This was originally another of my “Kid Friendly” caches in the
Kailua area. Due to issues with a nearby resident it had to be
moved to a less kid friendly location. It is in the same general
area at N 21° 22.688 W 157° 43.282, 1.4 miles from the old
location. You will now have to do a little climbing but the trail
is short. If the kids are 10 or older they should be able to do the
cache with care.
The cache is named for the area that it now overlooks, Kaelepulu
fishpond. It is now on dry land and in a small Tupperware container
big enough for a small log, pen and small trading items.
The History of Kaelepulu
Pond
In the 1300’s Kaelepulu Pond was one of the greatest fishponds
in the islands. Kaelepulu fishpond was formerly a very important
fresh-water pond located about 2/3rds of a mile from the shore.
Kaelepulu Pond was part of a huge ahupua'a, a self-sustaining
community that extended from the mountain to the sea. In Kaelepulu
there was a huge pond that provided fresh drinking water to the
people in the ahupua'a. They brought in fish such as the 'awa and
mullet. The ancient Hawaiians cultivated many taro fields which
depended on the water for survival. Water was very important to the
ancient Hawaiians and they took great care in keeping it clean.
In 1880, Princess Ruth began to lease lands around the Kaelepulu
Pond to dozens of Chinese farmers. Many of the former taro fields
were replanted with rice. Some planted sugar cane around the
pond.
The Alexander map of 1884 shows a water area of 190 acres and an
additional marsh area of 90 acres for Kaelepulu pond. There was an
outlet on the sea side and the pond was limited by natural contours
and earth embankments. There were taro patches between the pond and
the stream from the Kawainui Marsh. The stream was diverted into
patches and from the taro terraces ran into Kaelepulu. When the
taro land was being dried, there was a ditch which could be used to
bring water from the Kawainui stream to the pond.
In 1939, Mrs. Charles Alona described the fishpond as once being
much larger and very clean. According to Mrs. Alona, the people of
that locality always saw to it that the ponds were kept clean in
the olden days. Fat mullet, awa, ahole and oopu fish were found
there and limu kala-wai. Bullrushes (akaakai) grew around the edge
of the ponds and Mrs. Alona remembered going with her grandmother
to gather the leaves.
Before development of the Enchanted Lake subdivision in the
1960s, Kaelepulu Pond covered nearly 190 acres with an additional
marsh area of 90 acres. With the development, the pond was renamed
Enchanted Lake and reduced to 79 acres. Fish found in this brackish
water lake include milkfish, mullet, barracuda and tilapia.
A privately-owned 5.8 acre wetland located at the south-west end
of the lake was created in 1995. It provides habitat for native
Hawaiian water birds – coots, gallinules, and stilts – as well as
migratory birds such as the Golden Plover. A recent bird count of
endangered birds at the wetland tallied 12 Hawaiian Stilts, 77
Coots, and 15 Gallinules. Numerous Black-Crowned Night-Herons,
Cattle Egrets and Mallard/Koloa hybrids can also be seen at this
wetland.
Sources:
(http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110028/history/index.htm)
(http://www.kaelepulupond.com/generalinfo/history.htm)
McAllisters Archaeology of Oahu
Sites of Oahu, Sterling and Summers
History of Kailua, 1998, W. Thomas Hall
Army Corps of Engineers documents