Hawaii 2007:
Day 7 - Nawiliwili, Kauai
Day 7 - Nawiliwili, Kauai
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Friday, August 3, 2007: Our day started with our second shore excursion through the ship -- the Tree Top Zipline Adventure, offered by JustLive. Here are Jill ... |
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... and Tom getting suited up. |
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We were going to spend the next few hours in the most gorgeous Norfolk Pine forest. |
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On our way to the start of the zipline course, we stopped to admire the tiny mimosa plants in the grass that close up when you touch them. |
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Here's a female version of the plant with a tiny bloom on it. |
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At the starting point, our guide Angus headed over to the first transfer point to help with our landings while Matt stayed behind to help launch us. |
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Here's the first zip. The landing is visible in the center of the photo. |
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Here are Jill ... |
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... and Tom successfully making their way across. |
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We were now in the forest, and the view down was exhilarating. The tops of Norfolk Pines have beautiful 7- and 8-point stars on them. |
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Next, Angus showed us how to cross a bridge consisting only of wooden planks hanging by ropes from wires. |
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It was very challenging but extremely fun. Since we were always attached to guidewires, we were always completely safe. |
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With the bridge conquered, we viewed our next zip to the landing beyond. |
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Tom showed us how it's done ... |
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... and was quite clearly enjoying himself. |
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Jill leaned off of the landing supported only by her safety harness. Others among us were not so brave. |
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From this landing, we could see ripe mangos on a tree below. You just don't see that kind of thing in Indiana. |
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Here's our third zip line. |
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Here comes Debbie! |
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Here are Matt and Angus preparing for the next zip. |
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Our fourth zip was much longer and we were encouraged to have some fun with it as demonstrated here. |
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So we did. There are no photos of Jill on this zip since we captured her zip as a movie instead. Classic stuff. You'll just have to use your imagination. |
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Our tour group consisted of us and a group of four siblings. Ranging in age from 12 to 17 or so, they were fearless, polite, and a total joy to be with. Word from the other tour in progress was that their group was much more afraid and they were moving very slowly, so our guides had to help them out when we were done. |
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One of the fun features of this landing is a separate smaller landing to wait on. The gap was a little more than a foot wide, but it's a long way down! Of course, we had to try it. |
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Our next challenge was a rope bridge. Angus gave us all some pointers and some alternate ways to cross the bridge. |
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Here's Jill's crossing ... |
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... and here's Tom's. It was a blast! |
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This landing wrapped its way around the tree, stairstep style. We had to clip and unclip several times as we moved through the landing. |
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This was a nice, long zip ... |
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... with the added challenge of trying to grab a blossom off one of the trees just before landing. |
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Matt got Tom clipped on and ready to go ... |
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... and he also made a valiant, but unsuccessful attempt to grab a blossom. |
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Let's pause to admire the tops of the Norfolk Pines again. If only these beauties would grow in our climate. |
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Our last zip was the zip out of the forest. |
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Tom went first and photographed Jill ... |
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... then Debbie zipping out of the course. |
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Jill took one last opportunity to play with the mimosa plants before we headed back to camp to enjoy some Hawaiian Sun juice and unbelievably delicious chocolate chip macadamia Kauai Kookies (yes, they're available online, and yes, we're going to be purchasing them by the case!). |
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Just outside the entrance to JustLive, you'll find this large field, which is yet another location used in the Jurassic Park movies. |
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Back on the boat, Jill rejoined her friends, and Tom and Debbie took a tour of the upper deck. We watched this container ship being loaded with Maersk containers. |
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Here's the mighty NCL logo on the ship's smokestack. |
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We found Jill and some of her friends getting some sun on the deck below us. |
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Sail away was at 2:00 PM, giving us ample time for a cruise around the island before sunset. Here's the pilot boat picking up the harbor pilot. |
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We sailed out past the resort area ... |
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... and we held our breath as we waited to see if the ship would turn left or right to get to the Na Pali Coast. |
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Score! Once again, the port-side cabin was the way to go, as we circled north around the island, so it was nothing but scenery all afternoon on the balcony of suite 12506. |
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We spent the next few hours sunning ourselves and relaxing as we slowly circled Kauai. |
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We passed the Kilauea Lighthouse, located on the northernmost point in the Hawaiian islands. |
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Not wanting to lose our incredible view, but still being extremely hungry, we stepped out on deck to grab burgers and fries from the Key West Bar and Grill and brought them back to our balcony. |
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Around 4:00 PM, the Na Pali Coast began to come into view. |
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The jagged ridges in the center of this photo mark the start of the coastline. |
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While relaxing on our balcony, we heard the sounds of splashing and cheering. We looked down to the water to see a spinner dolphin playing in the ship's wake. |
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This guy followed us for a while, then dove under the ship ... |
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... just as this set of four (two adults and two babies) showed up to take his place. |
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As we saw the previous day, the Na Pali Coastline is magnificent, but it was quite a treat to see it from the sea, ... |
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... especially with the dramatic shadows cast by the late afternoon sun. |
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We followed the coastline for an hour ... |
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... and when we reached the end, we turned around and headed back along the coast to give those poor starboard passengers a view. |
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Kahoolawe was visible in the distance, looking mysterious and forbidden as always. |
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While we were on the balcony, our terrific cabin steward turned down our bed and made up the sofabed for Jill. |
Copyright © Deborah Schilling/Thomas Bundy