The Alekoko Menehune Fishpond has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. As legend has it, the fishpond was built in one night by the mythical Menehune. According to Hawaiian legend, the Menehune are the original inhabitants of Hawaii, and they lived on the islands, especially Kauai, even before the first Polynesians. They are described as little people, between 2 and 3 feet tall, who lived in the forest far from the eyes of normal humans and performed legendary engineering feats such as building temples, roads, and the fishpond.
The legend of the Alekoko Fishpond is that the Menehune built the 886ft long fishpond overnight for a Hawaiian royal couple. According to http://www.planetware.com:
The edge was built from stones which the Menehune transported across a distance of 25 miles/40km by standing in a line and passing them from hand to hand. According to legend, they insisted that no one watched them carrying out the work - but the prince and princess climbed the mountainside overlooking the pond and secretly watched them. However, the Menehune spotted the royal couple and changed them into pillars of rock, which can still be seen above the south side of the pond.
The wall that divides the pond from Huleia Stream is 900 feet long, five feet high, and meticulously assembled with lava rock...kind of the Hawaiian version of the Stonehenge mystery, yeah?
Checking out Alekoko "Menehune" Pond
Alekoko Fishpond
After visiting the fishpond, we drove over to Wailua Falls. While Wailua Falls does not have a cool legend to go with it, we got an amazing view of the 85ft, double-tiered waterfall!
Wailua Falls
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Noah enjoyed the view!
We saw a rainbow at the bottom of the waterfall
We had a wonderful time with Grandma J and Aunt CeCe, and we can't wait for their next visit :-)
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