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Last week, I fell in love with the island of Kauai. It is so gorgeous. Yet, from what I’d read about the island, I hadn’t seen the most beautiful part of it - the Na Pali Coast. The Na Pali Coast has no roads; it can only be seen by boat or by helicopter. I’d looked into boat tours, but they didn’t match up with our port times. Some people will hike into along the coast, but hiking through it takes days - a time luxury I do not have. I had no interest in the expense of going on a helicopter tour, but then after last week, I became so tempted. After some debate, I decided to splurge and do it. So today was the day!
First thing this morning, I was up and off the ship to meet my transport to take me to the heliport. I was checked in and sorted before being taking to the helicopter pad. There, myself and the other 4 people on the tour were given a safety briefing. Then we watched as our helicopter appeared in the distance and came in to land in front of us. We loaded into our seats
- I was right next to the pilot! Our pilot, Gary, introduced himself and then we were off.
Gary had an I-Pod hooked up to the headset system. The soundtrack he had for our flight was perfect. The 007 theme song played as we lifted off and began flying over Nawiliwili harbour. The ship was below - very cool to see it from above that way. We flew over fields and lakes and villages. We passed over Tunnel Road - a spot where eucalyptus trees lean over the road creating a tunnel.
Then we were up and into the green mountains. It was so beautiful. We flew along the top and down between the mountain peaks. Everywhere around us was green. Then up ahead of us was a huge waterfall, cascading down the green cliff. The colour of the white water was sheer or like a mist. This set of falls, which can only be accessed by helicopter, is rather famous - they were shown in the movie Jurassic Park. I haven’t seen the movie, but it didn’t matter, the falls were incredible. Gary’s I-Pod played a classic dramatic song that had to have been from the movie.
Looking down at it, the only word that came to my mind was ethereal. At that moment, I felt completely overwhelmed by how beautiful it was. Honestly, it brought tears to my eyes.
From the falls, we continue through the green mountains to a more dry and flat area. Gary told us that up ahead we would be seeing the Waimea Canyon - known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. As we approached, we were coming up to a large but plain looking cliff. We were coming from fairly low, steadily rising to the top of the cliff. We passed over the top and below us opened up the massive canyon. I literally gasped aloud when the canyon appeared below us! It was just so dramatic, the way the view appeared. We flew through and over the canyon. The colour of it was awesome - red dirt contrasting with the rocks.
Beyond the canyon, were more mountains and then the ocean. We turned around the North West corner of the island and then I saw what I most wanted to see in Kauai - the Na Pali Coast. I felt stunned by the view. Massive green cliffs
crashing and rolling down to the water. Valleys and folds between the hills. We flew alongside the cliffs, spotting hidden beaches and waterfalls between the folds of the land. We were able to fly into one of the valleys so that we were surrounded on three sides by the dramatic green cliffs. It was truly awesome. Trying to write about this . . . I feel like I both can’t say enough and that words just won’t do.
At the far East end of the Na Pali Coast I was able to spot the Kee Beach, where I’d walked last week. I could also see the spot where we’d hiked into the coast to try to get a glimpse of it. Hovering above, I could see that driving and walking where I had the week before was such an infinitesimal experience of that coast line.
After Na Pali, we continued along the North shore. We flew over the village of Hanalee - where I decided last week I could live - and then Princeville. We saw the beach where the movie South Pacific was filmed. I drove past it last week, but seeing it from above was very
cool.
Then we headed into the centre of the island to the area that is known as the wettest place on earth, in terms of rainfall. It rains 360 days a year there - and naturally as we came into the area the rain picked up. Unfortunately, my photos of that part just didn’t really turn out because of the rain. All of Hawaii’s islands were formed from volcanoes. Kauai is the oldest of the islands, so it has had the most time to grow over and form the lush landscape it is known for. We flew into the volcano that formed the island of Kauai. We hovered in the middle of it. Looking around, you could see how the cliffs were indeed the shape of a volcano - and we were in the centre. But everything was covered in green. It seemed that every direction I looked, I spotted a waterfall - thin lines of white cutting through the green. One waterfall in particular was incredible. About halfway down a wall, the cliff cut inwards slightly and instead of green it was dark rock. Pouring down the rock was water, but rather than gushing strong and white, it
was like a sheer silver curtain. I’d never seen a waterfall like it.
I’ve had various struggles during my time working on ships - last year especially. I’ve had many doubts about if continuing to work onboard was the right thing for me. I’ve been exhausted and frustrated with work. But today, when I was hovering in the middle of that volcano that created Kauai, surrounded by the bright green cliffs and thin waterfalls . . . I thought of work on the ship . . . and it just didn’t matter. It wasn’t that I felt better or different or changed. It was just that none of it mattered. And that was the most wonderful thing I’d felt in a very long time.
As we flew out of the volcano, the rain cleared. Gary’s I-Pod played I Can See Clearly Now. We were headed back in the general direction of Nawiliwili Harbour, but we made one last scenic stop (hover?) - over Wailua Falls. I hadn’t yet had the chance to drive up to them, so it was cool to see them from above.
Then we headed back over the fields and highways and towards the
airport. The last song Gary played was Somewhere Over the Rainbow (a personal favourite), but the version that is known as the Hawaiian version. It was perfect.
I am so glad that I made the decision to splurge on the helicopter tour. The experience was priceless.
Lots of pictures are here! For family and friends who have me on facebook, there are a lot more there if you want to see more.
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swills82
Sarah Willett
Sounds amazing
Sounds like you had an amazing day. Pics are beautiful. Gary sounds like a cool guy :)