Reverberations

It was Thanksgiving Day and we knew all the shops will be closed, so we forgo our breakfast and instead had some breakfast bars that we got along. It was also time for our Air Tour.

We were picked up at our resort and taken to the Air Kauai’s Front Office, given our instructions and some kind of belt. It was absolutely amazing, we took off quietly. As we flew over the island, we recognized the places that we went to and recalled their names. It was really good to get an aerial view of the island. We were taken to waterfalls where they shot Jurassic Park and locations were King Kong was filmed. And the best was yet to come. Last on the agenda for the Air Tour was flying over Napali Coast. It was absolutely stunning. The ridges, the thick forests and the multi-hued shades of pristine blue coast were a real sight to watch.
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Day 4 was when we had to do the ATV Tour, since we booked for the first tour of the day; we had to show up early. After registration and quick briefing, we drove to the actual site of the tour. Keoki and Dan were our guides; they gave us instructions and some general insights on the tour. After a quick change of really loose clothing, we got into the mudbug.

It was real fun to go deep into the forest and venture into the unknown. We stopped first at a small waterfall, took some pictures, cleaned up a bit before getting messier even more. We drove all through and stopped at a bigger waterfalls for lunch, while Ramesh and others decided to take a plunge in the cold water, I opted to just watch them even though others insisted that its fun. After lunch, we were heading back to the shed and we stopped at an area where several films were shot and most important of them all was “The Jurassic Park”. Our guide had a toy dinosaur and made us all pose as though we were chased by a huge Dino and we enjoyed teasing others on their pose and of course we had our turn too. The guide and the group with whom we drove along was real fun. Never been covered up with so much mud and dirt ever in my life. After a really long shower, we decided to head out and visit Kilaeu Lighthouse.
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Day 3 was really long for us. We woke up pretty early and decided to go for walk along the miles and miles of beach at our resort. We asked a hotel employee on where locals prefer to have breakfast and he suggested “Eggberts” which was very close to where we stayed. After a hearty breakfast, we got ready for our Helicopter Tour. While waiting at the lobby, Air Tour personnel said owing to some repair they canceled the tour for the day and managed to accommodate us on a later date.

Now with Air Tour plan cancelled, we started looking to do other activities in our 100 Fun things to do in Kauai. So cycling it was. With my poor balancing skills and several bruises that I acquired while learning to ride cycle; I managed to talk Ramesh into getting 2 seat tandem bicycle. It was real fun as we drove along the Coconut Coast enjoying the pleasant breeze and of course plenty of sunshine. We were done soon leaving us to wonder what to do next, so we decided to roam around aimlessly with no clear agenda and decided to stop where ever we wanted and exploring the island more. We drove North, stopped at Princeville for some hot coffee for me (Yeh I know I am weird - hot coffee in hot weather) while Ramesh ate ice cream at Lappert’s.
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We woke up to a pleasant morning with Sun playing peek-a-boo with the Clouds and roaring sound of the waves only to be disturbed with occasional crowing of the roosters spread across the Resort. We quickly decided to go to Waimea Canyon and visiting anything that lies along our path.

We took the Train Ride at the supposedly famous Kilohana Plantation. Ramesh, the avid agriculturist, wanted to see the farm and info collected from various websites left him with high expectations. We went through areas which were neatly planted with tropical fruits that gave a feeling of drive around rural India. The star event of the ride was to feed animals - pigs and sheep’s to be exact. I am not very fond of animals so decided to stay put in my seat. After a good 45mins, the tour ended much to my relief.
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Vacations are always good, especially when you are going to a place that is warmer, has pristine beaches and has a laid back feel. So Kauai it was, for us. We were planning to go on a vacation for quite sometime and never actually did anything towards it and on the spur of the moment we booked everything which we thought was a good deal, at least we would like to believe so. Since we booked our trip a month and half in advance, we did quite a lot of browsing on what to do on our vacation. Jotted down many things and made a mental plan on what to do when. As with every plan, things can never go the perfect way as desired.

Soon the initial excitement fazed down and when we came closer to catching our flight, reality struck and we accepted the fact that we haven’t booked for any activity. Being the procrastinators that we are, we left to deal with it later. And soon we boarded our flight. We packed everything as noted down but left a pile of mess along. Our flight had a 5hr lay over at Honolulu, we assumed it to be fine but little did we realize that the airport was a virtual desert and we spent the hardest 5hrs ever. Atlast we made it to Kauai (hurray). It looked beautiful from the airplane and the weather appeared a bit gloomy (darn). We left to pick our luggage and it was no where to be seen and there ended the prospect of a happy vacation. Filed a formal complaint with the lady at the counter and she promised that she will call us and have the luggage delivered to our resort the moment our luggage comes in. Luckily, we packed some clothes at least for a day or two in our hand luggage (reading about others experience helps)

We were surprised that Kauai looked a lot like Kerala albeit a bit cleaner and noticed that there were so many hens and chicks (Baby hen - not the other kind) running about happily - thinking deeply if the airport ran a poultry farm. We upgraded to a convertible (what the heck it’s a vacation after all) and went on our way to the Resort.

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