The Queen's Bath

Just around the corner

from where I am living 

in Princeville Kauai

is a steep path

that descends to the ocean

Daily dozens of car loads of tourists

come to bathe

in the Queen's Bath

Curious, I thought it was time

I took a look at the Queen's bath

so early one morning

I made my way 

down the red dirt track

passing little waterfalls

tumbling over lava rock boulders

that made their way into small pools

but hardly what you would call

a regal bath

and finally emerging at the ocean

mindful of the fact

that it was almost a year to the day

that I broke my left ankle

I decided not to clamber over 

the rugged lava rock

in search of royal ablutions

but it appears that in the past

others have taken 

greater risks than me

so I returned up the pathway

under the pandanus trees

and following the call 

of little brown birds

I walked along the bluff

above the ocean

hoping I could see what it was 

that enticed the holiday makers

down onto the hot black rocks

I could not see much 

other than the brown nameless birds

and the plainer coloured females

and then I noticed that I was in 

Wedge-tailed Shearwater territory

I skirted a patch of cactus

and almost fell down a hole

the Shearwaters nest in burrows

up to two feet long

that the birds make

in the cliff top

They are a dusky brown bird

with white breast feathers, 

thin wings, a hooked bill

and wedge shaped tail

They lay a single egg in June 

and take turns at incubation stints

The father does the honours first 

while the mother goes to sea to fish

for about 10 days at a time

Hawaii Information Image

The chick hatches after 50 days

and initially is fed stomach oil then solids

At 3.5 months the parents stop feeding the chick

For two weeks they go without food

testing their wings and learning to fly

When they have all their adult feathers they fledge

and go off to to sea

to find their own food

the neighbourhood dogs are a problem

in this colony

The birds cannot stand upright on their legs

and have difficulty moving about on land

The Hawaiian name 

for the Wedge-tailed Shearwater is ua'u kani

which means calling or moaning sea bird/petrel

due to their long oooo-errr call

I cautiously return to the ascending path

grateful that it is a dry day

and the red dirt is not slippery clay-mud

through the jungle

and home

No, this is not my house

but I love the gardens...

and proceeded to look up Mr Google

for pictures of the Queen's Bath

which does look rather enticing 

on a calm day

but the sea is unpredictable

and the waves 

can come crashing through

I think I'll do my swimming

in the safety of Hanalei Bay

*