Woke up early again to we could drive around to the other side of the island and go up Wiamea Canyon.  We all missed the first turn and the second turn to go up the canyon.  After a 10 mile detour we got headed up the canyon.  We pulled off at all the stops along the way and Dwayne took some pictures.  I’ll post some later because I was the assistant and didn’t take any of my own pictures this day.  The last stop on the canyon drive is the very top.  It looks out over the top of the Na Pali coastline.  It is breath taking to look at.  After taking the obligatory pictures we headed down the hill.  On the way down the “dumb ass you need gas” light came on.  As we had no clue how much gas we had left it was a butt clenching ride back down the hill.  Pulled into the first gas station we came to and the car took 17 gallons of gas.  Found out later that the car actually has a 20 gallon tank so we could have made it no problem.  =)

We had an hour to kill before we had to check in for our dinner cruise around The Na Pali coast line.  Got ourselves checked in and walked down to the dock.  The cruise was on a 55 foot catamaran.  You are not allowed to wear your shoes on the boat so we all had to take them off and put them on a rolling cart together with everyone else’s shoes.  We leave the dock and move out through the bar.  Talk about rough water.  The wind was blowing and the water was coming up over the front and sides of the boat.  We started getting soaked right from the start of the cruise.  The ride did not get any smoother the rest of the cruise.  We had large white caps with the wind blowing pretty good.  The waves ran the gambit from short and close together to long waves that made the boat dip down in front.   He took us out to the end of the coast line and turned us around.  Once he turned us around he put up the front sail and cut the engines.  I did really good through the entire rough ride out there but when he cut the engines and we were sailing, that’s when I got sick.  I wasn’t the only one and the weather just continued to deteriorate from there.  He started the engines again and started taking us back in.  By the time he got us back we had started getting rained on.  I was never so happy to see land in my life.  I don’t have any pictures from this part of the night as I was too busy holding on and hoping I would live to see shore again.  Rex did get some pictures and just so you don’t think I’m exaggerating I’ll get some from him and post them.  Until then you will just have to believe me when I tell you that I think the Columbia on a bad day was better than what we had.

As the locals call it we floated the “ditch” today.  Got up fairly early for our trip down the ditch.  The morning wasn’t looking very promising when we first got up.  It was grey, windy and rainy.  We all piled into the mini van and headed off to the wharehouse where our excursion was to start.  We were given our helmets and a pair of gloves and headed out to the military style vehicle that would take us up the mountain.

Our guides were really funny and very informative.  They were happy to take pictures for us.

They led us down a walk way and into the water and had us turn around.  They put a tube behind us and viola we were on our tube and ready for the ride down the ditch.   The water was “refreshing” not cold.  It really wasn’t cold.  Just a little cool.  My tube did a lot of spinning and I kept hitting all the slow spots.  We went through 5 tunnels and I bounced off the walls a lot.  I think I hit my head at least three different times.  Thank god for the helmets or it could have been much worse.  Our helmets had headlights on them which helped a lot.  We all got pretty wet along the way.   I didn’t think there would be rapids in a ditch but there actually were a couple and I got soaked.   They fed us lunch and then we were off back to the wharehouse.

On our way back to the house we stopped off and played 18 holes of mini golf.   The mini golf course was really pretty because it was also a botanical garden.  The golfing was a lot of fun and while I might have tied for last place, I’m the only one who got a hole in one.  So take that.  =)

Tomorrow we are off to Waimea Canyon and then in the afternoon we are on the catamaran for our dinner cruise of the Na Pali coast line.

Today we went scouting out where all of our different excursions are going to be this week.  Since we are on the north side of the island in Princeville we started there.

We drove all the way the the end of the road which ends at a lifegaurd  tower.  The drive out that way is beautiful.  We were looking for someplace for Rex and Joanne to do their snorkeling.

There were a couple of really beautiful bays in the area.  The water is sooooo blue.

After that we went back towards the airport and around to the other side of the island.

Tomorrow we are going tubing.  Hoping the water isn’t too cold on my butt.  LOL…

We are currently sitting on the deck having drinks with the breeze blowing and watching it rain.

I think I was just insulted.  =) The look on Joanne’s face when she realized i was writing left handed was priceless.  Wish I had my camera handy for that one.

Finally sitting and enjoying the cool breeze in Kauai.  We are in a house on the north shore.  The house is really nice and Dwayne took pictures.  I’ll post them when we get home.   It is two stories, with a balcony that we can sit on and enjoy the night and it has a great cross breeze that is currently blowing through the main floor.

So our day started at 6 this morning.  We flew first class today and spent all day in the air.  The flight from Oahu to Kauai was nice and short at only an hour.  We got our rental car and headed for the house.   First class was ok but the best part was the extra leg room and the free drink.  =)

Tomorrow we are going to explore the island and figure out where we need to be for our excursions starting on Monday.