…. and then, more importantly, stop for Lappert’s ice cream. As if there would be any doubt about it, I got the Kauai Pie, my favorite ice cream ever! It’s Kona coffee ice cream swirled wtih chocolate fudge, coconut flakes, macadamia nuts and vanilla cake crunch. Someday I will try another flavor, but not this day! This was my only Lappert’s on the whole trip!
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On the first day of the trip some friends made a Costco run and we had them pick of several bottles of white wine and several of red. We were buying the wine for our wedding and needed to know which to buy cases of. During the week we had wine tastings and chose a white wine, but somehow we never tasted or picked a red wine.
Well, Jen didn’t go ziplining and just hung out by the Ho’Onani pool all day, so I assigned her the task of tasting the reds and picking one! Tough day for her! So, Jen texted me her choices and on the way home from the North Shore we met up with Dallas, Matt and Ross at Costco in Lihue where we bought a case and a half of our chosen white wine (Menage a Trois California White) and our red (Mirassou Pinot Noir). Yes, everyone had a menage a trois at the wedding!
After the first 8 ziplines we stopped to take a break before the final line, King Kong. Our break included lunch – chicken and vegetable wraps, Maui chips and cookies. Lunch hour was also when we got to go swimming. There was a waterfall and swimming hole right next to our lunch area. The water was kind of muddy from the rains, but we were all so hot we didn’t really care. Also, there was a small ledge we got to jump from into the water.
Jeannette
Jeannette was the first to jump in. .. like immediately! Everyone else ate then went in the water.
Cat that lives on the ranch.
There are 3 wild cats that hang out by the zipline lunch spot. Well, wild, as in they don’t have a home, but at least one of them was tame enough to let you pet and feed it. Keiki, our guide, told us that the zipline manager once tried to adopt one of them. She took the cat home, to the vet, got it shots and everything. And as soon as she opened the door the cat ran out. No one saw it for a few days and then it reappeared at the lunch spot! They figured if it was determined enough to walk several miles and return then it deserved to be left living there. Keiki said not to worry, those cats eat several times per day, every time a tour comes through people are always feeding them. I’m sure the zipline manager leaves food out, too.
Amanda jumping in.
Stephanie jumping in.
Paul Baker jumping in.
After our lunches were finished, the rest of us jumped in. The water was…. refreshing. Which is to say, very cold! But jumping off the ledge was so much fun.
I tried to take a video while ziplining. Mostly all you see is blue sky and my hair in the wind!
Since we had so much fun ziplining with Donna and Dustin on Maui, Dallas decided early on in our vacation and wedding planning that he wanted to coordinate a zipline tour for our friends. I didn’t want another thing to plan, but Dallas was all for it, so I let him take it and run with it.
Paul & Jeannette on the suspension bridge.
Shannan. The guides told us to run across the bridge and not use our hands to hold on. It was ok til they started shaking it like crazy!.
Stephanie. The ravine was really deep and you could see straight down it between the bridge slats. Scary!
Dallas did all the research and found that Princeville Ranch Adventures would best suit our needs. We were interested in the Zip ‘N Dip Expedition which lasted 4.5 hours, included 9 ziplines, a suspension bridge, lunch and an hour at a hidden swimming hole. Dallas sent an email to all of our friends and within less than a day we had 34 friends interested, which worked out great because we could do 12 people per time slot so, including us, we’d take up 3 full time slots (out of 4) that day.
Ted
Tien
Stephanie
A short hike between lines. Richard, Amanda, Tien, Jessica, Shannan, Kate.
Jessica
Shannan
Dallas split everyone up into the following groups: Team Discovery Channel: Caroline, Tammy, Limey, Kristin, Chad, Brian, Jill, Jess G., Trent, Loden, Allison, Herm. Team Packerrific: Rachelle, Richard, Amanda, Stephanie, Paul, Kate, Tien, Shannan, Jess B., Ted, Jeannette, Yvan. Team OG Kush: Dallas, Jordan, Liz, Cousin, Ross, Matt, Adam, Christine, Brian, Sara, Todd, Kelly. So, needless to say, all of my photos are of Team Packerrific.
Paul
Richard
Jeannette
Guide Taylor showing off!
Our guides were Keiki and Taylor. Keiki was a local guy, born and raised in the Princeville area. He said he lived about ten minutes away from Princeville Ranch. Taylor was a transplant, I think. Keiki was super jokey, teased me a lot for being the bride, and also told our group about local culture. Taylor was fun, too, but more straight-laced.
Most of the people on our tour had never ziplined before. Maybe no one, except me, I think. And even though I’d done it before, I still had a few moments of panic! It’s so fun, but can be freaky too. I thought Amanda was going to have a heart attack before the first line, but by the 4th one she was running off the platforms. You can run if you’re brave, but most people just step off and let gravity do its thing.
Ted and Jessica racing down the last line, a double line called King Kong.
Richard and Amanda racing down King Kong.
King Kong is 1200 feet long, the longest line of the day.
The ladder up to King Kong is 26 feet tall.
Looking down from the King Kong platform.
Guide Keiki getting Kate locked in.
Paul and Kate racing across the King Kong line.
Paparazzi at the end of the King Kong line!
The last line is called the King Kong and it’s 1,200 feet across! This zipline actually had two lines and you were supposed to race. Most everyone in our group was coupled up so the couples all raced against each other. Leftover was me and my niece Stephanie, so we raced. I thought I’d beat her for sure, just because I weigh more, but when the guide said “1, 2, 3, GO!” I hesitated and Steph ran off the platform when he said go. So I lost!
Dallas, John, Koa and Jordan were headed up to Princeville to golf, so we decided to head to the north shore as well. The drive to Princeville is gorgeous and it was nice to see the east side and north side, since we spend so much time on the west side and the south shore of Kaua’i.
