Kauai
Our first full day in the island of Kauai started with a helicopter ride. The day before we left NZ for Hawaii a chopper full of tourists went down in Kauai and tragically had no survivors. But this did not discourage us and my thinking is that now more than ever is when all boxes will be ticked and no risks taken.
The 8:15 check in at Blue Hawaiian Helicopters was in Lihue, a 45 minute drive. So we left early and took to the road. Lance is pretty confident driving now and it is only at intersections that we get a little stressed. The good thing here is that it is all very laid back and if we take a wrong turn we will not end up on any freeways and can easily navigate our way back to where we should be.
After a safety briefing we were in the air. The morning had started off cloudy but had cleared by the time we hit the skies. We had been told to wear dark clothing as anything bright will reflect in the glass and ruin photos. How lucky that I had been shopping in Waikiki and had a new black and grey long skirt and a black top, because all of my summer clothes tend to be bright!
Our pilot Marty was informative and cheery, and our fellow passengers were a young honeymoon couple from Oklahoma. When they said where they were from I was surprised that Lance didn’t start singing “Oklahoma, where the wind starts sweeping down...” Because he is a bit of a musicals buff. But I bet it was going on in his head.
The flight was fantastic and took us over the mountain range and around the some of the coastal areas.
At approximately five million years old, Kauai is the oldest of the main islands. The highest peak is Kawaikini at 5,243 feet (1,598 m) and it was shrouded in misty cloud. The second highest peak is Mount Waiʻaleʻale near the center of the island, 5,148 ft (1,569 m) above sea level. The terrain is incredibly steep and rugged and coated in vegetation, apart from the Waimea canyon which is red layered volcanic rock.
Mr Honeymoon from Oklahoma had obviously tried to wear dark colours, but unfortunately the little white flowers on his shirt made it impossible to take photos out of the main window and I have even included a pic here so that you can see what I mean.
This is not him just his reflection!
Lance and I were in the back seats by the smaller windows with two empty seats between us. It would be stink to be a passenger in those middle seats as you would not get such a great view. Even though I am moaning I still had fantastic views and took about 200 photos.
This is definitely a must do if you are on this island, I highly recommend spending the money.
We also found out that rainbows are actually round and not an arch!
After the flight we jumped in the car and carried on around the southern part of the island to take a look at the Waimea canyon by land. There are amazing hikes that wend their way through these canyons, but fortunately the canyon has a lookout that you can drive to. The road in from the coast was curly but the actual road surface was great. It took about 40 minutes to get there via highway 552 from the coastal road and there were clean toilets at the top, and a snack stand. The view was outstanding and cool to see it from the ground. It certainly is like a mini Grand Canyon. We took a different route (550) down and it was steeper but quicker and had spectacular views.
We had an easy night with left over tuna and a beautiful bought but home made guacamole and a few drinks on our little balcony over looking the golf course and a peep of the sea. The problem is that the bar running across the balustrade is right at eye level!
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