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Bruce
& Betsy Blais |
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Trips & Vacations - KAUAI - 1998 On May 17, 1998, Betsy and Bruce took a vacation on the island of Kauai. They flew 3,800 miles to Honolulu and then 110 miles from Honolulu to Lihue. They chose Kauai because it is the most beautiful of the Hawaiian Islands and is referred to as the Garden Island. It is also known as Hollywood's back lot since a lot of great movies were filmed there. They include classics such as: 6 Days and 7 Nights, Jurassic Park, Uncommon Valor, King Kong, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Donovan's Reef, Blue Hawaii and South Pacific. The television shows Fantasy Island and Gilligan's Island were also made there. Since then Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Avatar were filmed there. Below is photo of the happy couple on their way.
It was Hawaii, it was May, Bruce was with his sweetheart, so why not a convertible? On a couple of days, it was rather cool, so they rode around with the top down and heater on.
After picking up the rental car and loading the bags, it was off to the condo. Bruce had rented a condo at the Hanalei Bay Resort on Hanalei Bay. The hotel had great view of the bay and mountains. The pool was incredible, having an island with waterfalls and a sand beach down at one end.
Below is a panoramic of the view from the room. One afternoon, they counted 7 waterfalls in the mountains from their bedroom. After all, it was a delayed honeymoon trip.
Below is a photo of Betsy at the island and waterfall in the pool.
Below is a photo of Bruce by another waterfall on the "pool island".
After relaxing at the hotel and recovering from the long flight, it was off to explore the island. The first stop was Waimea Canyon, referred to as the "Baby Grand" by the locals. Below is Betsy at one of the overlooks at the canyon.
Below is another photo of the canyon taken from the air.
Next, it was onto the the Na Pali Coast. Below is a photo taken at the end of SR-550 from Puu O Kila.
Below is another photo from up above the Na Pali Coast.
Below is an aerial photo from above the Na Pali Coast.
Seeing the Na Pali Coast from a distance was good, but Bruce and Betsy decided to get an up close and personal experience by walking the Kalalau Trail. Below is Bruce with beach mats and a backpack with a picnic lunch.
The trail head is at Ke'e Beach. Below is a photo of Betsy on the trail after the initial climb up from the beach behind the trees in the distance.
Below is a photo of the Na Pali Coast looking down the Kalalau Trail.
Along the way there were dozens of waterfalls coming down out off the mountain. Below is a photo of Betsy and Bruce at one of them. A couple of other folks on the trail offered to take the photo.
The first beach they cam to was Hanakapiai. Below is a photo of the hikers and bathers at Hanakapiai.
This was about one-third the way out the trail. They would have gone on further, but the trail was in rough shape from a hurricane the previous fall, they were on vacation and not in the mood for an endurance test. While there, Betsy and Bruce took a helicopter tour of the island. Below is a photo of Betsy with their helicopter from Hawaii Helicopters.
Their pilot was great! He flew helicopters in Viet Nam and did things they had never seen a chopper pilot do in a tourist helicopter. He would fly in and out of the canyons at low elevations, and would stand the chopper on its side at the end to turn around and fly back out. On the way back, he played the theme from Apocalypse Now interspersed with machine gun sound effects as he buzzed herds of cattle.
It was a great trip and the Kalalau Trail and helicopter tour were two of the high points.
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Version 0.1, October 15, 2014 |
