BigWeather's Blog

We awoke fairly early, around 7a.  Rather than eat at the resort we hopped in the Jeep and drove into Lihue, the main city on Kauai, and ate breakfast fairly near to the airport / heliport at Daddy O’s.  It was an unassuming place, located in a strip mall next to a laundromat.  It definitely seemed to be filled with locals — always a good sign.

I had three eggs over medium, bacon, two mini-pancakes, and white toast.  Michelle had the same but with wheat toast.  Genetta opted for the French toast while Addison skipped breakfast (as he only ate two meals a day).  Quite tasty!

We drove the short distance to the airport, peeling away from the main terminal to the general aviation area.  Blue Hawaiian had a nice building with a large front desk, gift store on the right, and briefing area on the left.  We checked in, after which I asked when they’d be weighing us (I had been dieting for months to ensure I was well below the weight limit).  The receptionist said “We already did, it is under the mat you’re standing on.”  Tricky!

As we were checking in they announced that the flight scheduled for thirty minutes before ours (so, around 10:30a) was cancelled due to the poor conditions as it had been pissing rain all morning and there was a lot of fog and low clouds (which is fog, haha) making helicopter flights hazardous.  After we browsed the gift area we sat in the briefing area, hopeful that it wouldn’t be for nought.  We’d planed for it, however, by having some slack in our schedule so that we could reschedule for later in the day or on subsequent days.

We put on some safety gear and sat through a safety video.  There were quite a few details, I hoped that I wouldn’t forget anything.  They decided our flight was a go!  We headed out the back of the building and onto the tarmac, standing in our designated spots awaiting signals to advance to the chopper (blades already whirring!) one-at-a-time.  As we boarded an attendant assisted us with buckling.  Though the chopper seated five and the pilot we got to go with just the four of us (and the pilot, of course!).  Michelle and I sat in front (Michelle between myself and the pilot) while the kids were in the back, all optimally positioned to distribute our weight.

The pilot introduced himself, he was a chopper pilot in the Army and from Washington state.  He reminded us to not fiddle with the safety gear or the buckles and certainly not any of the controls or it’d be an immediate return to the airport.  We donned headsets and were given a mic we could use to ask questions.  The chopper’s blades were noisy but not too bad with the headset and the motion slightly rocked the cockpit.  Finally receiving clearance he played the Hawaii Five-O theme song (Michelle grinning broadly at that) as we lifted up and away from the airport.

Wow!  Over the next forty-five minutes or so we made a clockwise circuit around the island.  Starting out we passed over Lihue’s harbor and Huleia Stream (the river in the opening sequence of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” as well as the backdrop for some scenes of “Jurassic Park”) and skirted the north side of the mountain ridge just south of Lihue.  Here the land was lush, green, and relatively flat with many farms and ranches.

We quickly left that behind and entered the canyon and gulch area that covers most of south Kauai.  Historically, the terrain held resistance groups seeking to challenge the powers of the day.  At the head of one of the canyons lay the gorgeous Manawaiopuna Falls, also known as Jurassic Falls as it was used in the beginning of the movie “Jurassic Park” when the “guests” arrive via helicopter.

The next canyon over, Waimeia Canyon, was absolutely spectacular.  Here the vegetation thinned a bit, revealing rugged red striations.  At the head of the various smaller canyons feeding into the main canyon were waterfalls including the spectacular Waipo’o Falls.

Heading north and west the land beyond the canyon sloped gently to the sea and we could see the island of Ni’ihau beyond, the island where the Japanese Zero landed during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Turning north along the coast we soon entered the crown jewel of Kauai (and heck, of Hawaii), the Na Pali (Napali) Coast.

Here jagged ridges lined the shore, harboring lush valleys with waterfalls.  Sheer cliffs, arches, and sea caves dotted the shore along with small secluded beaches.  The water itself was a variety of the most amazing shades of blue.  Thankfully the cloud deck lifted a bit and we were able to enjoy some spectacular views.  Unfortunately many of the photos reflected us on the cockpit glass but we still managed to get some great photographs.

Continuing our journey around the island, next up was Hanalei Bay and then a jaunt into the very rugged interior (80% of Kauai is rugged wilderness).  Our pilot expertly dropped us into an extinct volcano’s caldera where waterfalls poured in from all sides.  Sadly the clouds were thickest here (not uncommon) but it was still quite the treat.  Exiting the caldera we flew south and back to Lihue airport.

After landing and return to Blue Hawaiian’s office we browsed the gift shop while waiting for the video from the flight to be offloaded onto a USB drive for us to take home with us.  Michelle bought a t-shirt and we also picked up a magnet.

Headed back out to Daddy O’s as it was near the airport.  I had the Big Teri burger (Swiss, teriyaki sauce, and mayo) with waffle fries and mac salad.  It was OK, a bit well done and salty though.  Genetta had fried chicken, Addison chicken and waffles with waffle fries, and I don’t recall what Michelle had.

We decided to drive along the east and north shore of Kauai to Hanalei Bay.  There is no road all the way around Kauai due to the Napali coast being impassable (and even if it were possible to make it passable the desire to maintain one of the most beautiful coasts in the world would hopefully win out) — the road ends at Hanalei Bay.

We first stopped at a McDonald’s hoping to score some sweet tea but no luck there, grrrr!  We had parked in a grocery store adjacent to the McDonald’s, reachable via a small foot bridge over a charming tropical stream so there was that, at least.  After McDonald’s we drove a way farther up the coast looking for a pineapple farm but had no luck finding it.

Next up was Kilauea Lighthouse on a rocky promontory on the northeast coast of the island.  Sadly it was closed to visitors that day but we did get to enjoy some distant views of it and the blue ocean beyond.  During the winter months it was allegedly a great place to view humpbacks but none to be seen in May.  Instead we were treated to flocks of white birds, so that was nice.  I strained my eyes looking for seals or turtles along the rocky shore far below but to no avail.

A few more miles down the road we stopped at Anini Beach, a pretty nice beach frequented by locals and notable for the many large trees growing all the way to the water.  Given the very rough surf that the north-facing shores of Kauai receive in the winter those are very hardy trees!  Thereafter the road took a few tight turns (including one that afforded a gorgeous view of the Hanalei River valley and some of its taro — a sweet root vegetable — farms) and descended to the small town of Hanalei and its famous bay.

Normally the bay would be a gorgeous blue but sadly the clouds that had been lingering all day lowered a bit and started spitting rain.  Unfortunately the pier out into the bay was also closed so we gave up on seeing many sights and checked out some of the shopping in town.  The small strip mall had a number of clothing, surf, and souvenir shops (including one selling small tiki figures) but nothing really jumped out at us so we left empty-handed.  Unfortunately Addision had wanted to stop at a juice stand at the shopping center but by the time we got back to it around 3p it had closed.  We hopped back in the car and headed back east then south towards Lihue.  Along the way we passed many white sheets with congratulatory messages for graduating seniors, a neat custom.

About halfway back to Lihue we stopped at a juice stand (Kalalea Juice Hale) for shaved ice and smoothies.  Michelle and Genetta had strawberry smoothies while I had a blueberry and strawberry shaved ice.  As with most places in Hawaii seating was outside.  We enjoyed our treats and the positively Indiana Jones-esque jagged peaks behind the place.  Literally.  The peaks, the Anahola Mountains, contains a particularly striking one called Kalalea (or King Kong’s Profile) that was used for the fade-in of the Paramount logo in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”!  Some roosters and chickens pecked through a garbage can looking for leftovers and eventually even hopped on the picnic table we were sitting at.  That was our signal that it was time to go!

In Lihue we stopped at a SafeWay for groceries.  Even it being a chain store in the United States it had some odd things that we don’t see back home — a Chinese product called Lei Hang powder that I still have no idea what it was as well as some pinkish… stuff.  Hard pass!

For dinner we stopped at the Garden Island Grille in Koloa around 6p.  We entered from the back, passing by a guy cleaning some stuff off.  There was a Hawaiian lady playing keyboard and singing with an Aloha sign behind her.  She played some covers and a bit of her own material.  It wasn’t bad but I’m not a huge fan of Hawaiian music.  Addison and I had kalua pork nachos.  I didn’t think they were that bad but Addison did not care for the cheese as it was a sauce and not melted.  I can’t recall what Genetta and Michelle had.

We returned to the room right at 7:30p.  Big night for TV as it was the finale for “Game of Thrones”.  We were sure we were too late but it turned out that John Oliver was still on.  After catching the end of that we watched the finale until 9:30p.  Addison had gone down to the beach earlier and I set out to meet him after the finale.  I met him returning, however, so we walked back together and we all turned in early due to a very early morning wake up the next day (Monday).