Our biggest adventure of the trip was the helicopter tour. It had not even
occurred to me that this would be something we would do, but Dave got the idea after reading The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook we borrowed from our neighbors (I highly recommend it - we wore the thing out and had to buy them a replacement). Since there are so many amazing areas that are inaccessible, including most of the center as well as the entire northwest corner of the island where the Na Pali coast is located, the book says that "going to Kauai without taking a helicopter flight is like going to see the Sistine Chapel and not looking up." After debating back and forth, we decided to go for it. By the way, I took 500 pictures in Hawaii; 200 of them are from the 1-hour helicopter ride. But don't worry, I'll just share the highlights.
I tried making a slide show, but I was unhappy with it because the pictures were too small.
Notice the big windows (not all the companies were like that, and the view was awesome)
Nawilili Bay
We started out at the airport (on the east shore) and went clockwise around the island.
Our pilot/tour guide
I got excited when I saw the first waterfalls. Little did I know we would be seeing a gazillion more.
Getting into the mountains
Entering Waimea Canyon
The colorful red dirt reminded me of St. George, UT.
The Na Pali coast!
Razer-thin cliffs. I forget exactly how they formed - it had something to do with water.
We flew into one of the alcoves between the cliffs, hovered, then turned back around towards the coast
Gorgeous late afternoon sun against the western shore
A view of Hanalei Bay on the north shore, where we stayed
The wettest place on Earth - always cloudy and rainy
Not a lot grows up there because it doesn't get much sun.
It was just a vertical wall of falls. We flew right up next to it and hovered, but it was so close I just couldn't get the whole thing in a picture.
The north shore has 1-way bridges over the many rivers flowing into the ocean. Like Jen said, all that water has to go somewhere.
Back to the east side where the land flattens out again.
Heading back to the airport.
And we're back on solid ground. What a ride! What struck me was the huge variety of landscapes we saw, and the island is only 33 miles wide and 25 miles long.
Gorgeous late afternoon sun against the western shore
The wettest place on Earth - always cloudy and rainy
Not a lot grows up there because it doesn't get much sun.
It was just a vertical wall of falls. We flew right up next to it and hovered, but it was so close I just couldn't get the whole thing in a picture.
Heading back to the airport.
1 comment:
Beautiful pictures!
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