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After the long boat ride on the Catamaran yesterday, and Pete snorkeling, we got a good night’s sleep, and on Friday we had signed up for the Sunshine Helicopter Tour. We headed out to the helicopter, excited and eager to get airborne. Our pilot’s name was Trevor, and he was a wealth of information. He told us that there are actually 136 islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. Only the seven largest are inhabited, and Kauai is the fourth largest, and supposedly the oldest. Our main concern was the weather, and it looks like this is going to be a perfect day for this adventure.

It didn’t take Trevor long to get us airborne, but before we boarded, their camera man took our photo. We bought it when we landed. Besides Trevor, there were 6 of us, two up front with Trevor and 4 in the back.

The island chain is in the middle of the Pacific tectonic plate, and there is a hot spot in the earth’s magma directly beneath, that is responsible for forming the island chain as the Pacific plate drags them over this hot spot. The Big Island may be over the hot spot now, as it is the most volcanically active island. If you’ve read Ernest Hemingway’s “Hawaii”, you have an appreciation of how these islands were formed, and over what sort of time the process has been going on. The highest mountain on Kauai is over 5,000 feet, and the pali (or cliffs) are very steep, causing the tropical weather to rise very fast when it comes up against these cliff faces, cooling and condensing into clouds that release their water over the island. The rainfall map below gives the average rainfall, and in the center of the island, an average of from 150 to 400 inches of rain a year is a lot of water. The only comparable place I know of would be Milford Sound on New Zealand’s South Island, where the annual average rainfall is 360 inches, or at least that’s what the sign said when I was there a number of years ago. It may have just been marking a particularly wet year. Of course with global warming, all bets are off.

There were tons of waterfalls. There are so many that not all of them are named, so Trevor flew us by a waterfall that he named for himself, “Trevor Falls”. ;o) Trevor has a tour guides sense of humor. Pete and I were really enjoying this flight. Trevor made it look so easy to fly the helicopter that I felt like I could even fly one myself. I might have missed my calling. ;o)

The waterfalls really were magnificent. You can believe that it must rain a lot to keep this flow going day after day. If you saw the film Jurassic Park you will recognize this next waterfall.

The shots above were from my camera . . . . . .

and these shots were from Pete’s camera.

Trevor took us over the Na Pali coast to show us these beautifully remote beaches, most of which can only be reached by boat.

It is certainly easy to see why there is no road that goes completely around the island.

Believe it or not, there is a hiking trail down there. It’s the Kalalau Trail, an 11 mile hike along the Na Pali Coast. Pete and I actually hiked in about 2 miles of that trail the last time we were here. Trevor, our pilot was born on Kauai, and has lived here his entire life. In that time he has hiked the Kalalau trail a total on ONE time. He calls it a goat trail, and has absolutely no desire to repeat the hike. I’ll talk more about that in the next chapter.

It’s easy to see why Hollywood loves this place, after filming South Pacific here in 1958. It was the perfect local to film Jurassic Park.

We are so lucky to be living on such a magnificent planet. The diversity of places to visit is endless.

With such magnificent beauty, it boggles my mind that we still seem to be such an unhappy and troubled species. I find myself wondering what must have gone through the minds of those Kamikazi pilots as they flew their mission on Pearl Harbor, and saw below them these gems floating on the ocean. War is hell. It brings to mind a quote from probably the most brilliant scientist to ever live, Albert Einstein: “I don’t know how the Third World War will be fought, but I can tell you what they will use in the Fourth—rocks!”

Don’t these views make you want to rent a kayak or Zodiac and head for these remote beaches?

Our flight is ending too soon, as Trevor heads back to the field at Princeville.

He touches down so lightly, like a feather. I would sure love to take helicopter flying lessons.

Back on terra firma, we look like we really did enjoy the tour of the island. I’d say it’s worth a repeat. This looks like a good place to take a break. Chapter 4 will pick up on Saturday, our last day in Kauai before flying to Oahu.