Hawaii - Day 8 'til Days End

Day 8 (TUES) - WE ZIPPIN'

Day 8 was another action packed ski Sunday or zip lining Tuesday as the case may be - though that clearly doesn't have quite the same ring to it.  We headed off early (for us) as far as the Umauma (so good, they named it twice) zip line - the so called Mercedes of zip lines.  The website suggested it was going to be a 2.5 hour drive, but we managed it easily in 1.5.  Luckily they were able to reschedule us for an earlier tour meaning we didn't have to hang around for too long.

 

The tour involved 9 zip lines in total; 4 of which were tandem lines meaning you got to 'race' your partner (not that we're that childish or anything), as well as crossing a suspension bridge over a small waterfall.

The craic was mighty !  We were teamed up with a family of six who were clearly more nervous than your average bear.  For most of the runs they went first and we followed.  At the first line - which was fairly modest by anyone's standards - one of the guys was clearly having difficulty throwing himself off the platform.  He was shouting words of encouragement at the 11 year old child on the other platform while hyperventilating and developing an increasingly high blood pressure (judging by the color of his face).  It was as if he needed said 11 year old to go first so he'd have to follow.  He was granted his wish pretty quickly.  Al and myself then stepped up.  No pressure because all of the witnesses had already gone, so screaming like a big girl was acceptable ... or so Alma convinced me.

Holding on to each other for dear life.  You first - no you first !

After the safety check, standard issue "we zippin'" into this walkie talkie from the tour guide and a short countdown we plunged ourselves into the darkness (open eyes are optional but not recommended according to the brochure - no honest !).  According to the tour guides we were likely to reach top speeds of ~50mph due to the slightly rainy weather conditions.  Apparently I fell just shy of this top speed because I lost - not that it's all about winning or anything (easy for the loser to say !).

Alma out in front.

A view from one of the longer zip lines.

After safely arriving at the arrivals platform with but a mild dose of whiplash, Alma waited ... and then waited some more.  Attention seeker that I am, I arrived at the platform but was then shot back out onto the line.  Nice guys that they are, they left me dangling there for a bit before coming out to rescue me, at which point I was treated to the image below.

Monkey man there, used his feet to gain momentum as he pulled me back in.  Cheers mate !

Look at me - I won, am still alive and suddenly all thrilly !

So needless to say, this went on for a few more zippies - all of which were very cool - before we had to walk across the suspension bridge to get to the base of the first single zip line, which turned out to be three directly after each other.  Bitchin !

The suspension bridge.

The suspension bridge was cool enough.  The tour guides - safety conscious fellows that they are - jumped up and down on it and rocked it from side to side as we were all crossing; you know - just to keep it interesting !

Anyways, to make a short story long, we eventually finished all 9 lines with a feeling of 'what just happened?'.  It all seemed to be just a blur because there was so much going on and so much to see at the same time.

Later on after an ice-cream and a banana from the hank that was just hanging there (it is Hawaii after all), we headed as far as the Rainbow Falls to see what it was all about before heading home via the so-called "Saddle Road" which goes up and over the mountains.

The Rainbow Falls - nice, but the name is perhaps a little too suggestive.

DAY 9 (WED) - POLOLU VALLEY LOOKOUT

Day 9 started with a spot of disappointing snorkeling at Anaehoomalu Bay - though it has to be said we did bump into a turtle ... which is always nice.  The reason why it's helpful to have just paid a visit to the dentist before attempting to pronounce any Hawaiian place names is apparently because there's only 12 letters in the whole alphabet and 5 of those are vowels !  So in the afternoon we decided to head as far as the Pololu Valley Lookout which is apparently famous thanks to Jurassic Park.

The trip from our resort to Pololu Valley Lookout.

It was one of those classic 108F / 42C days - freakin' hot in other words ! so with the airco at max we hit the road.

Not much to say about the place really other than the views are spectacular ! (well otherwise it wouldn't have made it into the movies - right ?).

It would look familiar if it wasn't for the horse - right ?

 

At the bottom.

Alma decided to get her feet wet in the black sands.  The truth be known, she was trying to cool off the numerous insects bites on her legs.

DAY 10 (THURS) - COOKIE MONSTER

Our last day, so we had to decide what we wanted to do most.  Having been disappointed by the other snorkeling sites, we both decided to venture back as far as the Captain Cook site.  Luckily enough it wasn't our first time because we bumped into three groups who were on their way back up all claiming it wasn't worth it or make sure you've enough water etc.  In fairness they did all look wrecked, but at the same time it was 3pm and freaking hot.  The ascent - while grueling - is not as bad later on in the evening when it's cooled off a little.  Anyways y'all have heard the story before so here's a few new pics of those crystal blue waters and I'll leave it at that !!