Blue Mountain Tour: A Guide to Preparing For Your First Helicopter Ride

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Flying in a helicopter is something that’s on most people’s bucket list and if your very first flight 

happens to be in Sydney, even better. The Blue Mountains are indeed spectacular and are best experienced from the air. If you are lucky enough to be planning a trip any time soon, here is all you need to know about the preparation for what will be the experience of a lifetime.

The Safety Factor

If you’ve never flown in a helicopter, it is perfectly natural to feel a little strange about the idea. To the untrained eye, a helicopter looks about as aerodynamic as a brick and some people mistakenly think that should the engine malfunction, the machine will plummet to the ground. There is something called “autorotation”, which means the rotor blades turn without power and in the very unlikely event of an engine malfunction, the pilot can easily land the aircraft. 

Statistically speaking, you are safer in a helicopter than in any car and if the tour company has a 100% safety record, you can’t get any safer than that.  There are very stringent pre-flight checks that ensure the helicopter is in tip-top shape, so you can sit back, relax and enjoy the experience of flying high above the Blue Mountains.

Motion Sickness

This can be a problem for some people and if you suffer from motion sickness, make sure you take some medication prior to the flight. It is advisable to sit in a forward-facing seat and avoid reading during the flight. Should you feel nauseous at any time, fix your gaze on the horizon. When planning your Blue Mountains tour, choose a leading tour provider, who will ensure that you are comfortable during the experience. Should the worst happen and you do feel sick, there are sick bags on all flights, just in case.

Wearing the Right Clothing

Ideally, you shouldn’t wear loose fitting clothing when riding in a helicopter, and as the aircraft has heating and air conditioning, you should be comfortable in a shirt or light jacket. Sunglasses are certainly recommended as there is often glare from the sun, which might spoil the view. Basically, you should wear clothing that you feel comfortable in. There is no need to make any special provisions for the flight, at least not regarding what you wear.

Prepare Your Camera

Whether you are going to use your state-of-the-art smartphone or an SLR digital camera, make sure you have enough memory space to receive the countless images and video clips that will be a forever keepsake of this memorable experience. There are no restrictions on camera use while flying, so make the best use of the time in the air by taking as many clips as you can, which will ensure you get some epic shots.

Choosing the Right Helicopter Tour Operator

Safety is always a prime concern, so make sure the tour company you select has a 100% safety record. This ensures a safe and enjoyable experience and a reputable helicopter tour provider would give you all the relevant information to ensure that you get the most out of the experience.

Preserve Memories with a Travel Journal

I love to scrapbook and create pretty things. I have started making travel journals where I write down things like where we ate and take a lot of photos. I love to design the pages and add all the cute things I can find. Sometimes I just add shells I found to the pages.  I wish I would have started doing this earlier in life. I also scrapbook old photos from trips too.

Noah loves to make his own travel journals. He loves to write notes and reminders. He is a pretty good photographer once he stopped taking pictures of the tv screen. He is learning a lot. He has quite the talent for writing and photography. He already makes fish journals and space journals. He is a great illustrator too. I can't wait to see what he creates for our next trip. It's also a great way for him to remember trips we have been on.  My grandma Rose used to write down everything. We still have her travel journals. That's where it really started for me. They used to go cross country in my aunt and uncle's RV. My Grandma Rose's journals were so detailed  it felt like you were there. She didn't skip a beat. I love to read them even now. I can imagine my grandchildren looking at my travel journals some day, imagining they are off with me on one of my adventures.

Check out my post on how to create your own travel journal.

I need a Kid Free Vacation ASAP

I love being a mom, it brings me such joy but sometimes I just need a vacation away. I love taking time and traveling to different places usually to see friends. I love going to New Hampshire and spending girl time with my best friend Brandy. Of course her sweet little ones are there which is fine. Her daughter is so amazing and since I only have a son it's fun to have a little girl time with Brandy's daughter. I would love to go on a trip where there's only adults. It's really important to have some me time or girl time. I am hoping sometime I can get Brandy away from her daily life and go somewhere fun together where neither of us has to but our mom hat on and we can just hang out and do whatever we want to.

It's easy to feel guilty especially if you are seeing families together but it is an important and vital part of parenthood. It's not going to be the end of the world if you spend a couple days away from them. If you can't afford a vacation, how about a night in a local hotel? That one night doesn't sound like much but it is a big deal and you will feel like new. You may even want to add another night to your hotel stay.  It's really important and a requirement to have some time to yourself every so often.

Enjoy your kid free vacation!

Sheilacakes Family Travel Traditions

Traveling traditions are great. Every time I hear the phrase travel tradition, I think of the movie Home Alone 2 because forgetting Kevin has become a Mcallister family travel tradition. My family has always had travel traditions. We always listen to the same music. Even now, we still listen to Billy Joel and Carly Simon when we travel as a family. When I was a teenager and in my early twenties, I used to collect shot glasses. The best places to get shot glasses is in souvenir shops. I didn't use them I just liked to collect them.
My Grandma Rose collected salt and pepper shakers and postcards from her travels.  My Grandma Rose and my Grandpa were always traveling somewhere out west. We also found salt and pepper shakers for her when we were traveling. We would send postcards too. We used to always get a new book or magazine when we traveled. I really want to start this tradition with Noah soon. It was pretty neat to get a special book just for our trip. Sometimes it was a coloring book instead.  Do you have special travel traditions?

Check out my post for more ideas for travel traditions.

Eating Healthy on the Road with a Picky Eater

My son Noah is the pickiest eater in the world. He is very specific about what he wants to eat, he has a really hard time trying new things. He is stubborn like his mama. He won’t eat meat. He won’t eat chicken nuggets. He won’t eat hot dogs, or fish sticks. When we travel it can be a total pain to feed him. He doesn’t really have any options at McDonald’s or Wendy’s. He used to just get apples and milk or sometimes ice cream and milk. I have learned that while I would be fine with McDonald’s, Noah isn’t good with it, unless I let him get ice cream. That is a great treat every so often but not for a meal. I have started packing him foods and stopping at places with healthier options. I used to be able to eat McDonald’s and other fast food a lot, now it is an occasional treat. I am getting older and I feel that it makes me feel sick and greasy if I eat too much.

We don’t have allergies but it would be harder to eat on the road if your family did. Noah is pretty good about eating the stuff I pack him like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Honestly, the only “fast food” Noah eats is Steak N Shake and Panera. I don’t consider either fast food. He will occasionally eat Subway because they have good cheese sandwiches and lettuce. That’s what he told me a week ago. I don’t really mind though, because he’s not obsessed with fast food like I was when I was a kid. I only got it once a week but I loved it so much. It was my favorite thing about Thursdays or spending time with my dad because I knew I could have fast food. Of course I love my dad but fast food was just a huge bonus. I think it’s important to start good eating habits young and when you are traveling it’s difficult to remain consistent. 

Here are my tips about Eating Healthy on the Road.

Do you Know any Backseat Drivers?

I used to hang out with a group of friends and we would go places together. We would go out to eat all the time and even went on vacation once. It was a lot of fun most of the time, however one of my friends was a horrible back seat driver. He always would say he knew the best way to get somewhere. I sometimes wondered if he was listening to a police scanner or if he was tapped in to the traffic report around town. This was before apps and most smart phones. Sometimes he was right, but other times we would end up in construction or stuck in traffic. He really thought he was always right. It was pretty annoying to go places when he would start driving from the backseat. Sometimes we would have him drive because it was just plain easier. It was his fault if the traffic was heavy since he picked the route. He wasn’t really that bad, and he was a great guy so we put up with it. If he wasn’t driving he was in charge of the directions. However that wasn’t a perfect plan either, as we got lost a few times. Honestly it was fun though. I miss hanging out with them and even hearing the backseat driver chime in with his opinions about the best way there. I remember being excited once when I knew there was only one way to get somewhere.  

Through this experience I learned ways to deal with backseatdrivers and I can’t wait for you to check out my post.