Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Day 8- Nawiliwili, Kaua’i

We started our day with a zipline excursion. We rode out in a van to their warehouse and once we were weighed in and suited up we got into this for our 4 wheel drive up to the top of the mountain;
It was a beautiful scenic tour and a very fun drive to the top since it was sprinkling on and off. Once to the top it was time to start our 1mile descent down a series of 7 ziplines. This is the 2nd largest zip line course in Hawaii and in the top 10 in the nation. This is the area where Tropic Thunder was filmed and on the way back they even showed us some palm trees that were still damaged from the explosion scenes.  BTW the guy who owns all of this land is the same guy who invented AOL!

When it was time to walk off the first platform I realized I was nervous! I didn’t think I would be since sky diving was a lot higher up, but there is something about looking down off that platform and realizing you are depending on a couple of metal pieces and some thick nylon for your life! After the first zip it was nothing but fun! We couldn’t have asked for better weather. We had a gentle sprinkle on and off which made it smell and feel wonderful!


Our group- 





 We even got so comfortable that we hung upside down while zipping across the canyon! Kenny did it too, but there are no pictures because he had both cameras! I was actually thinking as I saw him coming across that it must not be him, because he wouldn’t do that… but he did! It was so, so much fun!

On another line our guide pulled the line which caused us to bounce across. It was SO awesome, but kind of a secret since apparently it is against the rules.

We got a fun snack after zipping-

 Hawaiian grown Bananas! Best Bananas EVER! 

And then headed back up the hill. Since it had rained on an off all morning there was lots of mud which just encouraged the men to aim for mud holes and drive as fast as possible. Apparently these vehicles are military vehicles in other countries and virtually impossible to get stuck. By the time we got to the top the backs of our shirts were covered in mud!

We hopped back on the boat for lunch and got a quick piece of pizza and were ready to hit the town again on our snorkeling excursion.  

We booked the snorkeling excursion through the ship so we were a little frustrated when they showed up late to pick us up. Once they loaded our group up into 2 vans we headed over to their office to pick out our equipment. We were again annoyed at the amount of time that was wasted because they were not organized and several people were complaining that their gear did not fit them perfectly. FINALLY we were on the road to the beach after an 1 ½. We got a short lesson on the “how tos” of snorkeling and were in the water!


 I was amazed that we saw SO many fish almost immediately when we got in the water!











After about 45 mins we took a break and walked up the road to another spot where the Sea Turtles hang out. I was pretty waterlogged at this point, but wasn’t about to sit out and miss something! I wish I would have taken pictures of the area and how we had to get in the water, but I didn’t think of it at the time. We had to climb over a bunch of black rocks to get into the water and swim a couple hundred yards to get to the place where the sea turtles were. As we swum out I could see the water getting deeper beneath us and feel the waves getting stronger… I started to panic. I am very worried about drowning since I can’t swim well and being out that far with no life jacket made me freak out a little. That is when I turned and saw the Sea Turtles-



It was worth it at that point! The turtles are protected so we were instructed to stay at least 5 feet way (touching the Sea Turtles is punishable by a fine up to a $10,000), but our guide took some of these awesome photos for us-




We both really enjoyed the snorkel trip and felt like we had plenty of time in the water even with the delay getting to the beach. Guess this was a good lesson for us that we should “Just hang loose and just have fun” which is the Hawaiian way! We boarded the ship exhausted!

At dinner I ended up getting sea sick and had to leave the table early… I went to bed just after dinner!

Today’s Forecast: scattered showers, High 78, low 71

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