Going to Kauai

foka4

foka4

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
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Ankeny (Des Moines), IA
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Matt Scudwalker
It's been (another) good year for my company, and fortunately, I'll be able to attend the "club" trip to Kauai in May.

A week-long break from the rat race would probably be sufficient reward, but we'll be living the easy life for a week. Never the lethargic type, I'm afraid of getting bored, so I think I'm going to look into getting checked out in a 172 there.

What should I know? Any suggestions?

M
 
foka4 said:
It's been (another) good year for my company, and fortunately, I'll be able to attend the "club" trip to Kauai in May.

A week-long break from the rat race would probably be sufficient reward, but we'll be living the easy life for a week. Never the lethargic type, I'm afraid of getting bored, so I think I'm going to look into getting checked out in a 172 there.

What should I know? Any suggestions?

M
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You should take me with you.:fcross:

Other than that, nothing, since I've never been there!
 
You could go over to the west coast and see if the Barking Sands really bark... :)

Actually, the Pacific Missle Range Facility is managed by the Navy base there. A friend of mine was the XO there for several years. He had the pleasure of meeting Harrison Ford when Six Days, Seven Nights filmed the beach crash scene nearby, flying to the location by helicopter.

This is the same guy that flew a C-12 to San Diego via AK from HI.
 
Matthew: We were there two Summers ago and are booked again this July. Lots of neat things to do in Maui. May I suggest you get a copy of 'Maui Revealed'. Great tips and some good advise as far as planning and making arrangements.

Give us a PIREP. We're hitting Oahu for four days, then on the Kawaii for a few nights and we end in Maui.

Best,

Dave
 
Flying yourself is great and all that, but you definitely should book a helicopter tour-stunning!

Where on the island will you be staying?
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Matthew: We were there two Summers ago and are booked again this July. Lots of neat things to do in Maui. May I suggest you get a copy of 'Maui Revealed'. Great tips and some good advise as far as planning and making arrangements.

Give us a PIREP. We're hitting Oahu for four days, then on the Kawaii for a few nights and we end in Maui.

Best,

Dave
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If you're a fan of the "Maui Revealed" book, you should know that there is also a "Oahu Revealed" floating around out there somewhere. My wife and I loved & used the "Maui Revealed" book so much on our honeymoon, that for the Oahu portion of our trip, our first stop was a bookstore to look for "Oahu Revealed". Both VERY good sources of information for the islands.
 
matt - what week in may? im going to be cruising Hawaii the first full week of May (4-12 or something like that.
 
foka4 said:
It's been (another) good year for my company, and fortunately, I'll be able to attend the "club" trip to Kauai in May.

A week-long break from the rat race would probably be sufficient reward, but we'll be living the easy life for a week. Never the lethargic type, I'm afraid of getting bored, so I think I'm going to look into getting checked out in a 172 there.

What should I know? Any suggestions?

M
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I just came back from Maui in Jan. I rented a 172 from one of the FBO's can't remember which one (I'll look it up). They were the only one that would rent to you (After a 2 hr check ride) The others would not rent unless you got your PL from them.

Dan
 
tonycondon said:
matt - what week in may? im going to be cruising Hawaii the first full week of May (4-12 or something like that.
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Tony, you must have switched from nachos to charging real money for flight instruction! ;)

Seriously, have fun. Hawai'i is the only place I've ever gone where I came close to not coming back! :yes:
 
I spent a month on Kauai. It was great for a while and then I was ready to swim to the mainland.

It is a really laid back kinda place. It is beautiful. But there is not a lot to do. Hiking was great and I visited a lot of spots including the canyon and the Napali coast. I did go see the Jurassic Park movie sets, the only on location area for GIlligan's Island, and of course drove the tree tunnel from Blue Hawaii.

I also drove the entire way around the island except for about 5 miles where there is no road at all. I also geeked out and visited the National Bureau of Standards Radio Station WWVH.

The biggest activity for me was scuba diving and I did that whenever I had time off. But any excuse to get away from tourists was a good thing as well. I found a few townie places and hung out there on my off times.

Enjoy yourself, Kauai was my favorite island for relaxing on.
 
smigaldi said:
I spent a month on Kauai. It was great for a while and then I was ready to swim to the mainland.

It is a really laid back kinda place. It is beautiful. But there is not a lot to do. Hiking was great and I visited a lot of spots including the canyon and the Napali coast. I did go see the Jurassic Park movie sets, the only on location area for GIlligan's Island, and of course drove the tree tunnel from Blue Hawaii.

I also drove the entire way around the island except for about 5 miles where there is no road at all. I also geeked out and visited the National Bureau of Standards Radio Station WWVH.

The biggest activity for me was scuba diving and I did that whenever I had time off. But any excuse to get away from tourists was a good thing as well. I found a few townie places and hung out there on my off times.

Enjoy yourself, Kauai was my favorite island for relaxing on.
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Scott:

I did all that when I was there, loved it- except I never realized WWVH was there. Missed opportunity!

Was it cool?
 
I'm spending the week of April 7 on Kauai. Arrive on the 6th, depart on the 12th. You know you've been there a few times when the wife says where we are having dinner the day we arrive and specifically what she's having for dessert. :D

Kauai is our second favorite island. Maui is #1. But, as Scott correctly noted, Kauai is very laid back. Quite relaxing. The only problem I've found is there is not a single FBO that rents planes on the island. Your choices are a number of helicopter outfits (including the one we took a couple years ago out of Princeville), a guy who hops rides in a 172 and Tropical Biplanes http://www.tropicalbiplanes.com/ . Rides in the front cockpit of a Waco. We've done that one, too. I highly recommend it. As he said, "I fly slower than the helicopters!".

We've stayed at a couple of places in Princeville and this will be our second stay in Kapaa. Princeville is nicer, Kapaa is cheaper. The county golf course at Wailua (I think) is nearby and a nice course.

Have fun (I know you will). Plenty of things to do, of course they all cost money. :D
 
SCCutler said:
Scott:

I did all that when I was there, loved it- except I never realized WWVH was there. Missed opportunity!

Was it cool?
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It was. I had gotten a contact with the Chief Engineer via some ham radio buddies. I had also had soem experiences with a WWV clock synchronizer that we used for a job I had for a three letter agency and had much to discuss about the time signal. The PA tubes were by far the coolest err hottest things to see.
 
CJones said:
*** NOTE TO SELF: Stock up on tortilla chips and PBR before starting Comm/CFI training with Tony. ***
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tonycondon said:
CFI training demands Michelob Golden Light!
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Ugh. You Iowa guys have awfully low standards for beer. :vomit:

If you're gonna drink cheap beer - Point Special.
Assembly-line beer - MGD.
Decent beer - Leinenkugel's. I recommend the Creamy Dark.
Expensive beer - Can't go wrong with Guinness.
 
Ghery said:
We've stayed at a couple of places in Princeville and this will be our second stay in Kapaa. Princeville is nicer, Kapaa is cheaper. The county golf course at Wailua (I think) is nearby and a nice course.
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Princeville is great for the "see-and-be-seen" factor, and Kapa'a is OK, but for the place to stay and be most relaxed and comfortable, I would choose Poipu every time.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Ugh. You Iowa guys have awfully low standards for beer. :vomit:

If you're gonna drink cheap beer - Point Special.
Assembly-line beer - MGD.
Decent beer - Leinenkugel's. I recommend the Creamy Dark.
Expensive beer - Can't go wrong with Guinness.
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Actually, I am a big fan of Leine's Red as well as their Honey Weiss. Good stuff! I was thinking PBR for Tony's "working man" CFI mentality. ;)
 
SCCutler said:
Princeville is great for the "see-and-be-seen" factor, and Kapa'a is OK, but for the place to stay and be most relaxed and comfortable, I would choose Poipu every time.
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Yes, but the place in Kapa'a isn't costing me anything, so it wins this trip. :D
 
gprellwitz said:
Yeah you can, if you get the old glass bottles, not the ones with the foamers. Even then, neither the cans nor the foamer bottles are as good as getting it on tap!:no:
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100% agree!

CJones said:
Actually, I am a big fan of Leine's Red as well as their Honey Weiss. Good stuff! I was thinking PBR for Tony's "working man" CFI mentality. ;)
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Leinenkugel's makes a bunch of different beers, and you almost can't go wrong with Leinie's. They're pretty much all good! :yes:
 
I usually feel bad for hijacking a post, but the beer tangent gives me a "get out of jail free" card for the next time I do it.

By the way, there's a brewery in Norway called Nogne that has a bunch of tasty varieties. Otherwise, I like Black Sheep and London Pride.

As for Kauai, one of Hawaii's soaring outfits has motorgliders on Maui and Kauai. I might call and see if I can weasel them out of a motorglider checkout while I'm there.

I don't know how much time I'll have for island hopping, but if I reach my limit of relaxation time, I might have to look into it.

I'm probably not a candidate for getting a scuba certification, either. This midwesterner's money would be better spent on avgas. I hate to visit such a great scuba place and not take advantage of it, but I can only do so much.

Thanks for the tips, guys.
 
I think for CFI the beer would at least have to be Fat Tire....

Pete
 
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