Hawaii 2009 - Helicopter Trip

For Caitlin's 11th birthday, we took her

(and everyone else tagged along too)

on a helicopter trip to see some of the

sights of the Big Island, like the volcano & waterfalls.

We were particularly interested in seeing LAVA!!

Mt. Kilauea has been actively erupting

since the 1983 and we wanted to see RED!!

Unfortunately, the rain persisted, but once

in the helicopter, we found some dry spots

and some great pictures!

Papa helping CC get into her lifevest.
Papa helping Luke get into his lifevest.

Safari did a great job!

A view from the back seat.

Caitlin & Mike got to sit upfront,

while Luke, Papa, Chris & Grammy sat in back.

All the seats had lots of window space

and we wore headphones so we could hear

the pilot's commentary and ask questions.

Lava fields on Mt. Kileau -

steam vents from lava under the surface.

A lava pool surrounded by a huge lava plain.

Interestingly, this is a Bed & Breakfast in the

middle of several lava flows. The only way

to reach this "lovely resort" is by helicopter.

A road that leads nowhere...

except another lava flow!

A house that was recently engulfed by lava.

Steam from where the active lava flow

is pouring into the ocean.

Can you see the RED?? That's the lava!!

Too much steam to see very clearly.

More lava, more steam - facinating to watch

the process of an island being expanded.

Lava field with different colors representing

different flows and kinds of lava.

As the lava builds new land, waterfalls erode.

There were too many waterfalls to count and

because of the abundance of rainfall,

they were so full and beautiful.

Luke enjoying the trip.

Tropical rainforest galore!

From this view, the waterfalls were spectacular!

Coming back into the airport,

don't be fooled by the blue sky,

we had just flown through a rain storm.

It was funny because the helicopter

didn't have windshield wipers!

Aloha! Thanks Safari for a terrific time!!