POLO SEASON IS HERE
Take a ride to Anini Beach this summer, and you'll find that a historic sports tradition is alive and well on the Garden Island, thanks to the efforts of a dedicated group of people.
 Kauai Polo Club, operating under the umbrella of Kauai Polo Foundation, sponsors polo matches every Sunday throughout the summer, continuing a tradition that began on Kauai in the 19th century. It usually surprises people to discover that polo arrived on Kauai around 1887.
According to historical records, Kauai quickly became known for its polo players and fast ponies. By 1902, Kauai participated in the first Inter-Island Championship on Oahu, winning the championship and bringing the Wichman Trophy back to Kauai in 1904. The trophy can still be seen in the Kauai Museum today.
Polo on Kauai is a lot more casual than it is elsewhere. It's a very informal setting where it's easy to talk to the actual players, whereas elsewhere it's a little more difficult to come in contact with the horses.
Polo teams on Kauai are made up of either three or four players and the game is played in four quarters (called chuckers). Teams change every week and different players play together as a team each Sunday.
The Kauai Polo Club owns about eight horses but ultimately players prefer to have their own. The club also has a professional horse trainer who is involved in training the horses. The Club is famous for its hospitality and its informatily. Players from other islands love to come here because after the match is over people settle down and enjoy potlucks and music.
Gates open for Sunday matches at 1:30 p.m. and matches begin at 3 p.m. Adults are $10, children under 17 are $5 and children under 12 are free.
MENEHUNE FISH POND FOR SALE
According to legend, a king on Kauai once made a deal with a mythical race of little people to build a fishpond in one night. The menehune worked hard through the night, meticulously cutting and shaping lava rock to build a 900 foot wall to keep out the  river but to allow young fish to swim into the pond, where they would grow too large to swim out.
Many agree that the Menehune Fishpond, on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973, is one of the rarest and most significant cultural and archaeological sites on Kauai. It is also for sale. The owners, who live on Oahu, are asking $12 million for the 102 acre site a few miles inland from Nawiliwili Harbor.
The Menehune fishpond was built about 580 years ago, according to David Burney, a paleoecologist who conducted core dating on the pond. "What makes it kind of special is the way the stones are fitted," he said. Ancient Hawaiians often used lava rock to build walls, but they typically placed them to fit together instead of cutting them into blocks.
Don Heacock, an aquatic biologist with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, lives on a 20 acre ranch next door to the fishpond, and says he has seen it become more and more overgrown over the years. He believes the fishpond should be restored and turned into a research and education center. "It could be an incredible teaching and demonstration resource for Hawaiian aquaculture. We just can't lose resources like this. They're too precious, they're too unique," he said.
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