Family Trip to Kauai: Part IV

After the helicopter ride, Luke and I headed back to the north shore where we went on a hike with Ryan and Missy.

[Heading down the trail]

At the bottom of the trail you hit the lava rocks.

Luke and Ryan wanted to go swimming so Missy and I decided not to so we just stayed behind and watched. We started to get eaten alive by mosquitos so we got out of there pretty quickly.

On our way back to the trail head we saw this guy! I love turtles!

That night we decided to treat ourselves to some Shave Ice. You can get ice cream at the bottom (I think I was the only one who liked it that way) and condensed milk on the top! So delicious! 

Family Trip to Kauai: Part III

The birds at Princeville are very friendly and pretty. I tried for a while to get a good picture of this particular bird but he always moved too fast. Finally we got a good one! This little guys is great because he has a red mohawk!

Anyways! Tuesday was finally here! They day I had been really looking forward to! It was time to do our doors-off helicopter ride!

Luke and I headed down to the South side of the island where we were put aboard a Jack Harter Hughes 500 Helicopter. I have to admit I was very excited but also very nervous. I get motion sickness EXTREMELY easily and I didn't want another Alaska air ride fiasco.

Luke and I had the whole backseat to ourselves and another couple and the pilot were in the front.

[Luke ready to go]

[Our awesome pilot]

[It was a tight squeeze] 

[Barf bag... just in case]

[Our partner helicopter]

[We lifted off and then headed out going 100 mph!]

[We headed out along the southern shore and before turning north]

[The beach from where the movie "The Descendants" was filmed]

[The trees look like broccoli from up there]

[The Jurassic Park waterfall]

[Waterfalls everywhere!]

 [Waimea Canyon: The Grand Canyon of Hawaii]

[Looking straight down] 

[The colors were so vibrant! I wish I could have taken better pictures but it's hard when you are flying around at 100 mph and 3000 feet up!] 

[The World Famous Na Pali Coast] 

[One of the canyons we went up off of the Na Pail coast] 

[We got hit by some rain and got a little wet BUT it created a beautiful rainbow that circled right under us] 

[After the Na Pali Cost we saw Hanalei Bay] 

[From Hanalei Bay we turned inland and went to see some giant waterfalls]

[3000 ft long waterfalls]

[Up into the clouds]

[The waterfalls were so big that you couldn't get the whole thing in one picture! Since you couldn't see the top it made it looked like they were coming down from heaven!]

[Our final area was Wailua Falls]

I was shocked at how smooth and amazing our flight was. The pilot was amazing! When we first got in the helicopter he made sure that he knew our names and that our headsets were working properly. He also warned me that my camera lens (it's hanging off my camera on a string) could get caught in the wind and come up and smack me in the face. We were also told not to put our arms out of the helicopter and point at things because we were moving so fast that it could whip your arm back and you can get hurt. Eek! It seemed like he was very concerned with our safety and I appreciate that! The pilot was also really good about letting us know if we were going to get some turbulence so we could brace ourselves. He was also extremely knowledgeable about the island and what we were looking at. It made the trip so great! 

[Luke and I with our pilot (notice the little yellow pouches? Life jackets! Safety first!)]

I've seen the Na Pali Cost from the land (hiking), the sea (catamaran), and the air! Of course I recommend all three of these but the helicopter was by far the best way to see one of the most beautiful places on the planet!