We took our helicopter ride today! It was by far the most gorgeous land and scenery I've ever seen, and it amazes me to think it's all contained within one small island. From the total lushness of Mt. Waialeale, supposedly the wettest place on earth with an average of 452 inches of rain per year, to the very dry Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of Hawaii", the ride was definitely a must-do. The only disclaimer: beware of motion sickness! I don't consider myself totally prone to motion sickness and about halfway through I definitely started feeling queasy. The feeling continued through the remainder of the ride and stayed through our Pho lunch at Kauai Pho. I did barrel through and managed to inhale a bowl of Pho, 2 salad rolls and a Green Tea Bubble Tea! Side note - Dae did not experience motion sickness so I can't say that everybody does.
The boys did well on the flight. The instructor and the pilot had both said they had never seen a baby make it through an entire flight awake and they were right. Olin passed out within 10 minutes and was, from that point on, 18 pounds of hot, limp weight.
As promised, they did weigh us before the flight. You get on a scale (they don't actually tell you how much you weigh, although they did tell us Leelee was 33 pounds. All other weights were shrouded in a cloud of secrecy! ha!) and they supposedly place the lightest passengers on the front, so Leelee and Dae the lucky-ducks got to sit in the front, since I got weighed with the baby as one unit. I guess I wasn't the only one thinking about the weigh-in - I overheard a conversation in front of us where a girl mentioned "they better not tell me what that scale says!" and that she had really let things go since her wedding 6 months ago! I was laughing because I had told Dae I was thirsty but was willing to forego water until I got weighed. The second I got weighed I was going to hit up some serious snacks and beverage!
Our photos aren't even close to doing the scenery justice. It was beautiful. The photos also captured quite a bit of glare from the helicopter windows and just wasn't able to capture the panoramic beauty!
Following are photos Pre-flight:
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| Baby did not like the headphones. He tried to swipe them against me to get them off. |
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Very seriously studying our aircraft.
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And mid-flight photos:
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| Out, like a light |
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| #2, out like a light |
And actual flight photos:
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| Our helicopter, an Eco-Star |
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| Leelee getting buckled into the front middle seat, right next to the pilot |
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| Leelee and the pilot |
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| Na Pali Coast on the northern shore |
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| This beach is where Johnny Depp was filmed in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies |
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| Tunnels Beach - snorkeling spot that we're going to try tomorrow. North Shore. |
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| Hundreds of these little waterfalls |
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| Waimea Canyon |
Finally, we attended this little free Polynesian dance last night at the Poipu Shopping Center. It was actually really good! Olin loved the music and started moving his legs and body and clapping once the music came on. Leelee was mesmerized by the dancers and got a photo at the end.
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| He was clapping and moving during the music. |
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| Samoan Fire Dancer |
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| We totally laughed at this photo. I am sure he'll kick himself later for not having done his usual cheesy smile! |
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