Wings over Kauai
in a Ce**na

---

In order to get there you have to ride the big iron



Bruce is my guide - he knows this island like the back of his hand
Wings over Kauai website



Downwind at Lihue



The first thing you realize after takeoff is that this is gonna be stunningly awesome
Sensory overload begins to set in



Did you see that Harrison Ford movie 'Six Days and Seven Nights'?
There's the beach where they crashed the Beaver



It's unbelievable how much money sits so close to shore around this island



Up that way is a place that holds the distinction of being the 'rainiest place on Earth'
That waterfall was the site of the beginning of 'Jurassic Park'



These canyons are incredible



The life on this island is explosively vibrant - almost frightening



Not gonna get to see Wiamea Canyon today



Unless you take the road (which we did yesterday)



We can squeek through though and get to another place that is just as awesome and no road will take you there



All of the Hawaiian islands have a 'wet' side and a 'dry' side
Can you believe this is the 'dry' side of Kauai?



Up ahead is the famous Na Pali coast and it looks like it's gonna be clear of cloud



US Navy missle tracking station - just about as far north on the islands as you can get
Pearched on a beudacious seacliff



There's some interesting history to this coastline



As well as some interesting theories as to how it was formed



The only access is by helicopter, boat or on foot



There are aincient Hawaiian settlements in these valleys. At one time there was quite a sizeable poulation here
My jaw is hanging open as I frantically snap these pictures. Sensory overload is in full tilt at this point
This definitely rivals Alaska in splendor - even though it only encompasses 500 square miles



Pretty cool eh?



Here's proof I was really there



Okay, I didn't get to see ALL of it, the tops were cut off but somehow it makes it an even more awesome spectacle



Down below there's no place to land either - at least the water is warm



There are numerous sea caves along here that kayakers and boaters can explore



This luminous green fern is all over - I forget what it's called



My jaw is still agape - this is just so totally awesome!



The geology is intriguing, there's more behind this than just the rainfall
Bruce's 2001 Cessna 172 flys real nice by the way - beautiful airplane



These ones are some BIG caves



These spires are really interesting. The land almost looks like melting ice in a way



This is a State Park on the north shore that is the end of the road
Trails from here allow access to the Na Pali coast on foot



Back that way



There's a pretty cool beach here too, we drove up here on day one



We're back over civilization now



The highest point on Kauai is a bit over 5,000 feet - this isn't it though



These ribbonlike waterfalls are all over the place, all that water has to get back to the sea somehow
It almost seems as though it's in a hurry



Bob tells me this is his special little area because the helicopter tours don't take this route



It's chock full of that luminous green fern that I can't remember the name of



It really is luminous



and it really is all over the place
Another thing about Kauai - there are probably 500 wild roosters and chickens in this photo
But that's another story



They don't call it The Garden Isle for nothing
It's awesomely beautiful on the ground as well as from the air



Teeming with life is actually an understatement



Another 'Jurassic Park' location
These trees look like a broccoli cluster from the air and originate from Borneo or somewhere
Much of the flora and fauna are not indigeonous but were brought here by us over the past 200 years



Man, I'd love to bring my Land Rover here for a weekend



Bruce says that after 11 years of flying around Kauai it gets kind of mundane but I think it's just becuase he's only got
three airports to land at. I know that working on Boeing 777's 5 days a week gets mundane
I'll trade with him anytime



Coming back to the east coast now



The grandeure just doesn't stop



Countless little coves and mini-bays line the coast, each of them a microcosm - a little world of it's own



The Aloha Beach Resort where we stayed
It's an older, not so fancy place just up the street from the old Coco Palms Resort where Elvis filmed 'Blue Hawaii'
Coco Palms is a delapidated ruin now, severely damaged in a typhoon, abandoned and infested with termites



I didn't get a clear picture but envision Recardo Matalbaum with Tatoo calling 'De Plane'
Yup, the Fantasy Island waterfalls



Nearing the end of the tour now



On final for Lihue



Bruce completes another 'boring' mission

---