Lana'i, Oct 2008:
The Hawaiian Islands are like Pokemon...you must collect them all. Barring Ni'ihau and
Kaho'olawe (neither of which are open for any tourism) my trip to Lana'i completed my collection.

Lana'i has one rental car company, which is attached to the one gas station, in the one town:
Lana'i city. In fact, once you get out of town, most of the roads aren't paved. So, make sure to
rent the 4WD Jeeps if you go visit.

Lana'i is a dry, rugged place, with very few people. The island is in Maui's rain shadow, so it
isn't the green usually associated with Hawaii. Not much to do, but a good place to relax. If you go,
make sure to check out the Lana'i museum, which has a lot of interesting history about this place which
used to be almost solely devoted to pineapples. The museum staff are also really friendly and helpful.



The shopping district of Lanai City...a row of small buildings facing the town square

Incidentally, the square was full of Cook pines, which help draw water from the air as dew.


The entrance to the Garden of the Gods.



The Garded of the Gods looks like a field of boulders carefully placed by some wayward diety.



A huge, empty, beautiful beach, with Maui in the background.

There were two other people on the whole beach, who were leaving as I arrived.


Stark, but beautiful...kinda sums up the island.



Shipwreck Beach. Unlike other beaches of the same name, this actually still has a shipwreck

Apparently its a WWII-era transport they were trying to scuttle, but failed. Now it sits, watching
over the island, slowly rusting away.


Just off Shipwreck Beach is an area covered in ancient petroglyphs.



The Dis N' Dat store in Lanai City.

It's the most colorful, crowded, and loud place on the island.
It's also the most people I'd seen since I got off the airplane.



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