Niihau boys pull in the net.

The story of the island is a fascinating one that began back in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1819, when the socially prominent Eliza McHutchison married the man she held in awe, as the most handsome man in Scotland, Captain Francis Sinclair, a retired captain of the Royal Navy.  They had six children between the ages of 7 months and 19 years when, in October, 1839, they gathered their possessions together and set sail for a homestead offer in the colony of New Zealand, a voyage that took them via the Cape of Good Hope on a four-month voyage.

On a later voyage to Wellington for supplies in 1846, Captain Sinclair and his oldest son and the son's best friend were lost at sea.  In the pursuing years, daughter Jane married Captain Thomas Gay and Helen married Charles Robinson, some 20 years older than she. 

In 1862, Eliza was convinced by several members of the family that life on the homestead on the North Island of New Zealand had become too mundane and that they should pack up and set sail for the Vancouver area or perhaps the area of Monterey, California.  In a simple abbreviation of the story, a cow, hay to feed it to provide milk for the children, and other supplies including fruit, salted meats, live chickens and sheep were loaded aboard the sailing vessel purchased by Captain Gay, and along with the treasured family piano, they set sail in April 1863, with the proceeds in gold from sale of the homestead.

Headed for British Columbia, they stopped briefly at the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) and then anchored in Victoria, British Columbia.  At once, Eliza and her family were disappointed at the opportunities to settle with ample land, as the heavy forests were not at all suitable for cattle grazing.  Though it was summer, the plan to perhaps sail on to Monterey, after months of disappointment trying to find suitable land for ranching, was not valid due to the coming winter weather making the chance of finding a good area in which to anchor quite difficult.  A decision was made to return to the Sandwich Islands, where the weather would surely be cooperative. 
 
 

	ABOVE: Niihau's crystal seas. LEFT: The trackless beaches of Niihau were not so on this Sunday.

Through new-found friends and a fellow Scot, Eliza was introduced to King Kamehameha IV and, though offered several sites on other islands, finally decided the excitement and opportunity of owning their own island, Niihau, was the most suitable.  The initial offer of $6,000 in gold was rejected by the King and finally an amount of $10,000 was agreed upon.  The papers were signed in January, 1864.

It was in the spring of 1864 that the family settled onto the island and found that no one there spoke a word of English, while none of the settling family spoke Hawaiian.  The Robinson family, staunch Calvinists, announced that those who wished to remain on the island would be allowed to do so, provided they agreed to a few strict rules, the first being that absolutely no alcohol would be allowed on the island.  The second would be that absolutely every person would be expected to attend church services on Sunday. 

The island's residents were able to supply themselves with abundant fish from the sea, bee culture for honey, wild turkey, sheep, pigs and cattle.  At times in their subsequent history, they produced charcoal, wool and, of course, the famous Niihau mats. 

Until 1893, friends and visitors were invited to visit Niihau by the Gay and Robinson families, but it was about that time that the weather was found to be more normally a draught, rather than wet and rich in rains and the water shortages not only strained the ability of the island to produce enough grain to support its domestic animals and fruit and vegetables for the residents, but visitors were putting a strain on the potable water supply.

On  27th March, exactly 106 years later, and after a lot of history that I leave you to research yourselves, I stepped out of the helicopter onto the beach on the north shore of Niihau!!

This was not an easy accomplishment; in fact it had been nearly a year since the friend challenged me to make the trip possible.  I had passed on the challenge to a Hawaiian friend who passed it to a sister whose dream in life was to visit Niihau, though realizing that it was an impossible dream.  Her occupation as a librarian, however lead her into some research as to how a visit to this "forbidden island" might be achieved.  Many months later, the magic contact was made and we began our plans, choosing 27 March as the date.

There was very little information as to what would or would not be allowed, except that we knew from reading material written about life on Niihau (and there is very little information available) that direct contact with the local residents in the village of Puuwai, or for that matter anywhere on the island, would be most improbable.  So why make the trip?  Like so many things we do in life that initially may not have a clearcut purpose, many times such actions turn out not only positive, but also great learning experiences, once achieved.

The reason for the island being tightly closed to outsiders is quite understandable.  It is privately owned and, no more than you would wander uninvited into the home of a celebrity in Beverly Hills, or your own hometown, would strangers be allowed to land on Niihau.

We lifted off at 9:00am from Kauai's Port Allen airport on land owned by the Robinson family for the short flight to Niihau, approaching the southeastern coastline and then up to Puu Paniau, the highest point on Niihau at 1,281 feet (384.3 meters). We circled the southern part of the island and then landed above the beach, a short distance from Captain Cook's anchorage in 1778

The chopper used had a familiar look.  The pilot pointed out that it was the chopper we saw in the film Jurassic Park.

So what was the big deal about landing on a beach?  Can you imagine a beach in Hawaii that, since the beginning of time, has had only a handful of people walk on it?  I read somewhere about Niihau's "trackless beaches", but I have to correct that statement.  There were tracks on the beach that had been recently made by a wild turkey or similar bird!  We started to walk, but immediately sank to over our ankles in what we thought to be the soft sand.  On a closer look, we were walking through tiny shells, about the size of a finger tip, that covered the beach like frosting on a cake, with the sand being the base to keep us from sinking ever deeper.  The entire group, and mind you 3 of the group were native Hawaiians, could not have imagined such a pristine beach, so seemingly untouched through eons of time.  We spent about an hour "shelling", trying to find the tiny perfect shells used to make shell necklaces from Niihau that sell for a fortune in Honolulu. They are found mostly in the December / May period, so we hoped to find a handful.  We are speaking of several thousand dollars for the more elaborate necklaces and a hundred or more for a simple one strand choker.  After an hour of searching for the perfect elusive, reddish coral color, Niihau shells, the gals commented that it was easier just to take out the credit card and buy the necklace!  Billions of shells, but the very special ones were not easy to find!  We needed a sieve!  The perfect Niihau shell, called the Kahelelani, is only about a half inch long, so they are hard to spot.  In an hour's time, one of the party had found about three!  She later bought a necklace back on Kauai!

We took off again and passed to the south of the village of Puuwai, towards Puukole Point.  The pilot explained that there was an agreement not to pass directly over or too near the village, but we could clearly see the cottages and photograph the church.  The pilot mentioned that, though there is no general electricity provided, there is limited use of electricity provided by generators and solar power, to provide refrigeration and  some personal generators for home use.

As we approached Puukole Point, we passed over Kaaukuu, the normal place used to beach the World War II vintage landing craft, owned by the Robinson family, for carrying fuel, freight and ranch supplies to the island, 17 miles from Makawli, Kauai, across the Kaulakahi Channel.

Puukole Point gave a direct and perfect view of Lehua Island, about a mile away, and also views of the island of Kauai.  It was here we landed again and this time would spend a bit over two hours and have a picnic lunch.  There is an open picnic area with a wooden roof over it for protection from the sun while enjoying lunch.  It RARELY rains on Niihau, so we would not view it as protection from the weather!  While the others were organizing the lunch boxes and soft drinks, someone noticed way off in the distance, about a mile away, a group of fishermen.  We had binoculars along and tried to get a good look, but they were too far away to see much detail, other than that it was a fairly large group.

Without making any remarks, two of us wandered down to the water and then started walking towards the area where they were fishing.  We did not think about the fact that one is not actually permitted to make direct contact with the locals on these rare opportune times to visit the island.  It seems to be one of the unwritten rules that I had simply forgotten in my eagerness to check out what was happening down the beach.  It took a good half hour or more to reach the group as walking on the beach was quite an effort.  Again, due to the amazing thickness of the shell cover, we sank full ankle deep into the sand with each step.  I stopped and photographed the surf.  Yes, the water was truly like crystal!  I mean real crystal.  I could not imagine seeing water so clear as the waves broke over the lava and beach.  It was unreal! 
 

A busy beach on a Niihau Sunday!	It literally flew out of the sea and plopped down!

  As we approached closer, the younger kids began to run away, surely uneager to meet up with these strangers visiting their private island.  The others simply ignored us.  There were 4 families, totaling 30 people.  The eight high school age boys were in the sea with a net.  Just as we approached, they began to work their way to shore with the net and took advantage of a lava formation that made for a small creek- like place for them to pull the net tighter and, then right up onto the sloping lava rock that formed the beach.  Just above the lava stretched the sandy shore line.

With a bit of assistance from the four fathers, they emptied the catch onto the lava and I counted exactly 20 fish, including a snapper about a foot and a half long (45.7 cm).  They quickly tied a heavy cord around the tail to be sure it did not get away!  Then, the men took over the scaling job and the women wandered down from where they had been sitting in the shade of the cane truck to lend a hand in finishing up the scaling and gutting, using the many lava pools as a kind of kitchen sink basin to do a final clean-up of the fish before putting them in the large plastic container.

No one seemed to pay much attention to these two strangers and went quickly on with the job, but one man did ask the young boy with the snapper (we thought it was snapper) to hold it by its tail, to stand straight and hold up the fish.  Do you really think I am going to quote his exact words?  No, I do not speak or understand Hawaiian, but I am a father.

One mother in the group had on a white sweat shirt with "Kyoto" across the front.  She was asked if she had actually been to Kyoto.  At this point we realized none of the group spoke English, or would admit to it!  A request for permission to take photos did win a response, "Sure".  That was the extent of our conversation with the local Niihau group.  Later reading told us that most of the population does indeed speak English, but we supposed they were busy and found the easiest way to keep us at arm's length was to pretend not to understand us.  They then gathered up their fishing gear and catch and headed back to the nearby parked cane truck being used for the outing. 

Deciding we had best make our way back to the rest of the group, we turned around for one last photo as they climbed aboard the truck and headed home.  Just at this point I caught a glimpse out of the right corner of my eye, of what appeared to be a giant black lava boulder coming at me carried by a huge swell of sea.  It crashed onto the beach, just inches from me as I frantically darted away!  Indeed, it was not a lava boulder, but a huge black seal, at least 6 feet (180cm) long and just as fat as any you have ever seen!  We looked at each other, the seal and I, in great astonishment; at least I assume a seal can be astonished!  He blinked his eyes, gave a great leap that moved him a few more feet up the beach, and promptly closed his eyes, kind of opening one every once in a while to rest assured the trespassers on his private piece of beach were actually leaving.

Scaling and cleaning fish is a family affair.	Hold that tail tightly!

We reached the picnic area as the others were cleaning up, having properly saved our lunches and a few cold drinks.  The pilot had wandered off in search of interesting beach debris.  We finished our lunch, just as he returned, carrying two green glass fishing floats which he presented to two very pleased members of our group.

The time for our visit to what has to be one of the most pristine and inaccessible tropical beaches on earth was drawing to an end.  Cameras came out to snap the last photos, careful to include Lehua Island in the background.  These photos would prove we had truly been on Niihau.

The chopper lifted off, giving us a good view of Kii Landing, the alternative landing area for the landing craft delivering supplies.

You may enjoy further readings about Niihau:

Ni'ihau, The Last Hawaiian Island, Ruth M. Tabra
ISBN 0-916630-60-9 published in 1987

Niihau - The Traditions Of An Hawaiian Island, Perio Terai Tava and Moses K. Keale, Sr.
LCC 88-061419