Zipline Safari Adventure. That was what today all was about. Last fall when we first started planning this trip I found the company-Outfitters Kauai- who offers all sorts of adventure tours. The one we choose was an all day adventure that I loved. First thing is we paddled up the Huleia River for about two and half miles. The scenery was great and the water was so relaxing. With paddling I was splashed just enough to stay cool.
On the river we passed a rope swing that was used in “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Eric got a prize for knowing the movie and the scene.
After kayaking for a while we hiked up to the Kipu Ranch. This is a privately owned ranch and the family that owns it made the agreement when they purchased it from that Hawaiian Royal Family that the land would never be developed. The land has been untouched for hundreds of years and it is fabulous.
After we hiked for about twenty minutes we got to a grassy knoll where we got on to a hayride minus the hay. The field we were parked in was the area where they shot some of the scenes in “Jurassic Park”. We rode on the wagon for about twenty minutes and then arrived at our first zipline area. Due to a snafu in planning with the harnesses we ate our lunch first and then geared up to zipline. Mom was really nervous at this point but was doing really well in overcoming her fears.
In an effort to help people get used to the height we all walked over the bridge to nowhere. It is a suspension bridge over a gulch that drops down one hundred feet. It was quite fun and I got to be the first one across.
Then it was time to zipline. I was going to be first but I got nervous and made Eric go first. He took the camera with him so he could get pictures of the rest of us coming across. I went next and then Mom. She did a great job. Eric and I were able to jump but Mom kind of fell out since she wasn’t ready to jump. The first zipline was only eight hundred feet so it was a baby for what was coming next. After everyone got across the first one we hiked to the next zipline. This one was eighteen hundred feet long!! It was amazing. I felt like I was flying forever. Eric was able to hang upside down for some of it. I tried but the harness hurt to bad on my sunburn to stay that way. It felt great to fly above the trees.
From there it was another hike to our last zipline and the swimming hole. The swimming hole was this perfectly round hole that was about twenty five feet deep. The last zipline of the day was out over the water and then you let go and land in the water. This one scared me more than the other two because it was just free falling at the end. I did it!! The crazy thing is that wasn’t the craziest thing of the day. Other than the zipline there was an eight foot platform (this was also the one you pushed off from the zipline on) or and eighteen foot platform into the water. Yeah I jumped off the eighteen foot platform. I screamed the whole way down and landed on my bum. For those of you who are considering such a jump in the future don’t land on your bum. Mine hurt for hours afterwards.
Next was the last hike of the day. W got to pass by the pond where they are going to shoot a scene from “Pirates of the Caribbean Part 4”. Johnny Depp was actually somewhere on the island while we were there but we didn’t see him.
This hike was my favorite of the day just because it was the prettiest. The hike took us back to the river where we had been kayaking. Instead of kayaking back we got to ride in a boat in comfort and enjoy the view without having to work for it.
To get back to our car we had to ride in a van. While we were driving Maggie, our tour guide, was telling us about her favorite places to eat. One of the places on her list was Poipu Grill. It is just this little walk up window right next to the shop where we had checked in. The best food there was the French fries. The fries are so good that I actually like the plain ones rather than the loaded fries. Maggie and the other guides call them “crack fries” because they are so addicting.
It was a great day and I am so glad we spent the money to go on the full adventure. Eric and I have decided when we come back we are going to be in shape to do the seventeen mile sea kayak tour. I highly recommend this place to anyone who is going to Kauai.
No comments:
Post a Comment