Hawaii 2007:
Day 6 - Nawiliwili, Kauai
Day 6 - Nawiliwili, Kauai
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Thursday, August 2, 2007: The port at Nawiliwili is not particularly pretty, but it does offer a few Maersk sighting opportunities. |
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It took no time at all to get to Dollar Rent-a-Car to pick up the convertible we had reserved for the day. |
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Why, thank you, we did feel welcomed to Kauai! |
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Our first stop was breakfast at Dani's Restaurant in Lihue, where Debbie had eaten the tastiest banana pancakes back in 1988. |
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Fortunately, they're still on the menu. Tom enjoyed coconut pancakes, Jill had sweet bread French toast, and we shared a kalua pig omelet with rice. |
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We had just a couple of hours before our midday helicopter tour, so we hurried onto our next destination, passing these funny white birds along the way. |
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Our morning destination was Coconut Grove Marketplace, where we bought lots of clothing, jewelry, and souvenirs. |
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We all had some shave ice before we had to leave. Here's Jill with her rainbow shave ice and our Del Sol light-activated canvas bag filled with Del Sol goodies. We're suckers for that store. |
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We had a 1:00 date with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters again, this time to take the "Kauai ECO Adventure" tour. The other Blue Hawaiian locations had been fairly close to the port, so you'd only need a cab ride to get there, but the Kauai location is just a short walk from the pier, then you're transported to the helipad by van. |
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This time, Jill and Debbie were in the front row seated next to Pilot Andy, and Tom was in back behind him. |
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We lifted up and were able to see back to the south where our ship was docked. |
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We headed that direction and flew over the scenic Lihue resort area ... |
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... and over the not-as-scenic Nawiliwili port for another aerial view of our ship. |
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We headed straight over the ridge to the south of our ship ... |
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... and to the lush landscapes beyond. Much of this land is privately owned by the Robinson family who also own the entire island of Niihau. |
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Here's another beautiful waterfall which was probably used in a Jurassic Park film, but it's hard to keep them all straight. |
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This valley is a nature preserve that the Robinsons maintain. |
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As we moved toward Waimea Canyon, the terrain grew rockier. |
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Another beautiful waterfall. |
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Looking back to the south, here's the island of Niihau off the south shore of Kauai. |
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But back to Waimea Canyon. Known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, it's very scenic and surprisingly large for being on an island, but the nickname might be reaching a bit. |
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Another view for you. |
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We flew up the canyon, then over a ridge toward the Na Pali coast, passing these observation stations. |
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Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the spectacular Na Pali Coast. |
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We flew into a valley where, as on the Big Island, young boys were lowered by rope to bury the remains of the ancient royalty in hidden chambers in the cliff walls, then killed by letting them drop to their deaths. Bummer for them, huh? |
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Fortunately, falling to your death in this valley would be rocky and swift. |
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The Na Pali Coast is accessible only by boat or by foot. |
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Flying into another valley along the coast, we saw up close how water has carved out the unique shape of the cliffs. |
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We were able to fly extremely close to the cliff walls. Fortunately, helicopter tour accidents are extremely rare. |
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This is Kalalau Valley, the large valley seen from the Kalalau Lookout in Koke'e State Park high on the back ridge, which is one of the most famous views in Kauai. |
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As we traveled along the coast, we could see the sharp peaks in the distance that signal the end of the coastline and the start of civilization. |
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But first, we took a look at this huge sea cave. The trail along the coast has to climb up and over this sea cave, which helps explain why the trail can take quite a while to hike. |
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We reached the jagged edges of the coastline, visible here as slightly darker landscape in front of the lighter green cliffs in the background. |
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This is Hanalei Bay and the town of Princeville. |
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Here's a larger view of the Princeville area. |
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Slightly further down are the beaches where "South Pacific" was filmed. |
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At this point, we headed inland ... |
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... over one ridge after another ... |
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... seeing gorgeous sights like this. |
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The landscape was dotted with waterfalls everywhere. |
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Our inland destination was the huge crater of Mount Waialeale, known as one of the wettest spots on earth. |
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The sheer cliff walls drop 3,000 feet to the crater floor. |
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Small waterfalls tumble all the way to the floor as well. The crater was beautiful and the whole experience of descending to the bottom was amazing. |
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Leaving the crater, we flew over Kauai's incredible landscape. There are many different types of trees and flying over the tops of them is very cool. View the larger version of this photo to see the varied landscape. |
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We spotted one of the film sets of the 2008 Ben Stiller film, "Tropic Thunder." The Hawaiian Islands have hosted many film sets over the decades. |
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We flew over famous Wailua Falls and decided to drive out later in the afternoon to enjoy them from a different angle. |
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Jill's sharp eyes spotted this Maersk container in the middle of some farmland. |
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Shortly after our helicopter tour ended, we got this shot of another Eco-Star helicopter arriving. |
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We were starving, so we had lunch at Asia Tang, which was also located in Harbor Mall where Blue Hawaiian Helicopters is located. When we were done, we picked up our last tour DVD for our collection. |
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Jill had had enough of beautiful scenery and wanted to spend time in the sun with her friends, so Tom and Debbie took the short drive to Wailua Falls. |
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Kauai is covered with wild chickens, and the parking lot at Wailua Falls is no exception. |
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On our drive back, we passed the farm with the random Maersk container that Jill had spotted during our helicopter tour. Why is it there? We'll never know. |
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For dinner, Tom and Debbie opted for a casual meal at the Cadillac Diner. |
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We chose to eat outdoors in the beautiful weather, enjoying a burger, meat loaf, artichoke dip and onion rings. The Cadillac Diner was a nightly destination for Jill and her friends, but we were there about five hours too early to witness the phenomenon. |
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We strolled through Pride of America's small Hawaiian museum on deck 6, which featured a terrific display on late 1800s Hawaiian Royalty and another on the history of the Matson Line, once famous for its Hawaiian cruises. |
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Here's the atrium with its Washington D.C. theme ... |
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... from the tile floor inset ... |
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... to the bust of Thomas Jefferson just below the ornate ceiling. |
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The American theme is evident throughout the ship, most notably in the stairwells, where each landing features a huge wall photograph representing a location in America. Here is Yosemite, California ... |
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... with the glaciers of Alaska, ... |
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... Monument Valley in Arizona and the New England fall colors, ... |
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... Fremont Street in Las Vegas and the Golden Gate Bridge, ... |
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... cobblestone streets in Boston and Mardi Gras floats in New Orleans, ... |
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... and the Dallas skyline. |
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Here's the view of the pool on deck 11 looking down from deck 12, just steps away from our cabin. |
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By the time we returned, our beds were turned down. This gives you an idea of how the room looks when divided by the sheer curtain. There is also an opaque curtain that can be pulled as well. |
Copyright © Deborah Schilling/Thomas Bundy