One visiting family chose to spend Saturday taking a holiday helicopter ride, while a local man spent an earthbound Christmas Eve buying presents for his grandchildren. Christmas on Kaua‘i seems less commercial this year, many said. “My present is having
One visiting family chose to spend Saturday taking a holiday helicopter ride, while a local man spent an earthbound Christmas Eve buying presents for his grandchildren.
Christmas on Kaua‘i seems less commercial this year, many said.
“My present is having the family around. That’s my greatest gift,” Larry Akau of Kapa‘a said.
Akau said his family will spend Christmas together making laulau, a traditional Hawaiian dish he will prepare with pork and other ingredients wrapped up in taro leaves.
Jen Childs of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, said she came to Kaua‘i for a week “to run away from Christmas” and all its commercial trappings. She and her family will spend a quiet Christmas exploring the island, she said.
Michael Perea of Ann Arbor, Mich., brought his parents, siblings and their spouses to the island, where they were waiting Saturday morning at Safari Helicopter Tours in Lihu‘e to see Kaua‘i from the air.
“For us, it’s about having all the family together,” he said. On Christmas Day? “We’re all getting up early, and we’re going to the canyon to watch the sunrise.”
It was the first visit to the island for Keri Ridenour of Portland, Ore.
“I want to spend Christmas with sand between my toes instead of snow,” she said.
Lise Reese of Kalaheo moved to the island two years ago from California. How does she compare a Christmas in California to celebrating on Kaua‘i?
“I think there’s a lot more enthusiasm here for Christmas. It’s not as commercial. It’s treated more reverently, I think,” Reese said.
Chayna Anderson grew up on O‘ahu, but she’s been living in Kaua‘i for four years. “I love it here. I wouldn’t want to go back to O‘ahu.” She will spend a quiet Christmas with her family and friends at her home in Hanama‘ulu.
Rose Hosaka, who lives on the Big Island, was in Lihu‘e to bring a little holiday cheer to a hospitalized friend. “At the hospital, they’re so happy to have visitors,” she said.
But Hosaka planned to return to the Big Island in time to spend Christmas with her sisters.
“Our kids are all grown and all living on the Mainland, so the phone’s going to be busy,” she said.
John Quisel of Lihu‘e is a native of Kaua‘i. “It’s really low-key, and it’s a nice place to relax,” he said. His plans for Sunday? “Nothing too fancy,” he said.
