Brace for more wind and rain

Strong southwest winds were expected to ease a little today after causing extensive power outages, some localized flooding, roof damage and high surf yesterday.
“Today is not going to be calm,” said Ian Morrison, National Weather Service lead forecaster. “We still have southwest winds (averaging 15 to 25 mph), just not quite as strong.”
Wind also is expected to pick up again tomorrow with another northwest storm front moving in by the afternoon, he said.
Showers were expected to move through all the islands today with the wind, mostly affecting Oahu and Maui.
A gust of 73 mph was reported at Makua Ridge in the Waianae mountains yesterday and up to 61 mph at the Schofield firebreak, Morrison said.
Three people were injured yesterday as a result of blustery wind that blew off pieces of roofs and caused power failures on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island.
Downed power lines sparked brush fires on Kauai and the Big Island and a tree fire on Oahu.
About 22,300 Hawaiian Electric Co. customers were without power yesterday and early today with blustery wind and trees affecting lines, a HECO spokeswoman said.
Outages were mostly in windward Oahu, but also at Wahiawa, Haleiwa, Makaha, Barbers Point, Waipahu, Nuuanu and Kalihi, she said.
Some outages lasted under an hour and some up to three hours, she said.
Lights were out early today in Wilson Tunnel on Likelike Highway; about 20 to 30 customers had no power on Pulama Road in Kahaluu and a small outage was reported affecting about 18 customers in Nanakuli.
Oahu Civil Defense spokesman John Cummings III said about 20 staff members worked through the night assisting with problems.
Civil Defense officials were concerned about a high tide of more than two feet at midnight, he said.
State road crews responded to sand blockages twice last night at Rocky Point and the Ke Nui Road area on the North Shore, he said.
Some localized flooding was reported because of heavy pooling in some spots but no homes were reported damaged, Cummings said.
“It was more of nuisance flooding.”
About 2 a.m., he said, there was some concern about sheltering homeless people affected by high surf and rain soaking their tents at Ulehawa Beach Park in Nanakuli.
The American Red Cross and city Parks Department were prepared to coordinate the move to a shelter but the weather cleared and it wasn’t needed, Cummings said.
Cummings said the sand bar built up at Waimea Bay because of the high surf and the city’s Department of Facility Maintenance was going out today to assess the blockage and flooding potential.
Surf with 30-to-40-foot faces was predicted today on north-facing shores of all islands except the Big Island, where it was expected to be 10 to 14 feet in the Kona-Kohala area.,
West-facing shores were expected to have 15 to 25-foot surf today.
Morrison said the surf was to remain at warning levels through today and drop to an advisory tomorrow.

Hawaii awarded $2.4 M to protect wetlands

The U-S Fish and Wildlife Service will award two-point-four (m) million dollars to the state of Hawaii to help conserve, restore and protect coastal wetlands.
The grant is a slice of nearly nineteen (m) million dollars given out to 14 states under the National Coastal Wetlands Grant program to protect wetlands.
The Hawaii grants will fund three projects on Kauai, Oahu and Maui and will be supplemented with more than three (m) million dollars from state government, private landowners and conservation groups.
The projects all aim to protect the habitats of endangered water birds.

Conservationists try to rally support for sharks

The Kauai surfer was lucky: the eight-foot long shark that took a half moon-shaped chomp out of his board didn't go for a second bite.
He made it back to shore, shaken but unharmed, and the spat-out 13-inch chunk of board washed up on shore later that day Jan. 5, the only casualty of the first shark attack of 2007 on a surfboard.
Given the shark's razor sharp teeth, a carnivorous appetite and a reputation as a "man-eater," it's easy to understand why attacks like that grab headlines.
But conservationists are out to rehabilitate the image of the shark and rally support for protecting the misunderstood fish's dwindling numbers.
They estimate 20 percent of the world's shark population is threatened -- and they're calling upon to public to give up its fear and start acting on the predator's behalf.
"They're not all just teeth," said Sonja Fordham, policy director of the Belgium-based Shark Alliance and director of the shark conservation program of the Washington-based Ocean Conservancy.
Experts point out that for all the hoopla over shark attacks, they're relatively few and fatalities are even fewer. Last year there were 86 known and suspected shark encounters, with seven confirmed deaths and the shark involvement in another two ocean fatalities uncertain, according to the Global Shark Attack File.
Meanwhile, about 100 million sharks and their close relatives are killed each year, either deliberately or as fishermen's bycatch, according to the Shark Alliance, a five-month-old international coalition of advocacy and ocean recreation groups.
That would make for a fatality ratio of about 1 human to every 10 million sharks, some conservation advocates point out.
Over the past 15 years both the public and government ocean managers have come to realize that sharks -- which include more than 400 species -- are a more diverse group than the voracious monster portrayed in "Jaws," Fordham said.
"Sharks underwater are just the most magnificent animals," said Marie Levine, executive director of the Princeton, N.J.-based Shark Research Institute. "They just move with such grace you expect to hear music."
Sharks range from the world's largest fish, the whale shark, which grows up to 50 feet long and feeds mostly on plankton and other small prey, to the diminutive cookie-cutter shark, an up to 20-inch, bioluminescent fish that cuts plugs of flesh out of its much larger prey.
Relatively few species pose a threat to humans.
Ironically, the most feared of sharks, the great white, is also among the most protected. In New Zealand fines of up to $172,000 and six months in prison for harming the fish are about to go into effect.
The path to protection, however, is more difficult for lesser known shark species such as the spiny dog fish, which has an unfortunate name and what some call "beady eyes," Fordham said.
Several years ago the Ocean Conservancy faced just such a challenge when it led a push to get U.S. protection for the smalltooth sawfish, a relative of the shark with a bizarre-looking, long snout ringed with protruding teeth.
"When these species are going up against salmon and right whales ... and other endangered marine mammals, they're not exactly the most cuddly of the group," Fordham said.
The campaign -- including cartoonist Jim Toomey's sticker featuring a kindly looking shark saying "Please help protect my pal, the endangered sawfish" -- brought an unprecedented response and helped lead to the sawfish's listing as endangered in 2003.
Shark finning, the practice of killing sharks for their fins used in a popular Chinese soup, is considered to be among the biggest threats to sharks.
Awareness campaigns and documentaries have brought attention to the issue, which even made it into celebrity news this summer after San Francisco-based conservation group WildAid persuaded the Chinese-born NBA star Yao Ming to publicly disavow shark-fin soup, a delicacy.
But shark consumption isn't limited to Asia. British fish and chips and German beer garden snacks have used the meat of spiny dog fish, which takes up to two years to develop inside its mother before being born, Fordham said.

Superferry test-launched at mainland shipbuilder

Hawaii Superferry's much-anticipated inaugural vessel did not make a splash, but floated on its own yesterday.

And company officials could not have been more relieved.
Marking a milestone in a sometimes controversial six-year journey from inception, the 349-foot catamaran was lowered into the Mobile River after having been removed from a construction shed in Mobile, Ala., and placed into dry dock a day earlier.
"Yesterday and today was really the culmination of 2 1/2 years of work," said Hawaii Superferry President and Chief Executive John Garibaldi, referring to the beginning of construction in June 2004. "(This wasn't) the traditional launch that people see in movies, of having the vessel make a glorious splash into the water. This has been a very long process."
Despite an ocean of environmental concerns that has included whale endangerment and the transportation of invasive species, Hawaii Superferry took another step forward yesterday by unveiling a manta ray livery design and logo, as well as a redesigned Web site at www.HawaiiSuperferry.com.
Garibaldi also announced that Hawaii Superferry was forming a relationship with the Manta Pacific Research Foundation and would contribute to the publication of a new book, "Manta Rays of Hawaii," as well as offer educational information aboard its vessel.
"The support is a natural fit with the image we have selected to represent Hawaii Superferry," Garibaldi said. "Just as the manta ray navigates our waters with elegance and efficiency, so, too, will our ferry serve Hawaii. And unlike the stingray, the manta ray does not sting, charge or bite. The benign manta ray calls Hawaii home, moving freely and naturally in our waters. This spirit exemplifies Hawaii Superferry's connection to the state."
Garibaldi said he has no concerns that any last-minute snags will emanate from the new Legislative session, despite continued calls by some for an environmental impact statement. Besides the issues of whales and invasive species, traffic congestion and a crowded Kahului Harbor also have raised concerns.
"We're still planning to have our service start July 1," he said. "We've been working with the communities throughout the year in doing a lot of research in the environmental area. We've worked with the state through the Department of Transportation. We support the process they have going on now, doing a master plan for Kahului Harbor as well as an environmental review over there."
Among the environmental steps Hawaii Superferry is taking are:
» A whale avoidance plan in which it changes routes during whale season, reduces speed and has additional lookouts on board to observe the whales.
» Educating people about what they can and cannot bring on board and letting them know how they can prevent the spread of invasive species.
» Not discharging waste water, trash or solid waste at sea and waiting until they can be properly disposed of while docked in Honolulu.
» Using a special nontoxic bottom paint in order to prevent unwanted marine life from traveling in Hawaii's waters.
Hawaii Superferry, whose normal surface speed will be 35 knots (40 mph), will offer once-daily round-trip service to Maui and Kauai when it begins service. Each trip will take about three hours and accommodate up to 866 passengers and 282 cars.
A second vessel that is scheduled to begin service in early 2009 will serve the Big Island. Those voyages will take 4 1/2 hours.
Garibaldi said he anticipates a "very high" completion rate of voyages and that inclement ocean conditions likely will force cancellation of fewer than 2 percent of the voyages.
Among the on-board amenities for passengers will be three eating places, a wireless Internet access area, newly released movies, television, a children's play area, a teen gathering place, board games, video games, leather couches and a retail store.
"We want to create an environment on board so there's a lot to do and see, but if you want to sit around and talk to your family and friends, there's a lot of places to do that," said Terry O'Halloran, director of business development for Hawaii Superferry.
The vessel also will offer panoramic views of the ocean and islands through floor-to-ceiling windows. There will be one outside observation area at the stern of the boat.
The inaugural vessel is about 95 percent complete and is awaiting some interior work. It will be moored at the pier of its shipbuilder, Austal USA, in Mobile. It is scheduled to arrive in Hawaii in early May.
Hawaii Superferry will employ 200 people with the first vessel. Its total work force is to increase to 300 when the second vessel arrives.
Garibaldi said the venture is "well capitalized." It initially started with about $3.3 million in funding from a core group of investors, then more than $90 million was raised from other participants. That enabled Hawaii Superferry to receive a $140 million federal loan from the U.S. Maritime Administration.
"We see the largest percentage of our revenue coming from passengers and their vehicles -- probably about two-thirds of that," Garibaldi said. "The other third would be commercial vehicles. It would be not moving only agriculture, but also any goods that have a need to move on a quick basis. It opens up markets for everyone in the state."

The sand, the sun, the sea, the squalor

The Great Eastern Garbage Patch, twice the size of Texas, spreads litter to far shores.
On the first day of my vacation on Kauai in December, I went for a walk on the beach near the house that my wife and I had rented.
The spot was everything I'd hoped for: A two-minute walk down a dirt road led to Moloa'a Bay, fringed by an inviting crescent of pale yellow sand, deep and soft under my bare feet.
One unpleasant detail compromised the scene. A baffling display of ugliness sprawled along the tide line: water bottles, milk crates, fishing buoys, netting, plastic bags, a barrel-sized clump of orange plastic rope and, scattered everywhere, a fine confetti of broken-up plastic chips.
By any standard, Kauai is remote, thousands of miles from the nearest continent in any direction. Where did this stuff come from?
The answer stunned me. It came all the way from Mexico, the continental United States, Alaska, Taiwan, Japan and China. Some was dumped off of recreational and commercial ships, but most of it came from individuals who littered, be it by the side of the road or on the beach. Plastic takes hundreds of years to decompose, meaning that all the plastic ever made still exists somewhere. A lot of it is floating in the Pacific.
"We're at a juncture of convergence zones that create this massive gyre that collects trash," said Paul Tannenbaum. "Some of it ends up on our beaches."
Tannenbaum is a founder of the Kauai chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, an international nonprofit group that advocates for clean oceans and public access (both near and dear to surfers).
Marine scientists refer to that gyre Tannenbaum mentioned as the "Great Eastern Garbage Patch" -- a floating dump that's twice the size of Texas, and by one account is awash with 3 million tons of debris. Slowly circulating currents act like a global drain tornado, slowly drawing trash dumped off the coasts toward its center.
The main Hawaiian islands and the chain of small sea islands to their west act like a giant comb at the fringes of the gyre, collecting bits of floating plastic from all over the world, Tannenbaum said.
'Trash travels'
Depressingly, it wasn't the first time I had encountered unexpected trash in an isolated place. The Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve, about 120 miles south of Cancun, has miles and miles of undeveloped coastline that is littered with junk that has floated from cruise ships, the Caribbean Islands, South America and Africa. In addition to being unsightly and unhygienic for people, plastic trash kills seabirds, fish and turtles that mistake it for food. In popular areas, beach hotels and resorts clean their beaches each morning, so most travelers never know the extent of the problem.
"Trash travels," said Tom McCann, a spokesman for the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit that advocates for clean seas. "You end up with these enormous floating trash piles that bring garbage to every shore. About 80 percent of it is from land-based sources."
It's tempting, living in Minnesota, to consider the problem somebody else's. But water connects everything, regardless of where we live.
"Drop a cigarette butt out the window, it washes from the street into a sewer, from there into a stream, then a river, then the ocean," McCann said. "The good thing about the problem is that so much of it stems from personal behavior, and that's one of the easiest problems to solve."
To that end, every cigarette butt, every plastic shopping bag and every plastic bottle matters. Just ask Tannenbaum, who this month will be out picking up the globe's garbage again.
"I moved here a couple of years ago from California; I was astounded by the trash, and that some of it was coming from my home state," he said. "We started the Surfrider chapter nine months ago when we saw that nobody was picking it up. We do volunteer cleanup days once a month. It's a little thing, but I feel like at least we're doing something."

Native Hawaiian jewel nearly went extinct

Description: A large shrub or small tree up to 12 feet tall with light green to almost yellowish foliage. Each leaf is rough in appearance with somewhat ruffled lobes on the margins. A light-brown pubescence (soft down), heavier on younger leaves, covers the underside and top of the leaf. White flowers hang face down, with a purple stripe on the center of each petal, once pollinated, the flowers develop into shiny black berries.
Distribution: This endemic plant was only known to exist in the mesic forests of Oahu and Kauai, but its natural population on Oahu is considered extinct. Luckily, seeds were harvested before the last plant died, so now a few plants are in cultivation and a handful have been planted back into the wild.
Cultural uses: There are no known cultural uses for this particular species of popolo, but there is another more commonly known popolo plant (Solanum americanum), which is indigenous and valued for medicinal purposes. I wouldn't use this plant in the same manner -- the translation of popolo'aiakeakua literally means "the popolo eaten by the god," which doesn't sound like a good thing to eat if you're a mere human.
Landscape uses and care: This is definitely a plant to have if you are into natives -- its look is prehistoric and exotic. Few pests bother this plant, and it requires little watering once established in the ground. Plant it in either full sun or partial shade and enjoy a true living Hawaiian jewel.

Kauai - the way Hawaii should be

They call Kauai the Island of Discovery - and the first thing you discover is that it's nothing like Honolulu less than a half-hour flight away.
This perhaps like Waikiki used to be before it became a crowded forest of high-rise hotels; in Kauai, no building can be more than four storeys high.
Beautiful hotels and resorts there are - including the classic Princeville on the north coast of 1380-square-kilometre Kauai which was built by the late disgraced Australian entrepreneur Christopher Skase.
But these resorts are not all bunched together as in Waikiki but scattered all around this, the fourth largest of the Hawaiian group.
What's more, Kauai can claim to be the most scenic of the islands, especially the 1087m-deep Waimea Canyon stretching 22.5km across the western end.
Mark Twain dubbed it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, and it's the one place no visitor to Kauai should miss - and the most popular destination for cruise passengers on shore excursions.
Its crags and gorges are variously red, blue, green and purple, decorated by bushes and wild roses, lavender and other flowers.
The canyon was carved millions of years ago by rivers flowing from the summit of nearby Mount Waialeale which are often flooded - at the most popular lookout, the average annual rainfall is 1184cm, making it one of the world's wettest places.
The rainfall also makes selecting your day for a visit something of a lottery; on my first years ago, heavy rain and low cloud threatened any sightseeing but when we reached the lookout the clouds magically lifted.
Within 10 minutes visibility was limitless, and helicopters were soon buzzing tourists around the canyon under blue skies.
Almost as impressive as the canyon are the towering cliffs rising nearly 1000m high along the eastern Napali Coast - which we saw from our cruise ship Pride of Hawaii.
The 92,000-ton, 2800-passenger Pride of Hawaii is one of three ships of the Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line which cruise around the main Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Maui, the Big Island of Hawaii and Kauai.
Among other things that make Kauai different from its neighbours, according to the coach driver who took us to Waimea Canyon, are its dedication to the "spirit of aloha".
Its people, he said, truly embrace this Polynesian culture and philosophy, a way of living in harmony, treating others with love and respect.
It's small wonder that the island is a favourite for film-makers evert since White Heat in 1933; among others are Elvis Presley's Blue Hawaii, the latest King Kong, Jurassic Park I, II and III, South Pacific and Seven Days/Six Nights.
Kauai also claims:
. A total of 43 white-sand beaches, more per coastline than the other islands.
. Four of the top 15 golf courses in Hawaii, including the par-72, 6683m-long Prince at Princeville which on the day we played had a rating of 76; others are Kiele, Makai and Poipu Bay.
. The only navigable rivers in Hawaii, and thus its only riverboat trips.
. The state's largest coffee plantation, the 1620-hectare Kauai Coffee Estate.
. The National Tropical Botanical Gardens, well worth a visit - Kauai is also called the Garden Island.
. To be "the world's guava capital," with nearly 200 hectares of orchards.
. To grow 62 per cent of Hawaii's taro, the root crop that is a dietary staple among Polynesians and the source of their sticky "poi".
. A monument to Kauai visitor Captain James Cook, in the coastal village of Waimea where tourists turn inland for the canyon.
Kauai also offers scuba-diving, snorkelling, surfing, kayaking, deep-water fishing, horseback trails, hiking, biking, 4WD tours and whale-watching in season.
Cruise ships dock at Nawiliwili harbour a short bus ride from Kauai's largest town, Lihu'e which has a large shopping centre with plenty for bargain-hunters.
IF YOU GO:
Kauai is visited by round-Hawaii cruise ships and is about 25 minutes' flight from Honolulu International Airport.
Details: visit www.kauaidiscovery.com
Top hotels include the Princeville Resort, the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa, the Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club and the Hilton Kauai Beach Resort.
Hawaiian Airlines (02-9244-2377, www.hawaiianair.com.au) flies three times a week from Sydney to Honolulu, on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays, returning on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with Connections to Kauai and other islands.
NCL cruise ships call at the Kauai port of Nawiliwili on seven-day voyages from Honolulu.
Details: call 1300-658-666, visit www.ncl.com or see travel agents.
The writer visited the Big Island of Hawaii on cruise aboard NCL's Pride of Hawaii.

Hawaii hotel occupancy 81%

Hawaii's popularity as a place to ring in a new year brought it a respectable 81 percent hotel occupancy factor for the seven days through Jan. 6, far better than most other places.
The figure was 99.8 percent of what registered a year earlier, and came with room rates up an average 19.1 percent, Hospitality Advisors reported Friday in its first weekly snapshot of 2007.
Kauai occupancy was closer to these Mainland markets but even the Garden Island saw improvement from the same time last year.
Room rates soared in all operating counties. Oahu rates blew past $200 a night and Maui went well above $300 a night. Across much of the state, average room rates were double rates on the Mainland.
Around the islands:
Oahu: 83.4 percent, down 2.7 percentage points from New Year's week a year ago. The average room rate was $210, up 14.4 percent from then.
Maui: 81.6 percent, up 1.6 percentage points from a year ago. Average room rate soared 24 percent to nearly $323 a night.
Kauai: 67 percent, up 2.9 points from last year at the same time. The average room rate rose 24 percent to $263 a night.
Big Island: 81.1 percent, up 4.5 points. Hawaii County saw the biggest year-to-year improvement in occupancy despite room rates rising 18 percent to more than $247 a night.
For the same period, Los Angeles hotels were only 60.1 percent full, San Diego occupancy was at 50.1 percent, Orlando was at 68.5 percent, and national occupancy was 46.2 percent, Smith Travel Research reported this week.

Kauai by bike a thrilling downhill ride

Ryan Lutgen remembers the day more than two decades ago when the training wheels came off his two-wheeler. Balancing on the bike on his own for the very first time, he began pedaling around, a big smile lighting up his face.
"My dad was shouting, 'You're doing it! You're doing it!' " recalls the 27-year-old Outfitters Kauai guide. "The next thing I knew, I hit a telephone pole and fell on the street. We still laugh about it."
Today, Lutgen is adept at maneuvering a bike; in fact, cycling is one of his favorite pastimes. "It's a good opportunity to get exercise and be outdoors," he says. "Kauai is beautiful! I enjoy seeing the scenery and feeling the wind on my face. Biking is something you can do by yourself or with a group. Either way, it's great fun!"
It's no wonder, then, that Lutgen loves to lead the Bicycle Downhill Canyon to Coast tour. The four-and-a-half-hour adventure begins at Outfitters Kauai's Poipu headquarters, where his first task is to give all participants a riding test.
"I watch how people pedal, steer, balance and brake," he explains. "Ninety-nine percent of them pass with flying colors. The few who don't pass understand their safety could be a concern. Even though this isn't a strenuous tour, we do ride on a public road so we have to feel confident that our guests are in control of their bike at all times."
It's an hour-and-a-half drive from Poipu to Waimea Canyon, where the tour begins. Along the way, Lutgen shares interesting tidbits that you're not likely to find in guidebooks. He notes that Kalaheo, at 700 feet above sea level, is the town at the highest elevation on Kauai. Many of its streets were named after parts of the body, including Opu (stomach), Papalina (cheek), Piko (navel), Kikala (hip), Wawae (leg, foot) and Waha (mouth).
Sprawled over 3,400 acres just beyond Kalaheo, Kauai Coffee Co. is the largest coffee estate in the United States. It produces about 3.5 million pounds of coffee each year, which is 60 percent of Hawaii's total annual yield.
Coming up to Hanapepe, Lutgen mentions the opening scenes of the 1993 Hollywood blockbuster "Jurassic Park," which showed a helicopter landing in a lush area with a gorgeous waterfall as a backdrop.
"That was filmed on land in the Hanapepe River Valley that's owned by the kamaaina Robinson family," he says. "The Robinsons weren't interested in Steven Spielberg's money. They said, 'Mr. Spielberg, you can do as much filming on our land as you want, but when you're done, we want you to leave the helicopter.' "
That's what the legendary director did, and the Robinsons now offer a tour to Niihau, their privately owned island 17 miles off the west coast of Kauai, on that very chopper.
Same for an uphill section that includes a few hairpin turns, the ride is described as easy cruising, "a nature walk on wheels."
HANAPEPE WAS founded in the late 1800s by Chinese, Japanese and Korean immigrants who had fulfilled their sugar-plantation contracts and settled there to start taro and rice farms and other family-run businesses. Today, the town is a haven for artists, several of whom have opened first-class galleries that belie their rural setting. On the weekly Friday Art Night, the galleries stay open until 9 p.m., offering demonstrations, special exhibits, refreshments and live music.
Past Hanapepe, 7,000 acres of cane nod in the wind. They're cultivated by Gay & Robinson, one of only two working sugar plantations remaining in Hawaii (the other is Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar on Maui).
The cane thrives in iron-rich soil that's distinctive for its brick-red color.
"If you look closely, you'll see yellow, gray and purple in the soil too," says Lutgen. "The yellow and gray are bauxite and the purple is titanium."
In Waimea, he points out Pioneer Hi-Bred International's research center where seed corn, soybeans and sunflowers are being cultivated. Among other things, the seed corn is being used to develop new hybrids resistant to insects and diseases.
Oil from Pioneer's soybeans makes environmentally friendly biofuels and lubricants for industrial manufacturing. Its new soybean varieties have negligible amounts of trans fats, making them a healthy ingredient in food products. Also low in trans fats, oil from Pioneer's sunflowers is another healthy alternative for cooking.
FROM WAIMEA, it's a 30-minute drive up a winding road to a lookout at Waimea Canyon, which, measuring 10 miles long, one mile wide and over 3,600 feet deep, has been dubbed the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific."
There's plenty of time to snap photos and stretch your legs before heading up another quarter mile to the 3,600-foot elevation where the bike ride begins. Strap on your helmet, settle in the seat, grip the handlebars and you're off, gliding down 12 miles of smooth blacktop to sea level.
The exhilarating trip takes an hour and 15 minutes, including a few hairpin turns and one uphill section that's about an eighth of a mile.
"Other than that short incline, it's easy cruising, a nature walk on wheels," says Lutgen. "It's a really good family activity."
The island of Niihau, just 70 square miles, is the scenic highlight of one stop. Home to 250 full-blooded Hawaiians, it's known as the Forbidden Island because it's off-limits to everyone but relatives and invited guests of the Robinson family, U.S. Navy personnel, government officials and visitors on supervised tours.
During the breaks, Lutgen points out a variety of vegetation, including koa, melaleuca and iliau.
"Ukuleles, rocking chairs, bowls, picture frames -- you've seen a lot of koa products in Hawaii," he says. "It takes 75 to 100 years for the tree to fully mature. After ebony, it's the second most expensive wood in the world, and in Hawaii special permits are required to harvest it."
Melaleuca is a native of Australia.
"The most important part of this paperbark tree is the leaf," says Lutgen. "Crumple it and see if you recognize its scent. Familiar? You know it as tea tree oil, which is commonly used in shampoo, lotion, soap and massage oil, and has antiseptic and antifungal properties."
A woody plant related to the silversword, iliau only grows in the mountain regions of West Kauai. According to Lutgen, it's the only tree that Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, drew for his award-winning children's books.
"The bike trip is educational, it's fun and although you have to have ridden a bike before, you don't have to be in shape for the Tour de France to do it," Lutgen says.
Age isn't a factor either; Lutgen has taken out grandparents in their mid-70s who did just fine.
"A few people initially have the jitters," he says, "but by the end of the tour they're happy and excited like everyone else. They say, 'Wow! That was great! Let's do it again!' "

Waimea Canyon plans flawed, residents say

After five years and nearly a dozen public meetings, the master plan for state parks that encompass Kauai's Waimea Canyon still needs work, residents told members of the Department of Land and Natural Resources last night.
The meeting, which was held both to give an update on the master plan for the Kokee and Waimea Canyon state parks, and dispel rumors swirling around the plan, was attended by several hundred, with at least 50 speakers.
The state was looking into a number of possibilities for the adjoining parks, which cover 6,182 acres of land at an elevation starting at about 3,000 feet. The ideas ranged from taking back certain services to charging admission. Even a 90-room hotel was proposed.
But the majority of the speakers implored DLNR Chairman Peter Young, members of his staff and the consultants putting together the plan to keep Kokee as pristine as possible.
"Keep it simple," said David Boynton, who has worked in the Kokee Discovery Center for 13 years. "Fix the roads, fix the bathrooms. The rest, leave it like it is."
The current master plan, as presented last night, would allow the state to build an entry gate; charge admission to nonresidents; fix the roads, bathrooms and signs; and add paved parking stalls at a number of the lookouts.
While all of residents expressed relief to hear that the hotel and gate proposals had been eliminated from the master plan, a number balked at charging a fee to enter the jewel of Kauai's interior.
Marsha Erickson, a longtime volunteer in the parks, said the current proposal "is a place card at the table" and that the public needs to make specific, detailed proposals to the DLNR to help form the future of the park.
One issue not discussed at length is the future of the Kokee cabins, where lessees have sued the state to retain possession of them.
He said any public input is welcome, but the deadline for comments on the environmental impact statement, which includes the master plan, is Feb. 8. The entire plan is available on the DLNR's Web site, and public comments can be e-mailed to the DLNR at dlnr@hawaii.gov.
The Board of Land and Natural Resources will eventually get the chance to vote on the plan, at a meeting to be held on Kauai in the spring or summer.

Dam victim's dad lauds state report on Ka Loko break

Those close to the tragedy cheer the study and say it will help stem breaches
The Ka Loko dam breach report has been applauded by lawyers, legislators and even the victims' family members since its release Tuesday.
The 600-page report by Special Deputy Attorney General Richard Godbey is thorough, detailed and pulls no punches, those close to the March 14 tragedy have said.
Those who have seen the report agree that it is likely to become a starting point in both political and legal discussions for many years, as the Legislature and legal system try to figure out how to prevent another accident like the Ka Loko breach that killed seven people.
Bruce Fehring, who lost his daughter Aurora, grandson Rowan Fehring-Dingwall and son-in-law Alan Dingwall at Ka Loko, returned Tuesday from Southeast Asia, where he was on a humanitarian mission to help orphans in his daughter's name.
He wanted to be on Kauai to read the report.
From what he has read so far, "it appears to be much more comprehensive and in-depth than I thought originally. But you can't dig too deep or too often to uncover the truth."
He said he had "a knee-jerk reaction" when he saw text of a facsimile sent to dam owner James Pflueger, warning him about filling in the spillway.
"When an intelligent human being was told he could endanger lives ... and he ignores it, that just makes me think there's something wrong with that person," Fehring said.
Pflueger has denied any involvement with filling in the spillway, an emergency feature built to keep water from flowing over the top of the dam.
On Tuesday, Pflueger's attorney said the report exposes the state's and county's faults as well.
The report also states that Pflueger or his staff likely filled in the spillway, based on Kauai residents' firsthand information and Michael Dyer's fax.
Dyer, a North Shore real estate agent, has a unique perspective on the area around Ka Loko.
In 1971, when C. Brewer Co. was phasing out the sugar plantation, which used Ka Loko as its source for water, Dyer and his wife managed the property.
Then, in 1997 and 1998, Dyer made a number of trips to the reservoir with his wife, and Pflueger showed off his new housing sites.
On his first trip in 1997, when Pflueger showed him the house sites, Dyer said, he did not see the spillway. But on a subsequent hike with his wife in early 1998, he said he noticed the spillway was covered with about eight feet of fill.
That was when he faxed a note to Pflueger.
In the drained-out reservoir behind Morita Dam, Gregorio Manique worked at clearing debris three weeks after the tragedy on Kauai. Morita Dam, still intact, is below Ka Loko Dam, which failed in March and caused massive flooding along Wailapa Stream. Dyer has known Fehring for 25 years. He was the real estate agent who helped Fehring with the purchase of the Wailapa Stream property, where the seven people died.
"I was shocked," Dyer said of his reaction when learning of the breach last March. "I didn't know (that the spillway) hadn't been fixed."
Dyer said he is learning more about Ka Loko from Godbey's report.
"In general, I think he did a really thorough job," he said.
Pflueger's lawyer, William McCorriston, said a number of details in the report were inaccurate.
"The report significantly lacks specific evidence whether Mr. Pflueger" covered the spillway, McCorriston said Tuesday.
Numerous experts hired by Pflueger believe the dam was weakened well before last year's heavy rain.
The report's expert, Lelio Meija, said he believed, but not with certainty, that the lack of a spillway caused water to flow over the top of the dam and caused the breach.
But McCorriston said the dam was a "time bomb" because of its construction.
Fehring said the dam was a time bomb "from the moment the spillway was filled in."
Fehring also said that he is sure that former Kauai Mayor Maryanne Kusaka "would have a hard time looking me in the eye right now" after the report raised issues about her role in the breach.
The county received an anonymous complaint against Pflueger for the grading work done to Ka Loko on the far side of the dam. But it was "buried," Fehring said, after Kusaka told the deputy county engineer to pass all complaints to county engineer Cesar Portugal, whose daughter was working for Pflueger at the time.
According to a C. Brewer Co. spokesman, a company employee made an anonymous complaint to the county about the filled-in spillway. That has not been documented.
"The mayor of Kauai obviously bent to the pressure" of a powerful landowner, Fehring said.
Kusaka said Tuesday that she had not seen the report, but that the county often cited Pflueger for grading violations. She declined to comment further because of potential legal issues.

Join the whale count

The humpback whales have returned and volunteers are needed to count the creatures at 65 locations around Oahu, the Big Island and Kauai. The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary will conduct the counts on the last Saturdays of January, February and March, from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
The sanctuary is also seeking site leaders for this year's count. Leaders must be able to participate in all three counts and must attend a training session.
Call 397-2651, ext. 253, to register on Oahu, (808) 246-2860 on Kauai and (888) 55-WHALE, ext. 253, on the Big Island. Visit hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov.