The Kilohana Plantation is formerly a 16,000 acre estate built by sugar baron Gaylord Wilcox in 1935. Today it is both a tourist attraction and historic site. Now home to a few shops, Gaylords restaurant and possibly one of the biggest Luau's on the island of Kauai.
Kilohana translates into "Not to be surpassed". Yes it is a tourist attraction, but it is also very fun.
You know the drill... Make the jump for the rest of the story!
The Kilohana Plantation is home of the newly established Koloa Rum Company. When it was formed, they bought the very last crop of Kauai sugar cane to be harvested on the island in order to produce rum entirely local. When the cane is gone from that batch, there is no more.
We had reservations for the luau that night and showed up just a bit early so our friends and us could get a sample of their rum to see what was so special about it. Debbie and I had a private tasting a couple of days before, but we wanted to share the experience with our travel partners as well as taste a few other samplings of theirs. While none of us know a great deal about rum, it was fun to taste their different offerings.
The first batch of Koloa White Rum was released in 2009 and took top honors in it's fresh form without being aged. Being made with straight sugar cane syrup made the difference. Since then, they have added Spiced Rum, Dark Rum, and a Coconut Rum. All of which make excellent mai tai's. We managed to escape with buying only one bottle of each.
The plantation operated it's own railway running from the plantation to the pier at Hanalei. The pier still stands, and the train still runs, but the train is limited to giving tourists around the now 160 acre grounds.
We didn't ride the train, however it is an option to take a 40 minute ride on it with the train arriving back just in time for the luau.
There is a museum in the train depot. Outside on the deck of the museum are stacks of old train parts and tools. It is hard to imagine picking up a box end wrench weighing in at close to 70 pounds, but these are the tools they used. There were a selection of tools you would find in any automotive tool box, except they were all much larger.
Having arrived to the plantation early for the luau, we had time to wonder the grounds. Inside the pavilion where the luau is held we found this giant koa tree growing out of the middle. Care was taken to allow it to flourish despite having a building surrounding it. Even pipes for a fire suppression system were routed around it.
Kalua Pig was on the menu. The pig is actually cooked in the ground, wrapped and buried. The luau was for 400+ people, so this single pig was not enough to feed everyone, however it is part of the tradition. The pork we did have that evening was good just as well, and it is fun to see a bit of tradition such as this. We have to admit that we wondered just how a pig roasted this way would taste.
The evening was finished up with lots of hula dancing and fire dancing. It told the story of the migration to the Hawaii Islands of the original people there. While far from your traditional luau dance with a loud sound system and lighting effects, it was a lot of fun. The show was a mix of Cirque Du Sole and Hula tradition. Brilliant show and it did tell a good story.
We've got a lot more pictures of our visit to the Kilohana Plantation and the luau, so please follow the link and enjoy!
Kauai Day Seven - Luau!
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