Kaua'i Part 3: Helicopter Ride...

In an earlier post I mentioned a helicopter ride around Kaua'i.  Here are the pictures!  Locals around Hawai'i say that if you had to pick one island to tour via helicopter, then Kaua'i is it.

Pumped and ready!

Kaua'i is small enough to see the whole island in one tour, and the island is drastically diverse.  Kaua'i has almost desert like areas, but then only a few miles away is world's wettest place: Mt. Wai'ale'ale with an average rainfall of 472 inches per year (that would be 39 feet of rain!).  The rainfall in the mountains makes for thousands of waterfalls.  The helicopter ride was awesome, and luckily, the vog was down a bit.  I apologize for some photos with reflections, but taking pictures from inside a helicopter is slightly challenging.  I included captions in some of the photos.  Mahalo for visiting!

Up, up and away I go.

A river snakes it's way along the island.  Ocean in the distance.

I easily saw a hundred waterfalls.  Here are a few.

Some more waterfalls deep in the extinct volcano's crevices. 

Left: Riding along the deep vally    //    Right: heading up into the cloud

Waimea Canyon 

Popping out over the Na Pali Coast Line

Here is a huge rock overhang (there is a beach walkway through the rock between the two small beaches). This area is now famous since Johnny Depp walked though it for one of the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies (I'm not sure which one), but that scene was shot here.  The Helicopter company I was flying with actually transported the crew/actors to the site.

Na Pali coast.

Na Pali coast.

Finally!  Good lighting for the first time!  The sun is behind me and the choper is blocking most of the glare, I can finally get a good picture! 

Na Pali coast.

Here is the Kalalau Trail.  You can see the trail cut horizontally into the hillside.  This was the trail I was backpacking in a previous blog.  

Still Na Pali Coast.

Leaving the Na Pali coast now.