Helicopter Hangover

For my birthday, Blondie gifted me a helicopter ride over Kaua'i on the nicest fleet of choppers this island has to offer (Blue Hawaiian, PLUG!). It was yesterday. I was nervous. I'm not a huge fan of heights; it's not a crazy phobia by any means, but I prefer to stay closer to Mother Earth if given the option. But there's really only one way to see most of this island, which is only 15% inhabited and reachable by road; on a whirlybird (lets see how many other nicknames for helicopter I can fit in here). So I went off to Lihue to board the craft, which I was assured is the safest, newest, and most green of all available: the Eco-Star.

We got on, and were given a flotation device in a fanny-pack. Because you know, if you fall out of an autogiro into the water, you'd want a place to store your chapstick and small change. Then, a headset, so I could listen to the Hungarian family on board with me translate everything our pilot/tour guide pointed out to us.

nézd meg a vízesés!

We took off, and it was thrilling. Giros fly at that height where everything below looks like a train set miniature. So it's quite surreal. Also, they're turbulent as hell. We were all over the place. But it was all worth it for views like these:


And it was all going great, until about 40 min into the flight. I started to feel, well, hungover. Really hungover. Not just "oh my god I drank so much last night you guys" hungover, but "is this the swine flu, and why is there a goat in the bathroom" hungover. I started to sweat, then get chilly. I felt a balloon start to inflate inside my head. I got the pre-hurl feeling in my throat. I reached for the thankfully provided barf bag. I opened it up, and prepared for the worst. And then...we landed.

vomit averted. mission accomplished.

It was a one in a lifetime thrill (I'll post more pics, especially the ones from my film camera, on Flickr soon). I cant say I'd rush to do it again; but given some time to let this nausea pass in full, I'd give it another go. Maybe with Blondie this time. Though I'd hate to hurl on her.