Kayaking and Secret Falls

I went kayaking today, and my arms are so sore that I cringe just lifting them to type.  I realize that makes me a pansy… but it is what it is.  But, as with the hiking on Tuesday, despite all of the excruciating torture I’ve put my muscles through today… it was so worth it. 

I signed up for a kayaking waterfall tour of Wailua river that left this morning.  There were seven kayaks on my tour, and other than the tour guide (a girl about my size), I was the only single paddler.  Everyone else had signed up in groups of two, which meant they got double-seated kayaks, and double the man-power to paddle it.  But I didn’t mind being on my own, and after the first fifteen minutes of “I can’t paddle another stroke without my arms falling off,” a nice icy burn manifested itself in my torso and upper limbs, and it was a good kind of pain from there on out.  

Wailua River is beautiful.  The first two miles we kayaked were calm except for the occasional motorboat, pontoon tour, or paddleboarder.  The sun was beaming down, so the drips of water from the paddle were refreshing.  Even though I had to work hard to keep up with all the other canoes in our tour (I never fell to the back), it was relaxing to glide along the river and marvel at all of the jungle trees and bushes slinking into the water from the banks.  For the last half-mile, we turned down a narrow, winding tributary that looked like it was right out of the Amazon.  There were overgrown vines and roots on either side of the kayaks, tree limbs just above heads, and an eerie, arresting stillness to the water.  At one point we had to maneuver our kayaks through a tiny tunnel of tree branches, and when we came out on the other side there was a stony bank where we grounded our kayaks, tugged our backpacks out of our dry-bags, and set out on a mile-long hike. 

Compared to the Hanakapi’ai trail, this hike was a walk in the woods—literally.  There was still a “rainforest” feel to it, but this area of jungle was much less lush and dense than some of the other areas I’ve hiked through.  Still, there were some rather entertaining oriental women on the tour who thought it was a very intense and scary hike.  There was one woman who talked nonstop, but oddly enough she wasn’t annoying.  Her personality (and looks) were almost identical to Kelly from The Office.  Aside from one other couple who looked like they were in their twenties, I was the only person under 45 on the tour.  But it was still enjoyable to get to know everyone.  On the van ride from the tour meeting place to the river, I had a nice chat with a couple in their fifties—they were on their honeymoon.  By the time we’d paddled a mile, they had excitedly shared with everyone that the girl kayaking by herself had just moved here and was named Laura, so for the rest of the tour everyone called me by my first name and was very friendly. 

Here are some random shots of the scenery during the hike (sometime soon I’ll get some shots of the tropical jungle landscape.)  Check out the bowing trees and the roots all over the forest floor.  It’s kind of hard to tell, but the second shot in is a picture of the river on which we’d been kayaking.  The last picture is of a vine that wrapped itself around a tree branch.  During one of the tours six months ago, a guy climbed that vine (despite his guide’s requests not to), fell off onto his mother-in-law, and ran into the jungle having a panic attack likely spurred by concussion.  His mother-in-law’s leg was broken in two places, and he was found dead six days later.  The locals interpreted this as a spiritual/mystical occurrence and now no one will climb the vine.     

When we got to Secret Falls, everyone ate their packed lunches (mine: peanut-butter sandwich, salt and vinegar chips, starfruit) and took a dip in the swimming hole beneath the waterfall.  It’s difficult to see the waterfall in the pictures—it was a light, misty waterfall.  But it still felt powerful standing directly beneath it.  Here are some pictures.  The last one was taken by the couple I met in the van—I don’t know what setting he had the camera on, but it turned out interesting... the only indication of the water pouring down on my head are the iridescent blue splash-dots in a horizontal line at my knees.

I was planning to go to a beach cookout tonight, but in my way home from kayaking, my employer called with a list of 230498350824 things for me to do.  That’s ok… the cookout is weekly (it’s a church thing), so I’ll just make sure I get there next week. :)

I always feel so awkward ending a blog.  By the time I get done writing, I’m too tired to write an effective conclusion.  So tonight, I’ll leave you all with a picture of a sign I saw on my drive back from kayaking… it reminded me of home.  Aloha! :)