Dora Liu

I just got back from a trip to the island of Kauai in Hawaii. A few years have passed since my last visit to the Garden Isle. I experienced my first ever helicopter ride!

We flew over Kauai to see the major sights from a vantage point that you can’t get any other way. The helicopter tour took us to Waimea Canyon. The road and hiking trails lead to a very small portion of the Waimea Canyon. From the air, I saw the wide canyon go on for miles. Seeing the red rock against the vibrant green forest of Waimea Canyon never got old. I’m glad I saw the Na Pali Coast from a helicopter. I didn’t realize how sharp the ridges were until I saw them up close from the front side. We also went into the crater of Mount Waialeale. It was under cloud cover as it often is. Along the way, taro patches were in view and so many waterfalls that I lost count. The ride was so smooth that my fear of motion sickness soon flew away. I felt like I was taking a nice slow fly by of the sights but the pilot told us were actually going 120 miles an hour. Wow, I did not feel that we were going fast at all. The island was so beautiful from 1200 ft high. I’m so glad I chose Kauai for my first helicopter ride.

No trip of mine is complete without a hike. I hit one of Kauai’s most popular trails, the Hanakapiai Trail at Haena State Park on Kauai’s North Shore. It is popular but not crowded thanks to a reservation system for entry and parking. This trail offered views of the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean and a side view of the Na Pali Coast from the ground. A couple of small waterfalls appeared throughout the hike adding to the beautiful scenery. I was surrounded by red dirt and green tropical plants. I could see the aquamarine waters below at the beach and blue ocean waters further out. When the forest opened up, the high cliffs of the Na Pali coast were in plain view.

Next on the agenda for my Kauai adventure was another cliff, Kilauea Point. It is both an historic site as well as a natural site. The Kilauea Lighthouse, dedicated in 1913, is part of the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. A variety of birds use the cliffs and bushes around the refuge as their home. When I was a kid growing up in Hawaii, I only saw nene, Hawaii’s state bird, at the zoo because they were an endangered species. So I was so excited to see several of them at the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. The reason for the sighting was that they are no longer endangered. Their new status as a threatened species means their population is on the rebound. Other birds at the Refuge were the red-footed booby and the wedge-tailed shearwater. I heard noises like the moans and groans of a kid with a tummy ache. It turns out I was hearing the normal sounds of the wedge-tailed shearwaters. I followed the sound and found a little gray bird just hanging out in the bush, happily moaning a song.

Sharp ridges at Na Pali coast, hiking among a beautiful scenery, and meeting new bird friends are what made this another unforgettable Hawaii vacation.