Kapalua Village Course, Part 2
Continuing my hike on the now-closed Kapalua Village Golf Course, I was struck by the skill with which Mother Nature has employed her palette to re-paint this wonderful tract of land. Many plants were already growing alongside the fairways — some planted by the groundskeepers and others by birds and other servants of Ma Nature. Since then, these plants and others have begun to spread onto the fairways. It a true visual treat in the making.
I spotted these very unusual fruits. They looked hollow — in a way resembling Chinese paper lanterns — albeit with long whiskers.
More familiar plants were also readily visible. Here is a papaya tree with fruit — including a ripe one at the bottom of the cluster. I thought about wandering over and picking it. However, I assumed it was the regular variety of papaya — I prefer the strawberry (AKA sunrise) papaya — and I had some of them back in my condo.
And how could we not find some hibiscus? After all, the Hawai`i state flower is the hibiscus although technically, it is the yellow hibiscus and this one is red. Who cares, they are all beautiful.As I continued my walk I was accompanied by scores of butterflies. But do you know how hard it is to photograph a butterfly in flight? Probably one would need a video camera with a fast lens. So I had to wait for them to land before I could capture these magnificent creatures. These sure look like Monarch Butterflies — one of my favorite varieties with connections to several places where I have lived — Maui, Santa Cruz and Minnesota.
Incidentally, there is a company on Maui (also one on Kaua`i) that sells butterflies for release in Hawai`i — for weddings, luaus, parties, whatever. Maybe these are descendants of ones released by The Maui Butterfly Farm.
At one point, I encountered a pond with ducks. Except for the two white ones, they looked like Mallards. I do not recall seeing Mallard Ducks in Hawai`i before — they tend to be found in North America, spending summers in northern climes and winters further south. Curious.The View — not the television show with the same name — but the view from the Village Course looking down at the Plantation Course. Beyond that is a great surfing cove. Just beyond the row of Norfolk Island Pine trees, you can even see the line of cars parked there, looking like a tiny beaded necklace. In the distance to the right, you can see a pineapple field — although I could not tell if it was still in production or just recently abandoned. Regardless of the details, this is fantastic stuff.
To be continued next week...