Frommer's Kauai - Jeanette Foster [157]
Bridge Etiquette: Showing Aloha on Kauai’s One-Lane Bridges
Unlike the aggressive drivers you see on the mainland, Hawaii’s drivers are much more laid-back and courteous. Hanalei has a series of one-lane bridges where it is not only proper etiquette to be courteous, but it is also the law. When you approach a one-lane bridge, slow down and yield if a vehicle, approaching in the opposite direction, is either on the bridge or just about to enter the bridge. (This is not a contest of chicken.) If you are in a long line of vehicles approaching the bridge, don’t just join the train crossing the bridge. The local “rule of thumb” is about seven to eight cars over the bridge, then yield and give the cars waiting on the other side of the bridge a chance to come across. Of course, not everyone will adhere to these rules, but then, not everyone visiting Hawaii truly feels the spirit of aloha.
You’ll drive slowly past the Hanalei River banks and Bill Mowry’s Hanalei Buffalo Ranch, where 200 American bison roam in the tropical sun; you may even see buffalo grazing in the pastures on your right. The herd is often thinned to make buffalo patties. (You wondered why there was a Buffalo Burger on the Ono Family Restaurant menu, didn’t you?)
Just past Tahiti Nui, turn right on Aku Road before Ching Young Village, then take a right on Weke Road. Hanalei Beach Park (), one of Hawaii’s most gorgeous, is a half-block ahead on your left. Swimming is excellent here year-round, especially in summer, when Hanalei Bay becomes a big, placid lake.
If this exquisite 2-mile-long beach doesn’t meet your expectations, head down the highway, where the next 7 miles of coast yield some of Kauai’s other spectacular beaches, including Lumahai Beach of South Pacific movie fame, as well as Tunnels Beach , where the 1960s puka-shell necklace craze began, and Haena Beach Park , a fabulous place to kick back and enjoy the waves, particularly in summer. Once you’ve found your beach, stick around until sundown, then head back to one of the North Shore’s restaurants for a mai tai and a fresh seafood dinner. (See chapter 6.) Another perfect day in paradise.
Hollywood Loves Kauai
More than 50 major Hollywood productions have been shot on Kauai since the studios discovered the island’s spectacular natural beauty. Here are just a few:
• The lush, tropical mountain waterfall and awe-inspiring peaks seen in the Jurassic Park films (1993, 1997, and 2001) were not filmed on an island off Costa Rica, but on Kauai at Manawaiopu Falls, Mount Waialeale, and other scenic areas.
• Kauai’s verdant rainforests formed a fantastic backdrop for Harrison Ford in both Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).
• A pilot and his passenger are forced to land on the classical tropical island, believed to be in French Polynesia, in Six Days, Seven Nights (1998); actually, Ivan Reitman filmed Harrison Ford and Anne Heche for 11 weeks on Kauai’s spectacular shores.
• Mitzi Gaynor sang “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair” on Lumahai Beach in South Pacific (1958).
• Jessica Lange, Jeff Bridges, and Charles Grodin tangled with Hollywood’s most famous gorilla in Honopu Valley, in the remake of King Kong (1976).
• Elvis Presley married costar Joan Blackman near the Wailua River in Blue Hawaii (1961).
• Beautiful Kee Beach, on the North Shore, masqueraded as Australia in the miniseries The Thornbirds (1983), starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward.
• Kauai appeared as the backdrop for Outbreak, the 1994 thriller about the spread of a deadly virus on a remote tropical island, starring Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman also appeared with Robin Williams and Julia Roberts in Hook (1991), in which Kauai appeared as Never-Never Land.
• James Caan, Nicolas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Pat Morita shared laughs on Kauai (which appeared as itself) in Honeymoon