Today is our really big adventure day for both of us, it’s the first time in a helicopter!
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Our ride is at 11:30 so we’re around the condo for a while having lazy breakfast and then it’s a 1 hour drive over to Blue Hawaiian Helicopters. After we get checked in, weighed it and watch a safety briefing we’re good to go. We’re signed up for the complete island tour so it will be about one hour in the air and we’ll circle the entire island of Maui.
There are six of us, plus the pilot and seating is controlled by weight so we’re loaded up in a very specify assigned seating basis. Shirley has the window, so she’ll have to endure me leaning over to take some of the photos. In a funny ironic sort of way the one lady who was really nervous about the flight is up front and centre, right next to the pilot.
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Much to my surprise the flight is extremely smooth and the one time there was little turbulence our pilot Glenda made some course corrections to get us back into some smooth air. Takeoff is a little eerie as you just float up and away and the next thing we know we’re over the harbour looking at kite boarders and a cruise ship.
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I’d expected that we’d be buzzing by all the big hotels and popular beach areas but there is something they really don’t tell you about up front. Due to the noise of the helicopter they are restricted from flying over, or too close to lot of stuff, which means no beach & hotel fly bys and surprisingly, even over the Haleakala crater they can’t fly over it, just around the outside.
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We fly around the West Maui Mountain over the ocean and see some fabulous coastline and then inland as we go by Kaanapali and Lahaina. All the while we’re on Bose noise cancelling headphones with an intercom to the pilot, Glenda. She gives us an excellent guided tour of what we’re seeing and is exceptionally knowledgeable about the island and answers a couple of off script questions with amazing details.
A good portion of the tour is the Haleakala National Park, the crater and then into the rainforest area of east Maui. I get some great shots of the twisty road up to the summit and some of the numerous waterfalls.
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Past the park and we’re over Hana and then the magnificent north east shores of the island. There are few if any beaches in this part of the island, just magnificent rugged cliffs and pounding waves. Glenda makes special note of this little island as it was used in the opening shots of Jurassic Park. Apparently they did a low angle helicopter shot and avoided showing the near by road and houses to make it seem like it was in the middle of nowhere.
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Did I mention how smooth the flight was? It feels like your just flating and practically standing still but we doing about 100 miles per hour. I was kind of hoping for some radical moves, the kind that makes your stomach drop, maybe a bit like this.
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In reality, the most radical move was a nice banked 360° turn so that folks on both side of the helicopter could get a good shot of one of the waterfalls.
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Some more rugged coast line, some rural areas and we’re returning to the civilization of the airport.
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We arrive very slow and smooth, negotiating around some building, other helicopters on the ground and right into our landing circle, where did the hour go?
As we’re unloading another helicopter comes in for a landing, obviously not a tour ‘copter, and he’s flying more like a jet jockey as he blasts directly onto his landing spot.
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Was it worth it? Definitely!
Nothing too exciting for the rest of the day as we head off for some lunch and then some window shopping and back to the condo. A stroll along the beach, a pizza dinner and another full and rich day is done.
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All the other pictures from the day over on Flickr: