Hold On To Your Butts!

 Pella in Paradise

Day 7: More Sightseeing On and Above Kauai

Monday, October, 9, 2023

V and I woke up early again.  Mind you, we were still on Pacific Time, so it wasn't that early for our bodies, but it was still early.  On this day, we joined the hotel's Sunrise Ceremony.  We waited in the lobby for the guide to arrive, and we had some of the yummy juice.  As I was sitting there, a cat decided that I hadn't sneezed enough and joined me.

I did not name the cat that day, but now I shall call it Tortuga because the fur looks like a tortoise-shell design.  Or just that I'm still obsessed with the turtles from the night before.  Yes, Tortuga the Hotel Cat.  

Our guide, Kamealoha arrived and introduced himself to those of us joining the ceremony.  He walked us around the grounds, some of which we could see from our hotel window.  Tortuga joined us, too.

Kamealoha

Cue Lion King opening music

Wailua River State Park
 We can see this from 
our hotel room window.

Kamealoha told us about the traditions of the Hawaiian people, as well as his thoughts about today's Kauai.  He did a couple of chants to welcome the sun.

Kamealoha told us a little bit about his family, and they are from Ilocos Norte in the Philippines.  His grandfather went to school with Ferdinand Marcos.  Wait a minute.  So did my grandfather!  I bet he knew Papa.  The family moved to Kauai before Kamealoha was born.  So of course I needed to take a photo with my fellow Ilocano-American!

Afterward, V and I got in the water, which was much cooler than at Lanikai Beach.  V placed her Go Pro in the sand underwater to get footage of the fish swimming.  I don't have that video, so here is some footage from above the water.

V tried to get a Little Mermaid shot of waves splashing behind me, and I even sang, but it didn't work.

Watch and you'll see, someday I'll be
Part of Your World!

She went out onto a big log because she's adventurous like that.  I don't know why anyone ever wondered why her daughter is the same way.  

We took a lot of pictures, and even tried to get a picture of Bro looking at us from the hotel window, but that one didn't turn out very well.  Yes, I took more pictures of Tortuga the Hotel Cat.  No, I will not post them here, because, well, I have a lot more for you to see! 

Waterfall at hotel lobby

Flowers in hotel lobby pond

 Meanwhile, JT had noticed that we took some pictures during the shows, and asked if we had any that he could share on Rockapella's social media accounts, making sure to give credit to V and me.  Why sure!  So yeah, that was awesome.

We went to Island Country Markets, which is an outdoor shopping center.  I got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  So fancy and exotic, right?  I did see other stuff like chocolate, but didn't want anything to melt in the car.  I also saw a variety of Hawaiian condoms.

We were waiting to see if we would get a confirmation for our reservation, and decided to go to Hanalei.  If Hanalei sounds familiar to you, look up the lyrics to "Puff the Magic Dragon".  OK, so they call it "Honah Lee", but it's pretty much this place. I saw a really cool tribal art museum, and got some cards there.  

TRUTH

Also, this happened.

We decided to go to the beach for a bit while we were there.  The sand was very white, and Bro liked the water.  It was also pretty warm as we stood out in the sun, but still really nice. 

While we were there, V got the confirmation for our helicopter tour!   Very excited, we quickly went back to the car and cleaned off the sand from our feet.

We drove to the helicopter landing section of the Lihu'e airport, and parked in the designated area.

At check-in, I perused the merchandise.  They weighed us (yikes!), and we signed our lives away on the waiver forms.  I used the facilities and perused these prior to going to the tarmac.

Wondering if my butt sat where
Spielberg's butt or Ford's butt sat.

They had us put on these booties so that we wouldn't bring any foreign substances to the soil when we would land.  LAND!  Not every helicopter tour allows landing where we were about to go; in fact, this was the only tour that allowed it.  We also had fanny packs with our life vests inside.

Junior went through the safety spiel, and explained what would be happening, and introduced us to Isaac, our pilot for the tour.  

We walked to the helicopter and we were assigned our seats.  I guess that's what the weighing was for.  I sat in back of the pilot, and was worried that my slight acrophobia was going to get the better of me because I was seated at the window, but nope.  We were given headphones, and we listened to the film score from "Jurassic Park"!!!  I about lost it at that point because I was so excited, and knew that we were in for an adventure of a lifetime.  I did tear up a little, but there was no time for too much of that, because before we knew it, we were up in the air!

Liftoff.  Is that appropriate for a helicopter ride?

Helicopter Approaching Jurassic Falls

I don't know why the marker is Olaf. 
Or is it LEGO Star Wars?

Isaac

When we landed at Jurassic Falls, we were told which direction to walk, and Isaac took photos of us.  We also helped out the couple in the helicopter, named Bill and Romy.  Romy was pregnant, and was so excited that she was able to do this tour before it would be too late in the pregnancy.

Trail to Jurassic Falls

The falls were gorgeous.  I pictured the helicopter landing there in "Jurassic Park", and was just in complete awe.  I wished that everybody I knew could experience this for themselves; it was spectacular.

Jurassic Falls

We did need to leave eventually, and our tour continued, as Isaac told us through our headphones about the sights we were seeing, where "Tropic Thunder" and some James Bond movies were filmed.

Waimea Canyon

Site where Bond flew helicopter
through that hole on the right

Gorgeous coastline

I'm in a helicopter!!

Locale for many films

Stuff I learned on the tour:

• The island of Ni'hou is owned by one family.
• Kauai Coffee Company distributes most of its coffee in Hawaii.
• There are no predators on Kauai, and no snakes.

Seeing Kauai waterfalls 

Once we landed, we returned our fanny packs and threw away our booties, then bought a bunch of merchandise, including a hat that I hope to give to JT one of these days.

Knowing we couldn't top that experience for the day, we went back to our hotel and had dinner outside at Mamahune's Tiki Bar, and watched the sunset.  I'm really glad that we spent our last beachy sunset there.  

Rum the Jewels
My fire died, so it just looks like
this is where I place my cigars.

Ahi Poke Bowl

Afterward, Bro got a tiki mug souvenir to go, and it came with yet another drink.  Well, OK, then!  We shall sleep well tonight!

Next Up:  Aloha, Kauai

From the Canyon to the Shores of Kauai

  Pella in Paradise

Day 6: Sunday, October 6, 2023

Sightseeing on Kauai

Still on a happiness high from the night before, V and I woke up early to watch the sunrise from our room.  

V followed JT's wishes for us and booked us a helicopter ride for the next day before we ventured out for a drive around the island.  I tried to get in touch with my mom's cousin so that maybe we could visit, but we never got to talk to her.  Next time, Auntie Janing!

We picked up breakfast at the McDonald's drive-through, where I got a haupia pie, because it exists there.

I was in the back seat with all of the snacks, as usual.  I might have fallen asleep at one point, because all of a sudden I saw out the window that we were up on a mountain or something.

We were actually on our way to view Waimea Canyon.  Some people had pulled over prior to arriving at the official lookout site, so we did, too.  Wow.  This was like stepping into a painting.  I wish I was talented with watercolors or chalk or something, because I was already inspired with my no talent.

At the lookout point, we were required to pay for our parking, and enter our license plate number on the machine.  The pass was good for all of the lookout points throughout the day.  

Hibiscus Flower next to the walkway

View from Waimea Canyon Lookout

It was a little breezy

See how the colors change according to the 
cloud positions?  So pretty.

View from Ni'Ihau Viewpoint

When we arrived at the other viewpoint, we saw sound guy Nate and his girlfriend go to the Canyon Trail.  That was a long trail that I did not want to traverse.  It was cool to see people walking the trail later from our vantage points, though.  Bro and V hadn't prepared for such a long hike, otherwise, they probably would have done it.

By the time we arrived At Kalalau Lookout, it was a little drizzly, and we saw some waterfalls in the distance.

Taking advantage of awesome zoom on my camera
This is one of 3 waterfalls in the video below.

We had to clean our shoes before walking on the way to Wai'ale'ale - "One of the wettest spots on Earth."  I didn't hike as far as Bro and V, but they didn't actually go all the way to the wettest spot.  While I waited for them, I took selfies.  I also talked to a woman whom was part of a larger group. We observed an older gentleman from her group get his shoe stuck in the railing, which caused him to hang down from it a bit upside-down because he was trying to take a shortcut from the viewpoint to the trail.  He was laughing and so were his friends, so everything was OK.  

V demonstrates shoe cleaning

Bro at Na Pali Kona

On their way to hike the Phea Trail

Without Zoom

Staying Safe & Taking Selfies

We then went to the Kokee Museum.  I wanted to take a picture of two boys playing a game inside the museum, but I didn't want to be creepy.

Model of Kauai

I fed wild chickens!  They had bags of bird feed available when I bought my cute new bag, so I went out to feed them.  Once I began to toss the seed, a bunch of them came out of the woods to join in the feast.  Also, there was a cute dog just chilling outside the restaurant next to the museum.

On our way down the mountain, we returned to a place near the first stop we made so that we could take photos of the red soil and the nearby babbling brook.

We found our way to Hanapepe and soon realized that it was the home of Lilo and Stitch!

I love my Bro so much.

Inside one of the stores, the store owner told V that L&S artist/director Dean DeBlois drew something for their store, which was not for sale, but it was on display there.  Later on in the evening, V showed me the business card that the woman gave her and it was our Auntie Janing's (married) last name!  Had I only seen it while we were in the store, I would have asked if she knew her.  Anyway, this woman told us to go to Poipu beach, so we headed there after our shopping and photo shoots.

Plumeria Tree Goals

View from under the Plumeria tree

We were able to find a good parking spot at Poipu Beach, but we couldn't get into one of the restaurants.  Nearby, though, the Marriott Vacation Club had an outside bar with food which was available to non-guests.  The server was a transplant from Rhode Island, I think, and she said that there are a lot of people from the mainland like her that go there once and decide to come back to stay.  I sure don't blame them.

Koloa Mudslide

Beyond Burger

While we ate our dinner, we saw that there were a couple of turtles on the sand with cones near them with signs taped onto them telling people to let the turtles rest.

We also enjoyed watching surfers.  

Ah, this life.  It was bliss.  I mean, look at the gorgeous sunset!

Wishing again that I was a painter

On the way back to our car, we got a closer look at the turtles.

Then we saw a bunch of people gathered further down the beach.  It was dark by then, but we figured it must be something important.  Whoa.  They were all looking at a group of about 30 turtles coming up on the shore!  It was AMAZING.  

Thank goodness for the night vision on my camera!  I will cherish that moment forever, it was such a treat!

We went back to the hotel room and rested from our beautiful day.  V and I needed to wake up early the next morning for even more wonderment!

Good night, Tortugas!

Next up:  Jurassic Day