Kohala Ditch rides open window to history
Hawaii's Backyard| Travel By Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi for the Honolulu Star Advertiser April 17, 2016 COURTESY FLUMIN’ KOHALA Visitors exit one of Kohala Ditch’s tunnels on a tour with Flumin’ Kohala. COURTESY FLUMIN’ KOHALA Be prepared to get wet while kayaking through Kohala Ditch. COURTESY FLUMIN’ KOHALA Kids stroll across a catwalk on their way to the kayaks’ launch site. Bernelle Camara is a proud daughter of Kohala. Her roots in that rural district of Hawaii island run deep — four generations, to be exact: Her paternal and maternal great-grandparents moved there from Maui and the Philippines, respectively, seeking a better life. “My paternal great-grandfather worked for Hawaii Railway Co., which ran the ‘Sugar Cane Train,’” Camara said. “The train carried processed cane from the mills to the wharf at Makukona, 7 miles west of Hawi town. My maternal great-grandfather worked for Kohala Sugar Co. as a truck driver.” Kohala Sugar closed in 1975, six years before Camara was born. When she was growing up, the Kohala Ditch (see sidebar) was on privately owned land that was not open to the public. Her mother, however, shared many fond memories about that irrigation system, including swimming there with her two brothers. The ditch was a 2-mile bike ride from their Hawi home. “If it weren’t for the ditch, my family, like many others, would not have made Kohala their home,” Camara said. “The ditch supplied water for sugar cane cultivation, which provided jobs for them.” Today Camara is general manager of Flumin’ Kohala, which takes visitors on a leisurely kayak ride down the historic ditch. Flumin’ Kohala is the operating name of Kohala Eco Ventures, whose executives also run the Kohala Ditch Co., the manager and [...]
