Monday morning, we piled into two of our three rental cars and headed to Hanamaulu to begin our journey down the Sugar Cane Canal. We started by filling out waivers for everyone (always a good sign)! We were then fitted with gloves and hard hats with lights on them. We brought our own water sox (required), so we were ready to go. After a bumpy ride to the first stop – a scenic lookout – we proceeded to the launching point. During our ride, our guide Geri (short for Geronimo, according to her) had each of us give his or her name, what we do for fun, what we do for work, and our personal life motto. A silly, but fun, ice breaker. My motto “Live each day as if it is your last” and Michael’s “You can’t take it with you” is reflected in the fact that we are on a family vacation in Kauai getting ready to tube down a drainage ditch with the kids and grandkids!
What a motley crew!
Our group at the scenic overlook.
One of our guides, Geri.
Great company and great guides – recommend you go if you ever go to Kauai.
We were given the obligatory safety speech, which included such things as keep your elbows inside the tube and your feet crossed and relaxed to avoid kicking other tubers in the head. Which, by the way, we were all willing to do until later in the trip when the Canadians started singing “Wheels on the Bus” loudly and badly out of tune in an echoing tunnel! As we headed down the plank (appropriate to the way I was feeling) toward the 20 or so large inner tubes floating in the canal, I proclaimed “I don’t want to go first!” I am a big girl and not particularly graceful anymore (I probably never was), so I did not want the entire group watching as I flopped my significantly sized behind into one of the tubes. So what happened? Yeah, that’s right, Geri pulls me down to the front and announces, OK, Karen will be our first tuber and show us all how it’s done! There is no way to get out of that position gracefully (and, as noted above, Grace was my aunt’s name, not mine), so in I went, a bit like a whale trying to sit in a beach chair. Yes, it was cold! Once I was in, I could relax and watch everyone else, judging each against my own performance. Turns out, I was not the worst.
Now every brochure and on-line description says this ride does not include rapids and is an easy ride down the canal. For the most part, that was true. What isn’t included in the description is the knocking against the sides of the canal, which consisted of rock and/or foliage, and the spins you can get into if you hit the side or another tuber just right. Oh yeah, there was also the approximately 4 foot “waterfall” we went over and the swells of the current which seemed very much like baby rapids! In fact, I had Michael’s camera, which is not water proof, and as we headed down a certain area, the guide ‘suggested’ I put the camera back into the dry bag I brought! I was unable to bring it back out for the remainder of the ride. Most of us had fun, but Hailey for one has indicated she had fun, but never needs to do it again — hmmm. She is so light that she got stuck at the very end, which is where the annoying Canadians were splashing and singing.
Natalie and the group gearing up with one of our crazy guides.
Brittney relaxing (but it’s early in the ride).
Michael seems good to go.
Natalie looks pretty even with a hard hat on!
Kenzie and Karen – also looking mighty pretty!
Brittney’s having a good time!
It is just wrong to be so cute under these circumstances!
Lights on, Brian, we’re heading into one of the five caves we will be going through.
Here we go…
It’s dark in here!
Rob and Hailey.
What a cute couple!
Jake looks very comfortable in that tube and hard hat.
When we got to the end of the tube ride, we dismounted and boarded the bus to a lovely picnic area, where sandwich makings were ready for us to assemble and enjoy. What is it about water sports that make one so hungry?
After lunch we were serenaded by one of the young guides and his ukulele. We headed back to the house, Rob’s group stopping for Shave Ice and Ice Cream, Michael and I went to the store (again) while Brian, Natalie, and Britt got ice cream.
To warm up after the cold tubing ride, the girls all headed directly to the hot tub and enjoyed warm bubbly water and cold bubbly drinks.
The girls in the hot tub!
For dinner, we ordered pizza from the popular local pizza parlor – it was delicious!
For Tuesday we have nothing particular planned.
Safari So Good 