Sometimes you just have to let someone else do the driving - and that's what we did today. Got up early (5:AM) for a flight on Hawaiian Airlines from Maui to Kauai. At the airport, we met the Polynesian Adventure Tours bus and our driver, Kala'ni.
Polynesian Adventure Tours offers great service to its passengers on airconditioned sightseeing tours throughout the state of Hawaii. We were very pleased with the bus, the professionalism of the driver, and the iterniary. Could have done without so much "native" history and singing by the driver, however.
Click on thumbnails for larger view:
The bus leaves the airport in Lihue and makes several passenger pickups at other hotels before the first tour stop at the Spouting Horn, near Poipu.
Spouting Horn. At Kukuiula Bay, beyond Kuhio Park. This is a natural phenomenon - and quite a sight! The big waves hit the shore with enough force to send a spout of funneled salt water through a lava tube about 10' or more up in the air.
The Grand Canyon of the Pacific: Waimea Canyon. The great gaping gulch known as Waimea Canyon is quite a sight! Much smaller than the Grand Canyon, Waimea is 1 mile wide, 3,567' deep, and 12 miles long.
The Waimea Canyon Lookout. First good vantage point.
The nene is the state bird of Hawaii. A relative of the Canadian goose, it gets its name from its nasal, two-syllable call, "nay-nay".
One memorable image of the canyon that will remain with you, beyond the incredible scale of it all, is the rainbow of colors that dance along the canyon peaks.
Lunch stop after Waimea was Whalers Brew Pub
in Lihue. Great views and good food on the deck.
Lunch view from Whalers. Very few golfers were able to hit the green from the tee across the water.
The crew on the boat ride on Wailua River to/from Fern Grotto. Barge-like ferry takes 150 people on a 90-minute, 2 1/2-mile trip to a natural amphitheater filled with ferns. Very popular - but skip it if you don't like blatant tourist rips.
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Return to Hawaii, 2000.
