Our third day on the Garden Island was a fill of excitement, relaxation and good food! We started out the morning with a nice shopping trip at the local mall, where we came away with a new swimsuit for Allysha (her second) and a new pair of Hawaiian sunglasses for me. We even got a shirt for little Spencer!
After a quick snack, we made the short drive up to Wiemea Falls. They were very pretty, and had quite a bit of water over them. As with our outer sight stops, we were out, took some pictures, and headed off to the next item. Of course, this time it was something a little more worthwhile!
We were to be at the airport at 12:30 for you 1:15 pm helicopter flight around the island. After checking in, we sat on the porch and enjoyed the nice weather and a neighboring spider that must have been 2 inches or so in diameter. He/she had the brightest golden back I've ever seen! We loaded on the helicopter around 1:00 and off we went for our trip. Our pilot was a retired eighth grade teacher from Kauia who had broken his back during a tour in Korea. Allysha and I had the two front row seats right next to our pilot, and I was right next to the door. The flight was amazing, and afterward Allysha said something along the lines of no better way to see the island. And, she was completely right. First, flying in a helicopter was a first for me and I enjoyed it! A little bumpy, but amazing and fun to navigate in. We flew right up to the cliff walls, right up to the waterfalls and close enough that we chased off a couple of goats! The views were awesome and something words can't do justice.
The Napali Coast was beautiful from the air, and something that would be worth coming back and camping on sometime (which would require a fair amount of hiking or boating). The waterfalls were beautiful and inspiring, and seemed to run from a never ending source. We circled the entire island and saw things we'd never be able to see from the ground. We will definitely have to take another ride!
After our flight, we rested at the hotel for a bit and then headed back out for a sunset dinner at The Beach House restaurant. The food was delicious, and the sunset was gorgeous. We've decided that it might be easier to find restaurants with chef's who know what their food has in it, rather than looking for gluten free menus! (editors note: the trip is complete and we had another successful vacation with no gluten sickness!).
To complete a wonderful day, we made the 2 mile trip from the restaurant to the Spouting Horn. Given that is was well after dark, we were the only visitors there which made the spouting every 15 seconds or so both eerie and romantic. Pictures didn't work too well, though!
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