Day 8 - Kauai, Hawaii

Woke again to yet another glorious day on this paradise island. The sun is shining and all is good with the world. Walked to the local mall first thing after breakfast, 2 ½ miles to get some supplies and some cough medicine for Bill who is really suffering especially at night (thanks Rich for sharing his flu). There was a shuttle bus but that didn't start until 9:30 and we need to do some exercise to counteract all the food and drink we are consuming. Got it back though and went down to the pool area on our return; this is set amongst palms and wonderful array of flowers. It is a huge circle with waterfalls, fountains and Jacuzzis that are almost too hot to go into. Bordering the pool is the beach which is a wonderful small cove so the water is flat calm. Whilst we were sunbathing Bill rang around some of the helicopters companies to arrange a flight over the island and the coast where they filmed Jurassic Park. I can't believe how the price varies from one company to another, it paid off though as we managed to save $100 by booking with one firm even though it was using the same company for the flight! I have to admit I was very nervous about going up in a helicopter after the last experience in Sacramento but needn't have worried as it was absolutely fantastic. We were airborne for about an hour and saw some of the most awesome sights I have ever experienced. We travelled into the crater of an extinct volcano, saw huge waterfalls and areas of the island that are completely inaccessible any other way, apparently only 20% of the island is actually accessible! It is an island that has been used in a lot of films and TV shows, Jurassic Park, Blue Hawaii, South Pacific, and Fantasy Island to name a few. We had hoped to be able to go on a boat trip along the Na Pali coast as well but as the surf is so high they are not sailing - shame. There have been huge swells of up to 30m on the north and north western shores so the surfers have been out and have clogged the roads trying to get to the northern beaches; been watching on the news but as we haven't got a car here we have not been able to see except from the air which in itself was quite spectacular. It's quite amazing how the sea is almost dead calm on the east side where we are staying.

I'm getting quite a taste for Mai Tai's which apparently are a Hawaiian speciality even though they were invented in California and the name is Tahitian; especially nice when drunk by the pool during happy hour which starts at either 3pm through to 5pm or here from 4pm through to 7pm. Very tasty and absolutely lethal - hic……