OH MY HEAVENS! A ride in the sky...

OMG! This has been the highlight of our trip...a helicopter ride around the island. It was 8:00 in the morning, windy and rainy. I was a little nervous with the weather but excited too. We both had been praying for an upfront seat and sure enough I sat next to our pilot, Tobias, and Richard next to me! The best way to describe the experience is like being in the front car of a roller coaster but you're inside of a bubble and everywhere you look is RIGHT THERE from the top of your head...all around the side and down to where the pedals would be in a car! It was so freaking awesome I decided in my next life I want to be a helicopter pilot. What a way to see nature and if you ever come to Kauai please budget this into your trip...it is an absolute must. Thanks to Sandi and Tom telling us the same thing, which is why we did it! Our pilot was extremely skilled to be flying in that kind of weather. It was amazing how he managed to keep this machine so smooth. I felt like Kialaia, when she was about 2 and she would do something she liked...she would keep saying "do again, do again" and I would have gladly gotten right on to another one as soon as we were done to do it again! We were so bummed when the first picture was snapped and the camera's battery was "done"...I couldn't believe it! We managed to nurse about 6 picture out of it along the way. So, you are going to see a mix of our pictures and ones that I snagged from the internet to give you the tour. Also, they aren't in order of how we flew around the island either but no matter...it's all there anyway. If the picture is cloudy, it's one of ours...the sunny ones are taken by someone else but what we saw none the less. At the end, we decided to buy the DVD of our trip. Words really can't describe this experience at all...Please enjoy This is the Eco Star Helicopter

These are the ridges we would fly right up to and over...

The waterfall filmed in Jurassic Park

We fly over the area used to film Jurassic Park...in fact, it's all been bought up by Time Warner and they film all kinds of movies there...the latest a Ben Stiller movie to be out this summer.

The tip top of Mt Waialeale

Hanalei Bay on the North Shore of the island...Many movie stars live here and there are 2 homes for sales right now...$45 million and $80 million! Holy Crap

Christmas Day we stood at the look outs and took pics of Waimea Canyon ... today we flew right up through it!

We even hovered right at the falls I took pics of in the other post! Then up and over the canyon wall...

They call these "weeping walls" around the inside of the crater of the volcano...because of our rains (this was snagged from the internet) these walls had an incredible # of falls...falling some 3400 ft down to the river below...we flew around the whole inside! I was awestruck...

This is coming back out of the crater following the Wailua River. When looking at the crater of Mount Waialeale, think of Mount St. Helens, it erupted sideways much like Mount St. Helens. In fact the entire eastern side of the mountain blew out in an eruption eons ago. This is what makes it easy to fly into in most any kind of weather.

Wailua Falls from above...flowing like crazy! Very different from last weeks

post when it was running with less water and clearer

The gorgeous and magnificent Na Pali Coastline...snagged from

the internet so you can see how it looks on a sunny day

We had a stormy day but it just makes things look magical in a different way. The pilot flies along a bit and up a couple of the fingers (canyons) then pulls away and around so you can look at it full on!!!

Is this flippin incredible or what? Now you'll have to see the DVD or do it yourself! Below is Richard standing in front of the very mountain sitting inside of a canyon that we flew around!

From our helicopter ride we decided to drive up the other side of the island to the furthest point you can until you run into the Na Pali Coast. This is Polihale Beach (the dry side) at the end of a 5 mile long dirt road that was a pain (literally) to get to...that's why there are very few people here. It has the longest stretch of sandy beach..about 17 miles.

You can see the beginning of the Na Pali Coastline behind me.

This is exactly where we flew over this morning...way cool.

That is the smallest island in the Hawaiian chain and is mostly just lava rock...we hung out and walked along the beach and enjoyed the rest of the day...still exhilarated from the ride earlier.

A reminder of why we are here...Doggies! Tasha loves it when I rub her back...

This is Kissy doing her downward dog yoga pose. She belongs to a friend of Bonnie's who is traveling with her...she makes dog #5

The rest of the menagerie, in a typical setting, while we are sitting at the table working on our computers. They are very well behaved but definitely require alot of maintenance especially in the clean up doo-ty! With a lot of rain, the red dirt here and going in and out, the floors are always needing cleaning and they have their own bedding that has to be laundered as well. The 3 little dogs sleep with us because, of course, that's what they are used to. They have a special diet that consists of adding extra protein to their dog food so chicken and hamburger has to be cooked and added in. Just to give you the insight that yes, while we get to spend time in paradise, we are taking care of a home, 5 dogs and all that that entails ; -)

All in all, it's a great exchange. Tomorrow night is a Luau!