Kauai'i Helicopter Ride

Today was a full day of activities and what a great day it was!  We started off by heading over to Sunshine Helicopter where we booked a morning ride.  It's a rather expensive treat but well worth it provided it's a clear day.  We were fortunate that it was sunny this morning even though there were some rain clouds.

I have to say, Hawaiians in Kauai are very friendly folks.  The staff at Sunshine made sure we felt welcome.  After finalizing the details and paperwork for the heli ride, Matt, Nicole and I had some time to do a little shopping around the plaza where the Sunshine office was located. 

We managed to spend some money picking up souvernirs and enjoyed watching the chickens and roosters peck around the property.  Kauai'i factoid:  A few years ago, a hurricane blew through Kauai'i and scattered all of the farm chickens around the island.  The surviving chickens and their offspring continue to live on the island but are now wild.  They're so many of them!  Imagine the road kill! LOL!

Nicole chatting the cute pilot!

The helicopter ride was spectacular.  Each of the passengers (6 in total) were seated in the cabin based on our weight to ensure the helicopter was balanced. We were handed a pair of headphones to cut out the engine noise and also, so that the pilot could talk about the sights.  I'm surprised that I didn't have any issues flying.  I have a fear of heights but it seems to have become less of a problem over the past few months. The ride was also surprisingly smooth.  Lifting off was barely noticeable except for the fact that the ground was moving away from beneath. 

If there's a place to take a helicopter ride, Hawaii is definitely one of them.  The mountains and landscapes are breath taking!  I took some photos but they don't do the island justice.  Also, I was taking pictures through a glass door and sometimes the reflection appeared in the photos. Nicole loved the ride so much, she wants to do a helicopter ride to the Volcano State Park on the Big Island rather than hike through.  We'll see if that's possible.  Apparently we'll get 30% off for using the same service.

After the ride, we grabed some lunch at a local bar and grill.  Matt and Nicole ordered burgers and I ordered fish tacos.  The food was quite tasty! In the afternoon, we drove along the Napali Coast and to the Waimea Canyon.  We had seen these during the heli ride and now we wanted to check it out from the ground.  The coast is quite spectacular (I know, I'm using that word a lot...but really, it IS spectacular!) and the ride to the canyon was lots of fun.  We took a winding road all the way to the first lookout point.  Unfortunately, it got too cloudy and a bit rainy by the time we reached the lookout and we couldn't see a darn thing!  We all got a good laugh about it.  As we climbed the steps to the lookout, a white mass of mist revealed itself. We could only see about 5 metres in front of us. We took a few photographs and headed back down.

The soil around Kauai'i is a dark rusty red.  Quite striking agains the lush green tropical forest.  The winding ride back to sea level was lots of fun.  It would be great to take this road on a motorcycle!  By the time we got to the bottom again, the sky had cleared up and it was bright and sunny.  The clouds were still hanging over the mountains though. 

We got back to our condo around 5:30 pm.  We chilled out for about an hour or so before heading out again for dinner.  We were joining Sarah and her family at a barbecue retaurant.  Dinner was quite lovely.  I was happy I got the chance to see Sarah before she departed.  She and Shannon are heading off to the Big Island but our schedules are just slightly out of synch that we wouldn'd be able to meet again.  Sarah's father paid for dinner, which was very generous and kind of him to do.  Matt and I shared a combo platter of barbecued ribs, pork and chicken with all the traditional fixings - baked beans, coleslaw, corn bread and fries.  Good thing we shared, the portions were enormous and neither of us could finish the meal.  Portions are so huge in the U.S.

It was a long day and we were dog tired by the time we retuned to the condo.  I'm happy though that the day was to full.  Matt will be heading back to Toronto tomorrow night and we wanted to make sure he took in as many sights as possible.  We check out of the condo tomorrow morning and we'll move to our new hotel.  Matt will be hanging with us for the day and then we'll drop him off at the airport for his 9:00 pm flight back home.

Great day with family and friends!