and rocky (but pretty level) 1 mile hike. A breeze, after the slick uphill 1 mile hike at the beginning of the 11 mile Kalalau Trail we attempted the day before. At our hiking destination was the spectacular "Secret Falls", so secret that everbody knows about them, but lucky for us, very few people were there to greet our arrival. At least, we beat them all there anyways. The pool at the base of the falls was quite nippy and only the bold, brave and beautiful made the attempt to go in. That being Jeremy, Megan and Tyler. Megan actually stood under the falls. What Canadian spirit! It was aptly described to have felt like a shower of hail from one Montrealer who stood under it for several minutes. Crazy Canucks! After a quick snack and a few minutes of picture taking, we hiked back to the kayaks on the way back to the boat ramp. It was hard work and exhausting and I (with my bum shoulder) was lucky enough to have Tyler as my paddling partner! Way to go MG!! (pictures to follow)
After a few hours of R&R at home, we headed back out to Wailua for the Smith Family Traditional Garden Luau.
After meeting our native Okinawan hosts, Mamo and Joen Kaneshiro (the important local suppliers of the pig for the evening) and the rest of my family, we headed into the Luau Gardens for a group family photo and tram ride through the fabulous Polynesian 
floral, fruit and tree gardens native and imported to this Kauaian Island. Following a few minutes of free time, we headed to the "imu" pit for the traditional opening of the ceremony. A brief introduction of the Smith Family and explanation of the imu ceremony and then 2 young Hawaiian men blew their conch shells to the West, East, North and South to open the evening. They then picked up their 'garden hoes' and removed the sand 
from the opening of the pit to reveal the cooked pig beneath the grains. 
Hmmm....an aroma of grand proportions filled the gardens!!! The fresh smell of steamed pork. Yummy and well... it was later discovered to be certainly juicy!!! After a few snapshots of the pig, and me and the boys, we head over to the dining area for a fabulous buffet of Kalua Pig, Mahi mahi, lomi lomi salmon, 
chicken and a variety of salads and dessert. It was Ono-licious!! Following the meal, we headed to the Amphitheatre for a Traditional Story-telling of the Hawaiian people. It began with the fiery appearance of Pele, the Volcano Goddess atop a flaming volcano! Amazing!!! It was really hard to capture with my little camera the people and the dress of the different Polynesian cultures but I tried. There were colorful and fiery representations from the Samoan culture, Philippino, Chinese, Japanese as well as a few 
other islands. The show was absolutely spectacular, keeping us all 
entertained...even the stubborn and easily bored children in the family stayed focused and intrigued by the pyrotechnics in the production. Tyler on the other hand, was pretty much leaping out of his seat with excitement. This was everything he had heard about and seen on video from his grandparents previous visits to Hawaii. For him, this was the real Hawaii. The garden luau had something for everyone.I would highly recommend this show to anyone interested in checking out traditional luaus on the island of Kauai. It certainly hit the "WOW" factor for us and all who attended that evening!
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