Waimea Canyon

　　Leaving Spouting Horn Park, our minivan ran through a sparsely populated area and started climbing up the hill toward Waimea Canyon. There were several tourist spots on the way, like the statue of James Cook and his landing point, the ditch which was said to have been built by legendary indigenous people, the former Russian fort, and so on. I learned in advance the history and the geography of the island and knew of the existence of the above tourist spots. I hoped that our minivan would stop by on the way back, but passed them. It was really regrettable. We had enough time to see them.
　　By the way, Waimea Canyon was spectacular. It seemed to be called Hawaiian Grand Canyon, and I thought it acceptable. The oldest island of the Hawaiian islands of Kauai was abundant in nature, and I enjoyed seeing its scenery. The sky was clear today, but I wasn't able to view the summit of the highest mountain of Kauai island from the lookout. The tour guide told us that it's only a few days for even local people to see its summit. However I saw its summit about noon for only 10 minutes or so. I was apparently lucky.

潮吹き公園を出てほとんど家の無い市街地を通り抜け、我々はワイメア渓谷へ向かった。途中、キャプテンクックゆかりの場所や銅像、伝説に伝わる水路、ロシア人の築いた砦などをパス。帰りに寄るのかなと思い、往路では気にとめなかったが結局帰りもパスした。時間が無いわけでは無かったのに。キャプテンクックの銅像の周囲には観光客の姿もあり、ここに立ち寄らなかったことで、無表情で淡々と喋る日系人と思われるツアコンに不満が残った。

さて、ワイメア渓谷は予想通り圧感。ハワイのグランドキャニオンと呼ばれているらしく、またそう呼んでもおかしくは無い景観だった。ハワイ諸島で一番古い島と言われるカウアイ島。ゴツゴツとした地形、海岸で見た黒い岩、カウアイ島の自然を堪能した。天気は快晴だったが最高峰の頂上は見えない。ガイドによると見えることは年に数日しかなく、それも短時間とのこと、、、、それが昼過ぎに１０分間ほど顔を出した。幸運なことだったらしい。