空から陸から見るハリウッド映画の舞台地

By Joseph A. Lieberman, Photojournalist

カウアイ島をヘリコプターで回ることができる。空から目にする壮大な滝、渓谷、海岸の風景は格別

King Kong called it home, digital dinosaurs wreaked havoc here, Elvis Presley kept a cottage nearby, and a shipwrecked first mate named Gilligan stayed marooned on an "uncharted desert isle" for years.

What all of them had in common was the scenic backdrop of Kauai, Hawaii, "the Garden Isle.

"With limited roadways, many of Kauai's breathtakingly beautiful vistas are only accessible by sea or air," explained Island Helicopters pilot Curtis Lofstedt, as the "chop, chop, chop" of his rotor blades sliced through the air above us.

With headphones that blocked outside noise and replaced it with gentle Hawaiian music, the smooth-sailing one-hour helicopter tour was passing far too quickly. "Look there," Lofstedt pointed. "That's the towering waterfall used in the first 'Jurassic Park' movie."

With 11,680 millimeters of rainfall per year, Mt. Waialeale, at the center of Kauai, is considered the rainiest place on earth. With all that rainfall, waterfalls are plentiful. We were seeing so many, in fact, that I kept regretting not visiting the men's room just before taking off. Helicopters don't have toilets.

Then came a dramatic change of scene. "We're flying over Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific," Lofstedt told us as he dipped down a vertical precipice.

"Incredible!" we all shouted. The red volcanic earth and lush green foliage created a stunning contrast in colors. Yet despite being one of the great natural wonders of the world, Waimea Canyon represents only half of Kauai's geologic fame. The other half is the Napali coast.

And suddenly there we were. As the helicopter zoomed through the center of a spectacular valley, we suddenly emerged into a panorama of deep blue sea, coral reefs and a ribbon of white sand hugging verdant cliffs.

"Recognize it?" Lofstedt asked. "That's the entrance to King Kong's lair in the most recent version of the old movie classic."

Earlier that day, I had watched the same scene from the deck of the Lucky Lady catamaran. Large sea caves were also visible as we sailed along the rough waters of the Napali coast, accompanied by spinner dolphins, sea turtles and humpback whales.

By car, I could also get another look at Waimea Canyon from a clifftop platform. There I met native Kauaians Emele Freiberg and Yvette Mackler.

"We never tire of the sights," they told me.

"We're headed to Kilohana Plantation next. Cane sugar and pineapple shaped Hawaii's economy, so you should see a plantation while you're here."

今も走るさとうきび電車

Apart from its botanical garden, livestock and an antique coach pulled by a mighty Clydesdale horse, Kilohana Plantation also has an operational sugar cane train known as the Kauai Plantation Railway. Conductor Boone Morrison, a descendant of the legendary American frontiersman Daniel Boone (1734-1820), is also a historian.

"Ever heard of the 'Great Sugar Cane Train Robbery'?" he asked. "It was at Kekaha Plantation - that's the western-most town in the United States - on payday in February 1920. Kaimiola Hali, a fisherman, made off with an $11,000 (1.36 million yen) payroll, but he was soon caught and spent four years in jail. Somehow, Hali later managed to become a guard at Iolani Palace on Oahu."

"Hali was an ardent fan of Western movies," Morrison added. "He was probably inspired by the films he'd seen.

Hollywood films are still closely connected to Kauai. Jeff Fishman, a guide for Land Movie Tours, took us to several filming locations including the beach where the castaways were marooned in the mid-1960s U.S. TV comedy "Gilligan's Island."

Even more impressive were the ruins of the CoCo Palms hotel and lagoon, where Presley filmed "Blue Hawaii" in 1961. The property was destroyed by Hurricane Iniki in 1992, but you can still see the scruffy remains of Elvis' private cottage.

Next to a hilltop airstrip used for the 1998 Harrison Ford movie "Six Days, Seven Nights," I saw my old friend Bill Young waving from the verandah of his $2-million (228.6 million yen), six-bedroom home. He and his Japanese wife, Naomi, planned to run an English school there as they had done in Kyoto, but now the house was up for sale.

"The neighbors didn't want to see a school here," Young explained later. "I still want to live on Kauai, but we'll choose something more modest."

One location he's considering is Hanalei Bay, farther north near the luxurious Princeville Resort. "Almost anywhere along the coast will do, though," he added. "It's Kauai. It's all paradise."