Kauai – Day Six

by chris cunningham

[HELICOPTER TOUR VIDEO]

Suffering from a few mosquito bites tonight but not nearly like I did in Fiji. I had to drive down to the town of Hanapepe today to catch the helicopter flight around the island. There’s a small airstrip down there that they operate the tours from. The difference with this company is that they fly with the doors off! So not only is it really loud it’s also very windy and cold. But they also land at a waterfall for a little picnic and a swim. So that was worth it. We flew out and up though Waimea canyon then turned back south and then west and headed up along the Na Pali coast which was crazy beautiful. The ocean was like a lake today and looked emerald green next to the tan beaches.

After the coast we headed inland and landed at the waterfall. I’d like to say it was like the helicopter landing in Jurassic Park but we didn’t land right at the base. We had to walk about 30 yards through the trees. But yeah, like I’m complaining! I tried to swim underneath the falls but it’s a lot of water coming down right on top of you so it’s hard to breathe. The current is also really pushing you away from the impact spot so it’s pretty funny trying to approach it. I tried to come in from side walls of the canyon but it still pretty difficult. I got underneath the falls once and took in a mouth full of water! Ack! The attempt can be seen in the video although it’s pretty obvious it’s total chaos underneath a waterfall. Anyway, went back to shore and had lunch and chilled out enjoying the view.

We finished with the waterfall a little early so the pilot took us on a short side trip. We took off back up through the trees and headed over to check an area that has a ton of waterfalls. If it wasn’t to windy we’d go in and it turned out to be fine. One of falls was the Jurassic Park waterfall which looked oddly small even with more water flowing down it than in the movie. The whole flight the pilot would do “S” shaped banked turns to get views from each side of the helicopter. It is waaaay strange to be on the inside part of turn looking straight down a few thousand feet without a door on. Seriously, I kept checking my seatbelt and holding the strap above me. Total girly man! Hey it’s high enough to hit terminal velocity so I’m holding that handstrap damnit.