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Sue's ready for our helicopter ride.

Safari Tours transported us to the helicopter in a pimped out van.

There's our ride.

Bill and I are "hanging loose" and ready to get off the ground.

Here's our pilot. He looked about 12 years old.

There's Ron and Florence from our tour group, waiting to get on their helicopter. Florence is a nun who saved for 25 years to take this trip. The tour group all pitched in with out her knowing so that she could take this helicopter ride.

The take-off was incredibly smooth. I expected it to be much rougher. Honestly, the flight in general was much smoother than most planes I've been on. Once in the air, the pilot pointed out some sights. Here is the beach where they filmed Harrison Ford's Six Days Seven Nights. I loved that movie.

And here we are coming up on the river where they filmed part of another Harrison Ford movie. The opening scene to Raiders of the Lost Ark was shot here. He's had a rough life, hasn't he?

This is Maluhia Road, or the Tree Tunnel. A rancher planted these eucalyptus trees over 150 years ago, and they formed a canopy over this stretch of road.

Now we are following a river out to Waimea Canyon.

Along the way, we passed this beautiful waterfall. It comes down in two steps.

And now we are in Waimea Canyon. We stopped by bus earlier in the day to visit the canyon. It's even more beautiful from the air.

Waimea Canyon is called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

The dark red tones of the earth mixed in with the lush greenery and the occasional water fall, it is just breath taking.

The striation in the rock shows a record of lava flows dating back tens of thousands of years.

Honestly, words and pictures do not do it justice. If you ever get to visit Hawaii, Waimea canyon should be in your top 5 stops.

Exiting the canyon, we headed off toward the coast.

This section of coast line is called the Napali Coast. Again, the colors are so beautiful and vibrant. You feel like you are looking at a painting.

The cliffs rise up over 3000 ft from sea level. After it rains, water falls will pour out of old lava tubes or just seep through the pourous lava rock.

The Napali Coast extends for 14 miles.

It is completely inaccessible by car. To get to it, you'll need to hike or try kayaking.

Within the valley folds, ancient Hawaiians were safe from invasion. Each valley has its own tale to tell.

Also along the coast, old lava tubes that opened out at sea level now form sea caves. Under the right conditions, you can enter these caves by boat.

Due to the currents on this side of the island, the few beaches will come and go with the seasons. During the winter season, strong currents erode the beaches and pull the sand away. During the summer, the currents change and deposit sand, forming new beaches.

Once again, pictures and words do not do it justice.

Here is another sea cave, and you can see where constant eroding has caused part of the cliff face to fall off into the ocean. Where the cliffs stand now is over 3 miles from the original coast line of the island.

Like the Waimea Canyon, the Napali Coast is also in my top 5, must see sights in Hawaii.

Now we are past the Napali Coast and approaching the Princeville area. One of these houses is supposedly owned by Pierce Brosnan.

One more passing shot of Princeville as we head of to Mount Waialeale at the center of the island.

Mount Waialeale is the reminant of the great volcano that formed the island of Kauai, the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is one of the 'wettest place on earth', receiving an average of something like 450 inches of rain per year.

We were able to fly right into the crater. With all the rain, multiple waterfalls just weep out of the porous volcanic rock walls.

Considering that it rains here something like 320 days out of the year, it was remarkably clear for us to get some pictures.

One last look at the waterfalls and it was time to head back.

These are the Secret Falls. To visit them would be an hour in a kayak and another hour on foot.

Not sure what this was, but it looked neat from the air.

And we are back at the airport. The entire flight lasted about 50 minutes, but it went by so fast.

Bill and Jan had a great time. All Jan could say the entire flight was, "Wow!"

Sue and I pose for a picture in front of our helicopter.

And here come Ron and Florence in their helicopter.

I'll guarantee that you've never seen a bigger smile than Florence's when she got off the helicopter. We asked her if she was scared, and she said no, because she said said a prayer before she got on.