HAWAII

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of 19 islands and atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from the island of Hawaiʻi in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. Excluding Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States, the Hawaiian Islands form the U.S. state of Hawaii. Once known as the "Sandwich Islands", the archipelago now takes its name from the largest island in the group.

Except for Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States, these islands and islets are administered as the state of Hawaiʻi — the 50th state of the United States of America.

This archipelago represents the exposed peaks of a great undersea mountain range known as the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain, formed by volcanic activity over a hotspot in the earth's mantle. At about 1,860 miles (3,000 km) from the nearest continent, the Hawaiian Island archipelago is the most isolated grouping of islands on earth.

Kauai Hawaii is the Garden Isle. Mount Wai'ale'ale averages 485 inches of rain per year, which explains why Kauai Hawai'i is known as "The Garden Isle." However, it is interesting to note that the island also has another, older name: "The Separate Kingdom."

Kauai Hawaii is said to have been the first of the Hawai'ian Islands settled by Marquesan seafarers. The earliest Polynesians lived along Na Pali coast and left behind evidence of their existence dating from as early as 200 A.D. to 600 A.D. The ancient findings, combined with its distance from the rest of the island chain, may be why Kauai was earlier proclaimed The Separate Kingdom with a royal bloodline that was considered the purest in the Islands.

In succeeding migrations, the strong, fearsome Tahitians arrived and overpowered them, establishing the Tahitian religion and culture as the basis for Hawaiian society.

We visited four islands in this 2009 trip. We touched on Oahu, Kauai, Hawaii and Maui.

Descriptions above and captions on photographs were taken from taken from Wikipedia, http://www.kauaidiscovery.com/about/kauai-hawaii.html, http://www.cruiseholidays.com/destinations/hawaii/nawiliwili-kauai.aspx, http://www.hawaiigaga.com/kauai/beaches/kalapaki-beach.aspx, http://www.indigoguide.com/kauai/koloa.htm, http://www.hawaiiweb.com/Kauai/html/sites/koloa_sugar_mill.html, http://www.bestplaceshawaii.com/tips/hidden_places/haula_beach.html, http://www.hikemahaulepu.org/, http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/, http://www.instanthawaii.com/cgi-bin/hawaii?Hikes.thurston, http://gohawaii.about.com/od/bigisland/ss/hilo_attraction_10.htm,

Where is the HAWAII ISLANDS ARCHIPELAGO?