Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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As is common in Hawaii, sugar played a role in the town's development and the skel-
eton of the old mill can still be seen amid the tech centers that house both the defense
contractors working at the nearby Pacific Missile Range Facility and the island's recent
and most controversial presence: multinational chemical companies developing genetic-
ally modified seeds for worldwide corn, soy and sunflower cultivation.
As the weather varies throughout the island, so do social climates. Waimea today - an
echo of its multi-generational plantation history - remains a predominantly local Hawaii
town, and one well worth experiencing, even as the lion's hare of tourists zip on through
toward the state parks.
Sights
West Kauaʻi Technology & Visitors Center MUSEUM
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( 338-1332; www.wkbpa.org ; 9565 Kaumualiʻi Hwy; 9:30am-5pm Mon-Fri) A good
historical orientation point to the Westside, this two-phase complex doubles as a visitor
center and offers a free, three-hour historic Waimea walking tour at 9:30am Mondays.
Registration is required. At 9:30am on Fridays they offer a lei-making class.
Lucy Wright Park HISTORIC SITE
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In the midst of a major dredging at research time, this park was the original landing site
of Captain Cook on the Hawaiian Islands. Still, the people chose to name it in honor of
Lucy Wright, a revered schoolteacher. Strong thinking, if you ask us. Descend at sunset
and watch youth outrigger teams hammer through practice on the Waimea River.
Kiki a Ola (Menehune Ditch) RUIN
Not much remains to be seen of this unique and still-functional aqueduct, and yet its ar-
chaeological significance begs repeating. It is the only example of pre-contact cut and
dressed stonework in Hawaii, said to be the work of the menehune (the little people),
who completed it within one night for the aliʻi (royalty).
 
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