Hawaii Day 4

On Wednesday, May 15, we had to get up earlier to head to the Princeville Airport.  About 1/3 of Kauai is inaccessible by roads, so the only way to see it is to either hike 11 miles (I was not game for that!), take a day cruise, or take a helicopter ride.  We chose the latter option, but I'm not sure how smart of a choice we made...

Dan was extremely excited!

But then again, we were both really excited...at the beginning...

The ride started off smooth and even.  When the pilot made the first turn/swoop to check some cliffs out, I knew there was going to be trouble.

I popped some ginger gum right away, but my stomach wasn't staying in the right place.  I've never had any trouble flying in planes, but I had conveniently forgotten my experiences in IMAX theaters...my eyes were always closed most of the time because there was too much movement.  Anyway, halfway through our 45 minute flight, I had an unfortunate re-encounter with my breakfast :(

 There were so many cool mountains, cliffs, waterfalls, and the Na Pali Coast to see.  I took quick glances the remainder of the flight and prayed for us to reach ground quickly!

Waterfall that was filmed in Jurassic Park

Dan was more fortunate than me, but he was a little green by the end of our flight, also.  Needless to say, we went back to our room for the next hour to recover.
That afternoon, after our stomachs were settled, we bought Dan some snorkel gear and headed back to Anini Beach.  The water is very calm there because there are so many coral reefs, which made for great snorkeling.  Dan saw lots of yellow, black and white, and clownfish, while I mostly saw the beach and sun :) It was a very relaxing day...or at least the afternoon was relaxing!