Monday
So we woke up on Monday pretty early as anticipated. We booked the Blue Hawaii helicopter tour for early that morning so I set an alarm for 6. Needless to say I didn’t need it.
We watched a beautiful sunrise from our room and head out to breakfast in the lounge. We both had cereal and milk. I had a coffee from the big machine there. It was actually really good. They offered us kosher bagels that we actually took with us for lunch. Neither DW nor myself really care for lox so we avoided the whole “open package” fiasco many fellow DDF’ers deal with.
Surreal Sunrise
I booked the BH tickets through the hotel so I can use up some more of the GCs I had laying around. We headed out to the airport and it found the place pretty easily. We were a few minutes late but it didn’t seem to matter. I didn’t realize I had to pick up tickets form the hotel concierge desk but the woman behind the counter was very nice and just called them to confirm our reservations. When checking in I requested the front seats and they were able to accommodate us. They made me take my cap off but they gave DW a headset to where. I usually get pretty motion sick but I took 2 Dramamine an hour before the flight and I felt fine the entire time.
Previous tour coming in. I was actually surprised because I thought the 9am was the earliest
I don’t need to describe the absolute beauty. I’ll let some pictures do the talking.
Tree Tunnel from the air
Coastline
Just awesome!
Some of the pictures I tried to take didn’t come out good because of the glare and reflections off the glass. I guess if you went specifically to take pictures you could go with Jack’s Adventure because they don’t have windows.
Our pilot was a lot of fun. He was very knowledgeable about the island and also knew a lot about the movies filmed there. It was pretty cool to see “Jurassic Falls.”
After the helicopter ride we actually decided to purchase the video. It was such a beautiful day out and I had a hard time capturing some of the key photos (like the napali coastline.) Like @yehuda mentioned, since we booked through the hotel we got a free DVD and tee shirt.
From there we decided to go to Wal-Mart since we didn’t go the night before. It is right near the airport. We picked up some minor souvenirs, bug spray, water shoes that would also be good for hiking, and a snorkel set for DW (I already own). We didn’t want to be bothered with renting as we weren’t sure when we would go snorkeling. The whole set was only 9 bucks anyway.
We then headed to Hawaiian Village to rent some kayaks. IMHO the $35 pp was well worth it. Swimming under a waterfall is classic Hawaii. After a short 10 minute kayak ride (which was more than enough for me) you have to hike about a mile to the falls. It isn’t a tough hike but I’m definitely happy we were wearing bathing suits and water shoes. Parts of the hike were pretty muddy and you actually have to cross a river that is about 2.5 feet deep. They stretched a rope across to help.
The waterfall itself is pretty awesome. It’s completely surrounded by forest (and chickens). The water was pretty chilly but I braved it to “shower” under the falls itself. I had my gopro with me and got some awesome video and photos. Apparently it started raining while we were there but it’s hard to tell because of the falls.
Under the Falls
We saw on the map that there is a shorter hike back to the kayaks that doesn’t require you wading through a river. We tried to find it but ended up on the original path. We decided to continue kayaking to the Fern Grotto. It’s only about 5 minutes further. When you get there, you need to tie up your kayak and climb up a ledge that is about 6 feet high. There is a short concrete ramp from there that takes you to the grotto. It’s pretty cool to see.
Fern Grotto (taken with gopro)
On the way back to the Hawaiian village, just as we were paddling past tree coverage, the skies completely opened up. I could barely see in front of me as we frantically paddles back towards Hawaiian village. BH we were wearing bathing suits and had waterproof bags for all out stuff. It stopped raining as we pulled up to the dock (Hawaiian weather). We decided to walk around the actual village until we dried off. The admission fee was included in the kayak rental. It’s somewhat interesting but I wouldn’t make a special trip to go see it. There are, however, huge roosters and peacocks everywhere. Those were pretty cool.
We decided to skip ‘opaeka’a falls even though it is right on the road. We were tired, hungry, and wet. We got back to the hotel and tried sitting by the pool but it was still cloudy (the only day that it would be. Thank God it was sunny in the morning during our helicopter ride) and since we were wet, it was not really enjoyable. We headed to the spa instead. The dry sauna really hit the spot. The heat gets right into your bones. I tired the wet sauna too and it was equally relaxing.
We went back to our room and right on time, room serve came with our meals. Tonight was burgers. FANTASTIC! There is nothing like a hot meal after a long day. They even sent up little glass bottles of condiments.
Pastrami burger with fried onions
Finished product. We brought the buns from home