Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007 - 22/5/07

Up reasonably early today to get ready for our Jack Harter Helicopter ride. We were a bit early so Yu-Jin played on a rusted out truck and chased a rooster around. Kauai is known for its feral chickens and they are everywhere. Every person taking a flight has to be weighed and your seating allocation is based on the weight. Cornell, his first day on the job, drove us to the heliport and provide us with a life jacket. FAA rules stipulate if you are flying over water you must wear a life jacket. At least in a helicopter. Our fellow travellers were Sandy from North Carolina and Bruce and Pamela from Cleveland.

The tour was brilliant. There was an abundance of beautiful waterfalls. We journeyed through the Waimea Canyon, up the Na Pali Coast (not as spectacular as I expected because of a lack of perspective, size-wise), the north shore, Mt Wai'ale'ale (perhaps the wettest place on earth) - where it started raining incidentally and Wailua Falls before returning to the heliport.

Jack Harter Helicopters Office

Life jackets make me look sexy

Our Jack Harter helicopter

A boy in a helicopter

Marriot Resort on Kauai

Kauai countryside

Cascading waterfalls

Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon 2

Waimea Canyon waterfall

Waimea Canyon 3

Flight control over the Waimea Canyon

Striking photo of Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon 4

Weathered rock of the Waimea Canyon

Classic photo of Na Pali coast

Secluded beach on the Na Pali coast 2

Kauai coastline of the Na Pali

Secluded beach on the Na Pali coast

Arch on the Na Pali coast

Verdent coastline of Na Pali coast

Striking coastline of the Na Pali coast

Four thousand feet high cliffs

Grotto on the coast

Na Pali coast

Jagged coastline of Na Pali

Valley on north side of Kauai

One of the seven rivers eminating from Mt Wai'ale'ale

Waterfalls near Mt Wai'ale'ale

Wailua Falls

Three satisfied customers


Grabbed something for lunch and headed to Port Allen to eat when Miky chucked a spaz. Wasn't happy about doing more than one activity for the day as I planned to drive to the Waimea Canyon. Had lunch at the port next to a rubbish bin, under a shady tree mind, before visiting all of the catamaran/snorkelling tour companies. Not much available for two days time - except at 6:15am on Thursday. I don't even know what day it is. I like the fact that Hawaiians don't have daylight savings but just bring their tours forward by an hour for the summer season. Booked the Thursday morning cruise. Drove back to the hotel for a short rest.

Then we hired a snorkelling set for US$5 from the hotel before heading down to Kauai's only enclosed swim/snorkel cove at Kamalani Playground in Lydgate Park. Great to sea fish up close. Spent probably 1 1/2 hrs there.

After showering we went to Pizza Hut for tea. Cost US$20.49 for a medium pizza (14") but just US$7.50 for an additional pizza of the same size so we bought two. Couldn't quite finish both of them. Cherry Pepsi wasn't particularly nice tasting. The super supreme pizza was great and the pepperoni pizza was probably better than back home.

Hot rod pizza


Grocery shopping at Big Save before shopping at Walmart (they have a Walmart on Kauai?) - sold out of Linkin Park's latest CD - Minutes to Midnight. Nice to shop there - paint shop, auto parts, etc.

Returned to hotel and did the washing. Booked a hotel in Hilo - most hotels didn't have rooms available. The first one I found was US$211/night but I found one for US$119/night. Hired cars from Dollar for US$42.78/day on Hawaii and US$18.90/day on Maui. For the same model, would you believe?

Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007 - 23/5/07

Lazy morning. Visited nearby Wailua Falls. Impressive little twin waterfall. Probably really gets going during the rainy season.

Wailua Falls - up close

Wild chicken on Kauai at Wailua Falls. They were all over the place.


Drove to Hanalei and had lunch at Bubba's - Bill Clinton has eaten there. Waited 10 minutes to order and about 15 minutes to pick up - the place is that popular. The food was nothing special. Walked around the shops and bumped into Sandy from the helicopter ride.

Hanalei with a lovely backdrop


The tourist information center was more interested in selling us a tour than giving help about attractions in the area. Drove to Ke'e Beach, as there was no parking at Tunnels Beach where we were planning to snorkel, and it is about as far north as you can drive. The road to get there is very narrow and there are several one-way bridges on the way.

So many cars at Ke'e Beach. I had to go a fair way off road, with my don't-take-this-vehicle-off-paved-roads hire car, to get a parking spot. Can't believe how far off road I went. In a front-wheel drive too.

Beach sand was very hot under foot. Quite a few people at the beach and the snorkelling was good as there was an extensive reef. Interesting to see little fish pop their heads out of the holes in the reef to look at you and then dart back in again. Spent two hours there and the scenery - volcanic rocks, coconut trees, beach, trees with spindly roots, towering cliffs, etc, was breathtaking.

Lush vegetation on the way to Ke'e Beach

Single lane bridge of which there were several

Ke'e Beach

Warning signs at Ke'e Beach

Trees will grow anywhere in this tropical paradise

Banyan tree roots

Crazy Vines

Vines everywhere - it's a wonder the trees weren't strangled

Our hire car on Kauai

Volcanic rocks near Ke'e Beach

Peaks above Ke'e Beach

Beautiful Kaui countryside


Managed to get the hire car out but only because a car next to a big rock in the middle of the road was about to move. Would've done some serious damage to the hire car otherwise. Lucky as we could have been stuck for hours. The drive home, about 25-30 miles, took one hour and twenty minutes. Had tea at the resort's restaurant which was quite reasonable affordability-wise and the food was nice. Early night and booked a wakeup call for 4:45am.