On the way to Waimea Canyon, we had an encounter with the Forbidden Island. The island of Niihau, just off the west coast of Kauai, has a very interesting story. Back in the 1800s, the Sinclair family came from Scotland to Hawai'i to try to buy some land to settle on. After turning down an offer to buy lush and beautiful Waikiki, the family went ahead and bought the 46,000 acre island Niihau for 10,000 dollars. Little did they know that the island was normally a barren place, without any sources of freshwater. They happened to visit during a spell of wet weather. After they realized this, they bought up a huge amount of land on rainy west Kauai. The Robinson's, the descendants of this Sinclair family, now own Niihau and much land on west Kauai. Niihau today has no modern appliances or TV, and is the only place on Hawai'i where Hawai'ian is spoken as a first language. The 200 residents are very religious, and believe their community and way of life are under special protection from God. Technically, all beaches in Hawai'i are public beaches, but I was told if you land your boat on Niihau island, you'll be greeted by some big Hawaiians who will kindly ask you to leave. If you do not, they will kick you off. The Robinsons have this air of mystery about them, they own a sugar plantation on Kauai, but apparently are having trouble making money for taxes and to sustain the island's way of life. Each week (or month, I cannot remember) Some Niihau residents hop in World War 2 era landing craft to make the 17 mile journey to Kauai so they can go shopping at Wal-Mart or whereever. Besides the Robinson family's financial help, the residents of Niihau make these beautiful tiny shell necklaces, which marketing gurus call "necklaces from the Forbidden Island". It remains to be seen just how long Niihau will continue to be 'Forbidden'.