Hawaii Vaca, Post 13 - Big Island Helicopter Tour, Pt 3

I ended the previous Hawaii post with the comment on the last picture that said, "The last of the valleys before we ascended over one of these ridges and entered what appeared to be flat grasslands for ranching. Who knew?!?", and so, that is where we pick up on the part III of the helicopter tour.

Once over the ridge of the valley (and past a bit of forest, but not much!)  we come to these open pastures.  How do I know they're pastures, you ask?

Because those little, teeny-tiny black speckles you can see milling around that hill in the center of the photo are cows and goats, that's how!  It was crazy how fast the landscape changed.

That same hill from the above photo is the hill in the middle-right of this photo and you can still sort of see the livestock in the center of the picture.

More of the same, but a little more hilly as the landscape is getting rougher.

We're getting closer to the ocean again and you can see the ravines where the water runs down off of the Mauna Kea.

Palihae Gulch running down into Kawaihae.

This is Kawaihae and is only about 5 or 6 miles from Waimea where we had supper at the Big Island Brewhaus on our inaugural evening on the island.  If you go there and you like Belgium style brews, I HIGHLY recommend the Golden Sabbath.  I tried that one, Overboard IPA, Red Giant, Hoptopias IPA, Tall Dark and Mandarin, Starshine Ginger Bier, Monk's Brunch pale ale, The Black Whole stout, Coconut Creme Ale and Mele Maibock.  Oh, and Red Dwarf, a red IPA. But that's it.  We both had flights so there was plenty of sampling going on.  No need to get locked up on your first night...

The coral was beautiful from the air.

Hapuna Beach.

The narrow little town of Puako.

This is the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows.  It seems like we've hit a major resort-type area with piles of golf courses and hotels and yadda, yadda, yadda...

That little cul-de-sac jutting into the water is made up of about 6 or 7 huge mansions including the Toyota Mansion, which is a real thing, it turns out.

That funky circle'ish type building is Ocean Tower at Waikoloa Resort, and the one behind it is Palace Tower Resort.  There are many others as well.

I think that's Kawai Point, but I'm not sure.  It was neat, so it got a picture.

This is a new housing development and the big gray slabs are the plots of land in the old lava flow.  I forget what the pilot said the plots were selling for, but it was astronomical!!!

More of the same but this development was...  uh, further developed.  Note the beautiful green grass (in an old lava flow???) and the swimming pool in that same yard!  I wonder what it cost to have someone come in an excavate a pool in terrain like that?!?

I believe this is Makalawena Beach and I'm sad because this means we are dangerously close to the airport and have to be finished.

That big spread is Cellana, a biotechnology company but that's all I can tell you. There's also Kanaloa Octopus Farm, Kona Cold Lobsters, Natural Energy Laboratory, Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm and Shrimp Improvement Systems Hawaii in that mess.  The stupid airport is just to the left of the pic. 

All good things must end and so it was.

Off we went to get lunch at the Kona Brewing Company and had another sampler of a bunch of beers that aren't available stateside, that I know of anyway.  

Our day wasn't over yet, but one of my favorite parts of the vacation was.