On our first morning in Kauai the weather was perfect so we took a 45 minute helicopter tour of the island. Much of the interior is very rugged, roadless and unhabited. This virtually inaccessible terrain also happens to contain some of the most spectacular scenery on earth, and the only practical way to see it is by helicopter. Several companies offer tours. We opted to go with Heli USA Airways out of the small but historic Princeville Airport. Our knowledgeable pilot, who had been trained by the U.S. military, took us on one of the great rides of our lives.

We climbed up the Hanalei Valley and escaped into a world of lush tropical rain forests, jagged mountains, sea cliffs and craters. We soared up the shear slopes of Mt. Wai'ale'ale, a dormant Volcano which just happens to be the wettest spot on earth.It would not be an exaggeration to say that the number of waterfalls we saw pouring off the mountainside were "countless."

We entered the crater of the dormant volcano, then climbed upward and onward to Manawaiapuna Falls, seen in the movie "Jurassic Park." Next we dipped into awesome gorge of Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific," before soaring over the Alkalai Swamp and to the 4,000-foot cliffs of the Na Pali Coast. We entered the remote Kalalau Valley and saw the remains of home sites of ancient Hawaiian civilizations, then crossed over Bali Hai, made famous in the musical "South Pacific." On the home stretch of our tour we saw the tallest waterfall on the island, plunging 3,400-feet, over 26 cascades. We then looked down on Hanalie Bay, of which Peter, Paul and Mary sang in their 1960s hit, "Puff the Magic Dragon." It was a great overview of the island, and left us eager to get out and explore on our own, returning to those areas which were accessible either by automobile or by hiking trail.