Kauai2

The next day we returned to Waimea canyon, and decided to drive up as high as the road would take us without stopping. We parked in the last lot we saw and walked up an abandoned old road until it ended. Then we began a hike that took me to a most wondrous, magical place, where I literally sat in the clouds. The trail eventually became a narrow strip of earth, perched above land that fell away on both sides precipitously. To my left, one could see thousands of miles down the steep Na Pali coast to the ocean. To my right, a less steep drop afforded a view of local trees and vegetation in a beautiful valley.

There was some serious vertigo for me from what felt like visual confusion, and my body was dizzy and disoriented at first. I felt suspended between, and affected by, two disparate ecosystems. Then I saw the clouds coming; rolling up the sea cliffs toward me, and they wisped around my lower legs! I felt wobbly in the knees from the intensity of the experience, so I sat down on a ledge where the land dropped off below my legs nearly a mile to the ocean, and breathed cloud energy into my body. In that moment I truly experienced a oneness and bliss like no other in my life. All the energy of the vast Pacific wafted up to surround and bathe me, the colors of the coast were alive and danced with vibrance through all my cells. The waves far below me became my rhythm as I breathed in and out the energies of the whole planet. Edges dissolved in that moment, and unity became known to me in a most full and natural way.

I actually felt I could fly away if I desired. I meditated in a space of time that was timeless, absorbing new levels of heavenly vibration. Staying a physical being became the prevailing decision, so I integrated my essence back into a more grounded state within my body. Before leaving this site of great connection, sitting literally in the clouds, I filled myself with the loving embrace of the Island and the Sea. So many gifts were offered. I openly received them with intense gratitude, recognizing and integrating the initiation in all its magnitude.

We drove down the canyon so blissed-out that words were not available, nor necessary. I spent the rest of the evening in a heavenly vibration, absorbing new capacities to feel love and be whole. The next morning we awoke, had our lovely, Island-fruity breakfast, and decided to explore the western coast of Kauai.

We soon became all too aware of a strong military presence on Kauai. We drove past the Pacific Missile Range Facility, at Barking Sands Beach. This huge facility is the world’s largest training and testing missile facility. With controlled airspace and thousands of miles of underwater monitoring, the formidable presence of this facility proved a stark contrast to the blissful vibrations of the day before. The polarity of dark/light, good/bad right before our eyes and our hearts. An easy choice for us, but what of the personnel who man this base? It was a bit disconcerting as we drove past its lengthy, and of course, fully fenced boundaries.

Just north of the facility sits Polihale Beach Park, with literally miles of nearly empty, pristine white sand beach. Indeed, the beach is simply the northern continuation of the beach that the missile facility is housed upon, and it is also the largest beach in the state of Hawaii. We found the day a bit chilly and chose to be in long sleeves, but that didn’t stop the young handful of nude bathers from enjoying the sun, as well as the chilly air on their totally exposed bodies. It was amusing and amazing that they felt comfortable in the briskness. Kauai is apparently open to beach nudity, particularly on such remote stretches.

We came to a sheltered area where the beach was covered with thousands of smooth black weathered stones. As is often done in Sedona as an honoring of the land, stone cairns had been erected all over the beach. They would most surely be “dis-erected” by the ocean’s surges during the next strong storm. I sat among them and meditated. A huge sense of peace filled me, and I left the beach with thanks in my heart.

KAUAI: MEDITATION AMONG STONE PEOPLE

We drove to the southern area of the Island, and visited a natural wonder; the Spouting Horn Blowhole near Poipou Beach. Water from the nearby ocean enters a lava tube underground, and huge spouts of water spray up through an exit hole, to heights of 50 feet. The sound it makes was phenomenal; it is just as if the earth were breathing in and out, in and out, as the waves of water built up and released air and pressure with each spout. One could easily imagine a giant whale breathing through its immense blowhole. The sound was earthy and resonant.

We made our way east, eagerly, toward the double waterfall of Wailua. The two massive, 80 foot, side by side falls lived up to their reputation and were just gorgeous. Rainbows arched and flitted reflectively in their spray. Their claim to fame was their appearance in the Fantasy Island series of years gone by. We also took in the nearby Opaeka Falls, where multiple streams of water course over a wide expanse of weathered rocks. We visited several heiaus, or Hawaiian temples, whose ruins line the banks of the Wailua River, and it is said that six or seven different temples existed beside the river and spanned from the coast to the Island’s highest points. I thought of their relevance to the different chakras. Indeed, the energy of these temples was very palpable, and the life-force strong. Baby coconuts could be seen sprouting from their fertile, fallen parents everywhere at these sites. next page>>