Helicopter Tour
Last Friday, we went on the helicopter “Hawaii Island Spectacular”, a wonderful 2 hou
r meander all around the big island, checking out the volcanoes including the erupting Kilauea and then a ride along the windward side of the island which is covered in rain forest, spectacular waterfalls and deep impressive valleys. I was in the front seat and was in awe as we studied the volcanoes, different types of lava, remnants of previous lava flows and the current volcanic activity. It was marvelous, peeking into the lava tube and seeing the red hot lava (from the safety of the helicopter!), the immensity of the lava flows… spreading out over the land and where the hot lava met the ocean.
Luckily for the children we were wearing headsets and I couldn’t go into teacher mode. They both asked a lot of questions to our very knowledgeable pilot. Speed entertained us all with his commentary, which went something like this:
Speed: Sir, Captain, I see a volcano out the window!
Pilot: Yes, every square inch of Hawaii is a volcano.
Speed: That is very impressive. Oh. Sir…. Captain, there are some holes outside.
Pilot: They are made by lava tubes.
Speed: Captain. Sir. There are some trees.
Pilot: That’s right, in between the lava there are trees.
Speed: Captain. What are those volcanoes?
Pilot: They are Pu’u. At one time when the volcano erupted and lava came out of that spot and a small cinder cone was formed.
Speed: They are Poo? My horses name is Pu’a. Pu’a means flower in Hawaiian.
Speed was very impressed with the helicopter and was given the chance to sit in the cockpit.
Needless to say we bought the video of our island tour and will no doubt watch it again soon and relive a very happy family moment.
