Kauai - Wednesday

Well, today was a pretty easy day for us.  We got up pretty early to catch a 7am boat ride along the NaPali Coast, which is a rugged coastline on the northern portion of the island.  This beautiful coast has been the backdrop to a great number of movies, and a place that many people come to hike (and some live) in the wilderness, untouched by man. 

After our boat ride, we came back, took a brief nap, and relaxed the rest of the day. 

Since we didn't do much, I thought I'd list some interesting facts about NaPali and also the island in general....

Many movies have been shot here on the island.  Here are a few:

-South Pacific
-Blue Hawaii (with Elvis)
-1976 version of "King Kong" with Jessica Lang & Jeff Bridges
-Portions of "Indiana Jones & Raiders of the Lost Ark" were filmed on this island
-Jurassic Park was filmed here, and the waterfall shot in the opening scenes (in which the helicopter arrives on the "Jurassic Park" island for the first time) was filmed on the Na Pali Coast.
-1997 film "Six Days & Seven Nights" with Harrison Ford & Anne Heche
-"Tropic Thunder" with Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. was filmed mostly in the Na Pali Coast
-Most recently, "The Descendants", starring George Clooney was filmed on a portion of Kauai.

There is an 11 mile hike that takes you 1/2 way through the Na Pali coastline.  At some points, the trail is on a sheer cliff, with only 10-12" of walk space.  This is not for the faint of heart.  The minimum time that the Sierra Club recommends for this hike is two days (stopping to camp either along the way, or at the campgrounds, with facilities at the end of the 11 mile hike). 

Several years ago, a hiker was coming back to the base camp from the inner reaches of the trail, and a heavy rain poured down on the area.  A stream that separates one portion of the trail to another was so flush with water that the hiker tried to wait it out.  After waiting for a day for the water to die down, and having eaten all his food, the hiker tried to cross the stream, but was unfortunately grabbed by the quick moving waters and swept out to the ocean, never to be seen again....

Some doctors, lawyers and CEOs have hiked into the remote areas of NaPali, only to decide they liked the rough way of life over their 9-5 drudgery in the city....People live out in this remote part of the world, coming out every 3-4 weeks for few supplies. 

A few pics of our boat ride....

We saw a pod of spinner dolphins on our way out to the coast.  A baby dolphin was doing tricks and spinning out of the water for us!

One of the beautiful waterfalls that can be seen after a heavy rain on the coastline.