• Head over heels for Kaua‘i • Volunteer unauthorized to do trail work • U.S. should support Israel • Mahalo from A Tow In Paradise Head over heels for Kaua‘i My husband and I are totally in love with your island,
• Head over heels for Kaua‘i
• Volunteer unauthorized to do trail work
• U.S. should support Israel
• Mahalo from A Tow In Paradise
Head over heels for Kaua‘i
My husband and I are totally in love with your island, culture and Hawai‘i in general and would like all of the people of your wonderful part of the world to know this.
We hail from Liverpool in England, a long, long way from Kaua‘i, but have had the honor, privilege and pleasure to have been able to visit the islands five times since 2003. Three of these times we have spent on Kaua‘i for between five and eight nights at the Sheraton Po‘ipu Beach.
I know there are some truly beautiful places in the world, but every day I come to work and switch on my computer and have a photograph of my husband sitting on the edge of the water on Po‘ipu Beach and it makes me smile every single morning.
It also reminds me of sitting there myself and being overwhelmed by the isolation of the islands, but overwhelmed with happiness. Each time we land in Hawai‘i, I swear I shed a tear as I feel so lucky to be there again that it does overcome me.
This week in England we have experienced temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius and worse and we will not get much above 5 degrees until March or April. We have had constant rain, snow, hailstones and very dull weather for some months now and even last summer was one of our worst on record, raining almost every day. I know Hawai‘i gets its fair share of rain but yours is tropical, whereas ours is dull and cold, regardless of the time of year.
I have read some of the news stories and yes, there is trouble in paradise also, not just in built-up cities like ours and it does sadden me. What saddens me more is that we will not be able to return to your beautiful island paradise for a few years now but we do keep in touch with what is going on, either by webcams, “Dog the Bounty Hunter” on TV or your online newspaper.
We fell in love with Kaua‘i back in 2003 on our second visit to Hawai‘i. We have been to Maui and the Big Island, but the people on Kaua‘i make it our dream home, our sanctuary and our Graceland.
Your island has its problems and I’m unsure how you feel about tourists, but we respect you and your island like nothing else and want to thank you for making Kaua‘i the place it is. You might say the same if you had visited England but I once asked a bellboy if he knew how lucky he was to have been born and living in Hawai‘i and, thank God, he said yes, so it proved to me that at least one young man did not take it for granted.
I also fulfilled a dream last year by seeing Na Pali Coast by boat and the guys who ran the trip were amazing. The people at the Sheraton are also unbelievable; one receptionist even showed me the wonders of aloe vera as I was sunburnt so I left a note of thanks and recommendation about her. I now have an aloe vera plant in my conservatory.
What we love is that the people on Kaua‘i are genuine and not like a lot of Mainland Americans who are nice to you just to get a tip. The people above were not nice just for this reason, that was just their nature. My husband even gets his hair cut each time at the barber’s in Lihu‘e as the old gentleman in there is so genuine.
Anyway, I will stop rabbiting on and just hope you lovely people keep smiling and enjoying what you have as others around the world are not so lucky and privileged.
• Joanne and Anthony Clarke, Liverpool, England
Volunteer unauthorized to do trail work
To the California grievance filers, Kalalau is controlled by your U.S. laws (“Commend Kalalau Trail volunteer, don’t punish him,” Letters, Jan. 3).
You can’t have it both ways. You say Hawai‘i belongs to U.S., well, this is what you get.
Not too many years ago, a kanaka maoli kupuna was dragged through the Kaua‘i court system for his work to restore Kalalau Valley.
This kanaka had and has every right to be there, as the national lands lawfully belong to the kanaka maoli, yet he received no special treatment or justice. Hundreds of people have attended and followed his numerous arrests, court cases and unjust incarcerations.
The Hawai‘i state law does not discriminate because six Californians sign their names to a letter. Bill Summers had front page coverage for what he was doing but exactly what he sought to attain in the long run is not clear.
The short of it: he is unauthorized to be tampering with an already compromised trail. Do you honestly believe he deserves preferential treatment from state laws over a spiritual and cultural practitioner who is also a Hawai‘i national and knows this area better than anyone?
You were fortunate to visit there and the hundreds of thousands of others (who are the cause of the deterioration of this sacred place). The $60,000 you contend would be a “loss” to Hawai‘i by you not returning is relative to its gain by the ‘aina for its healing.
• Elaine Dunbar, Lihu‘e
U.S. should support Israel
Israel has a right and obligation to defend its citizens against the indiscriminant rocket attacks by its self-declared enemy, Hamas.
All civilized countries besides Israel could be expected to react the same way to the incessant rocket attacks upon its citizens. Hamas is a terrorist organization led by terrorists and their willing terrorist members.
They have no concern for the horrific consequences of their terror actions, whether to the Israelis or to their own people.
Our government should provide all support needed by Israel. At the same time, our government should make no commitments to their adversary, directly or indirectly.
• William Smith, Ka‘a‘awa, Hawai‘i
Mahalo from A Tow In Paradise
For the 18th year, A Tow In Paradise offered a free tow home during the holidays for those who had too much to drink.
We towed the person and their vehicle to their home, no questions, no hassles and no charge.
We all participated. Thanks to family, friends and Coco Zickos of The Garden Island for a very informed article. Also thanks to many radio stations to get the message out. Special thanks to Ron Wiley, KONG Radio, for also announcing the free service in the early morning hour on KHNL TV. We also received a donation of fuel from Ron Morin, Senter Petroleum.
We had a few takers this year, who will remain anonymous due to our commitment to their privacy. We all joined together to save lives. What a great way to end the year and to begin a new one.
• Roger and Carol Ridgley, A Tow In Paradise
