536 – Hawaii IV

Our last island was Kauai, “The Garden Island”.

We found our hotel easily enough, and except for having to walk a half a mile to find an ice machine, it was nice enough. The day after arrival, we took a helicopter tour of the island. My wife was a bit nervous as she’d never been on a helicopter before, and I have to admit, flying over Waimea Canyon was kinda scary! (It’s one of the places that they filmed Jurassic Park) That’s our helicopter at right, with our pilot, John. (click on any picture to ‘embiggen’)

There were waterfalls everywhere, and rainbows too as we flew around this lush, green island. Here’s a picture of one (forgive the reflections, but we are inside a glass bubble! *chuckle*)

The pilot was narrating everything we were seeing outside in an uninterested monotone voice, but I’m sure he’s said all this a thousand times before. The only other thing was, we really couldn’t ask him any questions as we had no microphones to speak to him through.

To the right, is probably the best picture I took in the heli, and it’s of Waimea Canyon (or just the beginning of it).

The colorations of the moss, browns of the dirt and red dirt made the views breathtaking.

Kauai actually is a small island, and the next two days, we went in different directions of our friends and one day we took the island road North to the end, stopping in and out of little shops, restaurants and scenic overlooks just enjoying our day. The next day, we did the same thing, just to the South.

The last picture I’ll post here is of the Kilauea Lighthouse, on the North side of Kauai. It’s incredibly beautiful, as is the surrounding area.

As you can see, Hawaii is an incredibly beautiful place, with kind, friendly people and temperate weather.

I hope you enjoyed my brief glimpse of our Hawaiian trip.