可愛島 | Kaua’i

今年冬天因為新冠疫情持續肆虐，無法像往年一樣回台灣，所以我們決定利用假期造訪全美國離台灣最近的一州：夏威夷。夏威夷由許多島嶼組成，我們一向喜歡戶外活動，又擔心疫情影響，所以選擇了觀光客較少的可愛島與夏威夷島（大島）。

可愛島（也譯作「考艾島」，但是我覺得「可愛島」比較貼切）是夏威夷的第四大島，擁有夏威夷最茂盛的植被和與眾不同的自然景色，因此擁有「花園之島」的美譽。我們在利胡埃（Lihue，可愛島的縣治）機場下飛機的瞬間，撲面而來的溫暖和濕氣讓我感到既陌生又熟悉——明明是第一次來到夏威夷，卻彷彿回到了台灣的冬季。走出機場，綠意盎然的山脈、隨風款擺的棕櫚、碧波萬頃的太平洋，都令我感到無比親切，而滿島悠游的野雞，更讓我聯想到了台灣的鄉下。

因為疫情，許多租車公司為了因應驟降的需求和節省成本，在去年遣散了車隊，加上今年車用晶片短缺，租賃的車輛一直供不應求。我們在可愛島上租不到車，所以決定善用島上的公車系統。過去幾年，我們在美國旅行很少依賴大眾運輸，因為美國的大眾運輸系統只能算是是差強人意（和台灣相比簡直判若雲泥）。但是這次在可愛島上搭著公車東奔西跑，我彷彿一下子回到年輕時：以前在台灣，我天天搭公車上下學；畢業前我和阿桑團一起搭著火車、客運、捷運、高鐵、渡輪跑遍全台灣；再到剛來美國時，我勉力搭著芝加哥的捷運（“L”）探索大芝加哥都會區。雖然沒有自己開車方便，但是大眾運輸所伴隨的歲月卻格外令我懷念。這次在可愛島靠著公車跑遍大半個島嶼，所有的行程規劃都要以公車班表為依歸，好在實境的公車地圖讓行程規劃簡便許多（在智慧型手機普及以前，我每次出門都要在筆記本上寫下好幾個備案，確保即使錯過一班車，我們還是會有別的方法繼續我們的行程）。這大概算是向自己青春歲月中的旅遊經驗致敬了！

在可愛島上，令我印象最深刻的活動之一就是我第一次嘗試了高空飛索。一開始，膽小又懼高的我當仁不讓地成為了全團的尖叫冠軍——前兩條飛索，我到了終點才後知後覺又慚愧地想起，我振聾發聵的尖叫聲，或許驚擾熱帶雨林中的居民們了。後來漸漸習慣了飛索的高度和速度之後，我終於能靜下心來欣賞腳底下的美景：蓊鬱的熱帶森林、平靜寬廣的湖泊、看起來有些格格不入的非洲金合歡（實為夏威夷的入侵物種）。其實仔細想想，高空飛索和我以前在台灣搭過的貓空纜車差不多，只是沒有車廂，也看不見高樓林立的台北盆地罷了。

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我們也去了浮潛。我上一次浮潛還是在高中畢業前和阿桑團一起去的綠島，大家身穿潛水服，在教練的帶領下一個口令一個動作（除了深諳水性的阿珣，一馬當先地游個不亦樂乎，被浮潛教練冠以「美人魚」之稱，也是後來儒艮的典故）。這次完全自助，我們在海邊的商店租了潛水面罩、穿著泳衣就去浮潛了。可愛島果然名不虛傳，的確讓我們大飽眼福：我們看見了一看就是熱帶屬性的橫帶刺尾魚、蝴蝶魚、神仙魚和圓點尖鼻魨、色彩鮮豔的紅項錦魚和心斑刺尾魚、形狀奇特的管口魚和鼻魚、成群結隊的秋姑和夏威夷豆娘魚、一大群龍捲風般的巨大黃翼刺尾鯛、敏捷靈巧的螃蟹、對周圍環境無動於衷的海參和海膽，還有許多不知名的小魚，族繁不及備載。幸虧 Steven 興致勃勃地拿著他買的魚圖鑑仔細辨認，不然我看得眼花撩亂，根本記不清我們究竟看見了什麼。岩縫間悠遊的魚群似乎又把我拉入回憶的漩渦，直到浮出水面，我才恍然意識到，原來這不是綠島。

可愛島讓我覺得我像是個過客也像個歸人——雖然第一次造訪，但是可愛島的溫暖與潮濕、森林與海洋、芭蕉與修竹、公車與午後雷陣雨，都讓我感到十分熟悉。我想，在不能回家的情況下還能在夏威夷稍微回味家鄉的冬季，也算是十分幸運的吧！

下一站，夏威夷島！

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This winter, we could not go back to Taiwan because COVID continues to rage. Therefore, we decided to visit the state that is the closest to Taiwan — Hawai’i. Hawai’i is composed of many islands. We chose to travel to Kaua’i and the Big Island because they have fewer tourists and spectacular outdoor scenes. 

Kaua’i is the fourth largest in the Hawai’i Islands. It is known as the “Garden Island” because of its lush vegetation and beautiful landscape. When we got off our flight at Lihue, we were immediately embraced by tropical humidity and heat, which made me feel strange yet familiar at the same time — this was my first time in Hawai’i, but I felt as if I had gone back to Taiwan for the winter. The vibrantly green mountains, the palm trees swinging in the ocean breeze, and the vast blue Pacific all felt so familiar. The feral chickens roaming all over the island also reminded me of rural Taiwan. 

Car rental has been a bottleneck for travel planning for a while. Last year, many rental car companies downsized their fleets due to decreasing demands and the need to cut costs. In addition, the auto industry’s chip shortage this year made it very difficult for rental cars to keep up with the surging demand. We were unable to secure a rental car in Kaua’i, so we decided to take advantage of the Kauai Bus. In the past several years, we rarely used public transit when we traveled domestically because the US public transportation systems are passable at best. (They are nowhere near what we have in Taiwan.) However, when we were running around the island on the Kauai Bus, it felt as if I was back in my teens: in Taiwan, I used to take the bus to school every day; before I graduated from high school, I took the train, bus, MRT, HSR, and ferries to travel around Taiwan with my friends; when I first arrived at Northwestern, I managed to take the L to explore the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Public transit is not nearly as convenient as driving (especially in the US), but I do really miss the time in my life that involves public transit. On this trip, we were able to cover most of the island with the local bus, and all of our planning centered around the bus schedule. (Thankfully, live bus maps made everything a lot easier, as I did not have to make ten backup plans on paper in case we missed a bus, like what I used to do before we had smartphones.) It truly felt like a tribute to my youth and how I used to travel as a teenage girl. 

One of the most memorable activities in Kaua’i is I tried zip-linings for the very first time in my life. As acrophobic as I am, I immediately became the loudest screamer in the group. After the first two zip lines, I finally started to wonder if my deafening screams disturbed the residents in the tropical forest. When I eventually got used to the height and speed, I could finally appreciate the breath-taking sceneries beneath my feet: the lively tropical forest, the calm and mirror-like lake, and the seemingly out-of-place African albizia (they are actually an invasive species). In hindsight, perhaps zip-lining is not that different from the gondola we once took in Maokong, except there wasn’t any cable car, and I could not see the Taipei Basin filled with skyscrapers. 

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We also went snorkeling. The last time I went snorkeling was at Green Island with my friends before we graduated from high school. We were all suited up in wetsuits and followed the directions from our snorkeling coach. This time we did everything ourselves — we rented gears from a shop near the beach and went snorkeling in our swimsuits. Kaua’i did not disappoint, and we were able to see an overwhelming variety of sea creatures: tropical-looking manini, butterflyfish, Moorish idol, and Hawaiian spotted pufferfish, bright-colored saddle wrasse and Archilles surgeonfish, uniquely shaped trumpet fish and nano, big schools of yellowfin goatfish and green damselfish, a tornado of giant yellowfin surgeonfish, agile crabs, urchins and sea cucumbers that didn’t seem to care about anything happening around them, and many, many more. Thankfully, Steve took the fish guide he bought and diligently identified the fish; otherwise, there would have been no way for me to keep track of everything we saw. Schools fish swimming leisurely among the rocks pulled me into a whirlpool of memories. It wasn’t until I got out of the water did I realized that this wasn’t Green Island.

Kaua’i made me feel like I was traveling to somewhere exotic yet returning to somewhere familiar at the same time. Although this was my first time visiting, the humidity and warmth, the tropical forests and ocean, the flourishing banana trees and bamboos, the bus and afternoon thundershowers, all reminded me of home. Even though I couldn’t go back to Taiwan the year, I was able to visit Hawai’i and got a taste of winter back home — perhaps I can consider myself very lucky.

Next stop: the Big Island!