Monday, September 10, 2007

 

Hawaiian Journal - Something I have in common with Anne Heche

And it's not a made-up spaceperson language. I have an authentic one. But that's not important right now.

Day 8

Time was running short on our Hawaiian vacation, but Our Woman in L.A. and I had one more set of activities to go. We were headed on a half-day snorkeling and boating trip up to the beautiful and famous Na Pali Coast, on the north shore of Kauai.

Only three ways to get your Na Pali on: 1) By helicopter; 2) By boat - and not just any kind of boat will do (there are certifications, paperwork, a first born sacrificed . . .); and 3) Hike 13 miles one way to get to the edge of the coastline (and most of that 13 miles is mountain), and then a 13 mile trek back. For the record, I understand that the hike option is awesome, but, like the route to my father's elementary school, it is up hill, both ways. No snow, though, which is a plus.

Anyway, we took the boat. We'd seen it on Day 7 by whirly bird, so it was cool to get close up.

Before we got on the boat, though, we saw a geniune omen of a good day ahead. Check it out:



As soon as the boat got going, Our Woman in L.A. got happy. She was happy before, but nothing - and I mean nothing - turns that girl into a zen-like, "nothing can bother me" happy trance like quality time spent on a boat. Nothing. I mean it. Not fun dip, not chocolate or Indigo Girls concerts. Nothing. So this was pretty good. How good?

Check it out:



Notice here that Our Woman in L.A. is wearing a special dive shirt for our snorkeling adventure later on. We were good while in Hawaii. We used 50+ SBF sunblock, we tried to stay in the shade some of the time. But the dive shirt really makes a big diffference - especially if you're fair-skinned, sitting on the deck of a boat most of the day, and then swimming with the fishes.

For the record, Our Man in L.A. has one, too. It's a black turtleneck, which mean that I didn't sun burn, but I did look arty.

Anyway, on the way to the coast, we saw a lot of ocean life. Sea turtles swam by, flying fish jetted through the air, and dolphins jumped and played by the boat. We tried to photograph said dolphins, and you can almost make one out here:



Finally we got to the coast. It's pockmarked with caves and amazing nearly-untouched beaches. Remember how hard it is to get here? You can't even get to these beaches by hiking. They're amazing. Like this one (with the cave):



Incidentally, it's this beach that we have in common with Anne Heche. It's the beach from Six Days and Seven Nights, which I didn't see, but it's a pretty swell beach. One of the Jurassic Parks got shot here, too, but somehow the dinosaurs missed eating Ms. Heche.

We snorkeled around for about an hour, and then the boat took us back. Later that day, we treated ourselves to the local haute cuisine . . . at a little place called Bubba's Burgers. It was Bubbalicious. But the rest of the day called for vegging out by the hotel pool, and having a casual dinner at the hotel. For free, remember.

Ah, that's something that puts Our Man in L.A. in a blissful mood. Free drinks, too.

Tomorrow: One last full day in an Aloha State. Wow, it's even sad to type that.

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