Day 21
Woke up, got nicely showered and dressed, and took our Christmas Card photo. Hung around a while, then left before noon to buy my Uke and to do a major highlight - helicopter!
Checked out the pallet of Ukes at Costco and, amazingly, the quality was quite nice and it was a steal at $99. It's a Washburn Lyon LU-5 with Koa laminate and abalone inlay. It looks really sharp. Even Kristen says it sounds better than the old ($20) one. Great souvenir.
Checked out the pallet of Ukes at Costco and, amazingly, the quality was quite nice and it was a steal at $99. It's a Washburn Lyon LU-5 with Koa laminate and abalone inlay. It looks really sharp. Even Kristen says it sounds better than the old ($20) one. Great souvenir.
Then it was on to Jack Harter Helicopters. We all got weighed (Jill saw the secret weight list and was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, at her and Kristen's weights.) Then after a pre-flight FAA briefing it was a van ride to the airport with the other family that was joining us. It was all very regimented, as it should be.
As soon as I saw I was first in line i KNEW I had the middle seat in the rear, exactly what I didn't want. But Kristen was sitting next to me, so it ended up being fine, and I was able to take 165 pictures so I guess I had a good view! Jill sat up front next to the pilot, which was amazing.
As soon as I saw I was first in line i KNEW I had the middle seat in the rear, exactly what I didn't want. But Kristen was sitting next to me, so it ended up being fine, and I was able to take 165 pictures so I guess I had a good view! Jill sat up front next to the pilot, which was amazing.
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I'll let the pictures tell the story, mostly. But we circled the whole island and got a narrated tour for about 65 minutes. We covered all the major areas, most of which you can only see from a chopper or maybe from a backpacking trip. Waimea canyon was the pilot's cue to synch the music for a high point, just as we cleared a cliff overlooking the canyon, by about 3 feet.
These photos are just the highlights. Amazingly, the other family took about 3 photos. I guess they're jaded. Lots of waterfalls but they would have been more spectacular if we had had more rain. Still good, though. My favorite was the Na Pali coast, with its deserted valleys and beaches, and no roads.I asked some questions over the mic but the other passengers were for the most part silent, which was a little disappointing. We did have some rain but the rotor blades cleared it immediately and it had no impact. We went from sun to rain and back again several times. That's Kauai for you. Overall it was very expensive but worth it for about $750. Jill got us a free DVD with a coupon, whoopee! Not of our flight though, a generic Jack Harter one. |
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Then it was off to the Marriott for a late lunch at Duke's - named after the famous beach boy surfer legend at Waikiki. It was nice but run by the same group as Keoki's and really almost the same thing, except on the Marriott's beach. Jill and I had Caesar salads with fish (me) and chicken (Jill).
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Back home for a late swim in the pool, followed by a late dinner at Roy's. Roy is a "Celebrity Chef" and even though he's probably on vacation somewhere in the south of France, the food was very good. Kristen even had a multi course kid's meal. Dave had a fish dish (very good but now forgotten), Jill had short ribs.
And before going to Roy's we finally got to see the sea turtles in the cove next to the condo... the photo will give an idea how big they are - 2-3' across! Day 22 >>> |
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