Choppers

Friday, 27th April

A very “bright” and early start to the day – our tour pick-up was scheduled for 7.20 am and this meant being ready for breakfast when the dining room opened at 6.30 am. It was an absolutely glorious morning – clear, sunny and calm – which meant we immediately headed for an outdoor table. More about food later.

Today was the day we did our helicopter ride – WOW plus is the only way to describe it. After arriving at the depot, we all had to be weighed (discreetly of course) and were then allocated seating according to our weights – this was to distribute the weight evenly in the helicopter. Then is was on with our special booties as we were going to land at the Jurassic Park waterfall. Guess who were fortunate enough to get the two front seats next to the pilot??? WOW again. How lucky could we be – perfect weather and perfect seats. Cat was beside himself! The pilot used to fly helicopters during the Vietnam war, consequently a bit of reminiscing occurred.

After take-off, we flew over the township of Lihue before heading inland to cross the first range of mountains. Then it was a wind through the valleys, looking up at the sides of the mountains, until we put down on a small, grass landing pad at the waterfall which featured in the film “Jurassic Park.” Just amazing! After taking off again, we followed the contours of the mountain range until we came to the Waimea Canyon (think Grand Canyon on a bit smaller scale) and again flew alongside the cliffs. Thankfully there was no wind and the pilot just made the flying seem so effortless – he obviously enjoyed his job. Then if was over the Napali coast with its 3000 feet high cliffs. There are no roads to this part of the island, the only way in is boat or walk. The hiking trails were clearly visible – definitely only for the very fit. We did a turn around “Bali Hai” before heading inland again to the highest point on the island and a circuit inside the volcano – fortunately it hasn’t erupted for a very long time.

This was the most amazing and spectacular 90 minutes!

The afternoon was fairly quiet – a bit of much needed unwinding time – after a trip to the small shopping mall in Lihue.

Food: prices are about the same as home, but the servings are enormous! We must start remembering to share. Breakfast is plentiful, but Americans only seem to eat grape jelly or strawberry jam on their toast. No marmalade! Scrambled eggs are more like chopped up fried eggs as well and probably at least half a dozen per serve (no shortage of chooks here!). All meals seem to cover with large servings of French fries but we were lucky enough to find a deli today which made sandwiches to order (no chips!). However, the bread slices were about 3.0 cm thick, plus fillings. Must remember …

The weather has been very balmy and a bit humid, but nothing unbearable.