Kauai Helicopter Ride

I know I've been a long time in writing about all I did during my vacation in Hawaii with Jean.  Sorry that it's been so long.  Between all the projects that I have around here and how much time it takes to get stuff done on the Internet my time has become very divided.  During the winter I have the advantage of being able to do most of my work on the computer while I'm working since there aren't a lot of people who stay in the Yellowstone area at that time of year.  Summer is always busy and I am always trying to get a million projects done.

On April 16, Jean went to her classes during the morning.  I did a bit of work on the Internet and on photos until she finished.  We had already booked a helicopter tour of Kauai before we arrived and made it to our appointment at 4:00 pm.  From the office, they drove us to the Lihue Airport.

On getting in the van, one of the passengers got a bit nervous because the driver asked if he would get out of the van for a moment (as if to talk to him privately).  Everyone on the van got quiet pondering what was going on; the guy wondered what he did wrong.  Once the passenger got out of the van, the driver got back in, started the van, and said, "Ok, we can go now."  Of course he let the other passenger get back on, but it was a good laugh.

Our helicopter tour covered approximately 94 miles from the beginning until the end.  Some of the key features we saw were the mountain Haupu (which people recognize from the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark), Manawaiopuna Falls (which most people recognize from the movie Jurassic Park), the canyons on the west side of the island, Na Pali, Kilauea Lighthouse on Kilauea Point, the waterfalls at Pohakupili, the mountain Kong (aka Hokualele), and the crater between Wai'ale'ale and Kawaikini.

The approximate route of our helicopter tour started and ended at Lihue Airport.

I had about 30 minutes of my own video to go through on this trip, not counting what Jean took.  It took me awhile to splice it together into something a bit more succinct.  More recently, I labeled the places we saw in the video.  If you've already seen the video (i.e. when I originally put it up and showed it on Facebook), then take a look at it again so you can see which places these are.

My two favorite places on this excursion were Na Pali and the waterfalls at the crater between Wai'ale'ale and Kawaikini.  Na Pali is an area of razor-sharp cliffs that look like upside-down draperies in a cavern.  Flying over them, we could really see how incredibly huge they were.  Video just makes the size of everything seem different.

Draperies from Moaning Cavern.  Image courtesy of http://www.adventure-caves-usa.com/moaning-cavern.html

Seeing the crater area was incredible because we were in a hole in the mountain.  We were close to the bottom of it and we could look up hundreds of feet into the clouds.  Words don't really describe the awe that we felt looking at it.  Wai'ale'ale is the wettest place on Earth, receiving about 40 feet of rain each year.  Consequently the top of the mountain is almost perpetually covered in clouds.  I did finally find a photo of the top and it was quite barren, probably because all the nutrients in the soil get leached out by the constant flow of rain water.  We saw a few waterfalls going into the crater from the top of the mountain and were told that there can be a hundred waterfalls coming off the top under certain conditions.  Wai'ale'ale is also the tallest mountain in Kauai (but not the tallest in Hawaii) at 5,148 feet.  That's about 150 lower than Gardiner!

This was one of the major highlights of our brief trip in Hawaii.  I must recommend a helicopter tour for any island in Hawaii just because the geography is so incredible that it can only truly be viewed properly from the air.  There are a lot of places in Hawaii that can't be seen from the ground.

That night Jean and I spent some time at Kalapaki Beach at the Marriott, where were staying.  It was a full moon, and the area was lit up nicely:

Waves crash on Kalapaki Beach.

Although we didn't, the beach is prime for swimmers because it's enclosed in Nawiliwili Bay.  In the photo, you can see Kukii Point on the left and Carter Point on the right.  The mountain on the right is Kalinipuu.  It was just relaxing to be on the beach after a good dinner and enjoy the night air.