On Sunday people, swam, stood and drove cars into the way of the Superferry in order to block its arrival and stop the cars from departing from the ship. It was not quite successful and eventually the Superferry docked and unloaded.

On Monday night they tried again this time 65 protesters were in the water and over 200 were cheering them on from the shore. They erected a human barricade of people. After 3 hours the Superferry turned away, defeated.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates Fall Travel Trends Survey polling 390 Carlson Wagonlit travel employees shows that vacation travel is officially up over last year and lists Kauai as one of its top vacation spots.

The survey shows that overall bookings for the annual fall list is up by nearly 4% to 59.5 percent over last year.

Lihue, Kauai landed at number eight in the list of the top ten fall domestic travel destinations, Kahului, Mauai came in at number four and Honolulu at number three.

The Superferry began service two days early starting runs on Sunday in spite of the Hawaii Supreme Court overturning a decision and saying that an environmental assessment should be completed. An actual injunction was not made to stop the Superferry from starting service however so it began anyway, kickstarting with an offer of $5 tickets.

The Superferry, which completely sold out for the initial early runs, was met with hundreds of protesters on Kauai before it could dock in Nawiliwi stalling it for over an hour as surfers, boogy-boarders and even people fully clothed swam into the waters to block Superferry’s path.

Kauai is well know to vacationers and residents for its incredible golf courses and the Mayor, it would seem, wants to be a part of the golfing legacy as well. Hence the startup of the Mayors’ Challenge Cup - an amateur golf tournament featuring teams from each county competing on public links courses.

The way it will work the mayor from Honolulu and the mayor of Kauai will each have a 12-member team consisting of nine men and three women from their respective counties. The teams will consist of three divisions; open, seniors that are between 50 and 60, and super seniors – over 60. The women’s will also have three levels but will be based on ability rather than age.

There are some tourist attractions that are extremely popular amongst vacationers to Kauai that are dangerous, prompting the Kauai Visitors Bureau to try to get guidebook writers to delete them from their books.

One such attraction is Kipu falls, just 10 minutes from downtown Lihue. The falls are beautiful rising 20-feet high and dropping into a deep pool. It is considered a swimmers paradise by some, but to the Wilcox Hospital emergency room it is a place where once a week an injury is brought in.

Thousands of visitors come to vacation on the island of Kauai every year, and on August 29th the launch of the superferry will offer a brand new way for the visitors to travel.

The Alakai, as the superferry is named, will be the first inter-island ferry ever in the Hawaiian Islands. It will give residents and visitors a chance to island hop in the same car they originally rented and will make day travel from island to island easily feasible. The ferry will also offer a way for travelers to see another side of Hawaii, from far out in the ocean.

People come from all over to vacation on Kauai, enjoying the islands rich scenery and amazing beaches. They also come for the food and breadfruit, a native Kauai fruit, is commonly used in many delectable dishes. It is a fruit that can do much more than just be in a dish in a restaurant, it is also being looked at for how it can be used to help solve world hunger.

Bette Midler owns a 58,500 foot lot in the Haena District on the north shore of the beautiful island of Kauai. She has no house on the lot and according to her attorney has no plans to build a house on the lot in spite of the cutting of 200+ trees on the property.

The cutting of the native and non-native trees was noticed by state conservation workers on Oct. 17th. The trees were being cut with a graded road being built on it stated a report submitted to the state Board of Land and Natural resources.

Casey Watabu is a native of Kauai, which holds some of the best golf courses in the world. With those top ranked courses to practice on he elevated himself to a champion, winning last years 81st U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.

Currently he is playing the 107th U.S. Amateur Championship in San Francisco. This match is a big one for the amateurs as the winner will receive and exemption into the 2008 U.S. Open and the British Open. An invitation to the 2008 Masters Tournament is also likely as long as the winner remains an amateur. There is also a 10 year exemption into the U.S. Amateur field for as long as the winner stays an amateur.

“Most people when they hear we’re building a green building at a garden, they think we’re building a greenhouse,” NTBG President Chipper Wichman.

Green (environmentally friendly) buildings are beginning to emerge everywhere and it may soon become the standard people will see when they vacation on Kauai. Right now on the island of Kauai the National Tropical Botanical Garden is a green building under construction. The building will ask for the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The certification will put them in league with other buildings that are already green in Hawaii. These buildings are; Case Middle School at Punahou School, the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Kaka’ako, the Gateway Energy Center at Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii and Maui’s Dowling Co. headquarters.