Kauai Travels
Kauai
Kauai (usually called Kauai outside the Hawaiian Islands, pronounced kawa-ee) is the oldest and fourth largest of the main Hawaiian Islands, having an area of 1,446 km² . Known also as the "Garden Isle", Kauai lies 105 miles (170 kilometers) across the Kauai Channel, northwest of Oahu. Of volcanic origin, the highest peak on this mountainous island is Kawaikini at 1,598 m (5,243 ft). The second highest peak is Mount Waialeale near the center of the island, 1,570 m (5,148 ft) above sea level. The wettest spot on Earth, with an annual average rainfall of 460 inches (11,700 millimeters), is located on the east side of Mount Waialeale. The high annual rainfall has eroded deep valleys in the central mountain, carving out canyons with many scenic waterfalls.
There is no known meaning behind the name of Kauai. Native Hawaiian tradition indicates the name's origin in the legend of Hawaiiloa — the Polynesian navigator attributed with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates how he named the island of Kauai after a son.
History
During the reign of King Kamehameha, the islands of Kauai and Niihau were the last Hawaiian Islands to join his Kingdom of Hawaii. Their ruler, Kaumualii, resisted Kamehameha for years. King Kamehameha twice prepared a huge armada of ships and canoes to take the islands by force and twice failed, once due to a storm, once due to an epidemic. In the face of the threat of a further invasion, however, Kaumualii decided to join the kingdom without bloodshed, and became Kamehameha's vassal in 1810, ceding the island to the kingdom of Hawaii upon his death.
The city of Līhue, on the island's southeast coast, is the seat of Kauai County and the largest city on the island. Waimea, on the island's southwest side and once the capital of Kauai, was the first place in Hawaii visited by explorer Captain James Cook in 1778. Waimea town is located at the mouth of the Waimea River, whose flow formed one of the most scenic canyons in the world: 3000 ft (900 m) deep Waimea Canyon.
The island of Kauai was featured in Disney's 2002 animated feature film Lilo & Stitch. Waimea Canyon was used in the filming of the 1993 film Jurassic Park.
Kauai is home to the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility.
Kauai was known for its distinct dialect of the Hawaiian language before it went extinct there. Whereas the standard language today is based on the dialect of Hawaii island (also extinct), the Kauai dialect was known for pronouncing /k/ as /t/. Therefore, the native name for Kauai was Tauai, and the major settlement of Kapaa would have been called Tapaa.




