On Sunday we woke up first thing to head to our tubing adventure with Kauai Backcountry. At the shed, we stocked up with our water shoes, helmets, and gloves before loading up two vans worth of tubers. Then we rode up to private land in the mountains, owned by Steve Case (creator of AOL). All of Kauai Backcountry tours are held on his property.
The drive was maybe half an hour, most of it being through grassy fields and forest, completely off the beaten path. During the ride, our tour guide Nalu was very informative. He was a native of the island and a great resource. He was maybe 20 years old? He spoke fluent Hawaiian and had an accent, but told us all about the history of the trees, sugar cane plantations, and just so many things. It was very interesting. The grounds used to be sugar cane plantations, and we even passed a hut from the 1800s where one of the founders of the plantation slept (apparently this hut is some sort of major historical landmark). We stopped to lookout over Wai'ale'ale Crater, again one of the wettest spots on Earth. You could see across to other mountains, which had waterfalls (!). You couldn't see them up close, but you could tell they were there..
A little farther drive took us to our destination. We got out, put on our gear, got a brief safety demo, and began loading up the tubes! I will say I had been most nervous about this experience all week, more so than any other of the events we had booked. I noticed all the other girls were wearing shorts and tanks, and I was just in my plain bikini. I felt out of place, and I was terrified about the water being so cold. It didn't help that I knew we were going to be floating in a ditch..
However, once I got in my tube, I was fine. The water was not uncomfortable at all since my butt was really the only thing touching it. The water was clean and only 2 or 3 ft. deep the whole time, so you could stand if needed. I wouldn't exactly describe it as a lazy river but it isn't too treacherous either. There were times when it sprinkled and moments where you ride slowly in the sun. We passed through 5 different tunnels in the mountains which get a little creepy because it's dark. Our helmets had flashlights, but still. In the final tunnel, they have you keep your flashlights off and I was a little uncomfortable about that, but it was fine. There are a few dips and curves which toss you around a bit, and the instructors aim to get you wet, but it was really enjoyable. It ended up being a really cool experience and I'm glad we did it.
Sidenote: When we got our snorkel gear, Andy really wanted to get an underwater camera, both for the snorkeling and the tubing adventure. I caved, but will say that we took no photos underwater snorkeling. And, Andy was too much of a chicken to get it out of the car for the tubing. A complete waste and I'm still bitter about it, especially since the tubing turned out to be so cool and totally picture worthy. My rant is over. But since we don't have photo proof, here is the link to the company's site which has a video that gives you the gist of what we did: Kauai Backcountry
Anywho, we were probably in the water for not quite an hour. The last part was my favorite because we were completely comfortable at that point, the sun had come out, and we could just relax. When we got close to our landing our lead instructor (who we discovered was a trickster) hid in the bushes and scared us all with pig noises as we road by. We got out, loaded the vans, and drove up a bit to have a picnic lunch. We had turkey sandwiches, Maui potato chips, and Kauai cookies, and loaded for the drive back to the shed. Here is where this story gets interesting..
On the way up Nalu did the talking, but apparently the way back was for Darren, our driver to speak. He was a white kid from Oregon maybe in his mid to late twenties. He mostly talked about what restaurants to go to and tried to give "hidden treasures" of the island but he was rubbing me the wrong way. I kept thinking he had to have lived on the island for just a few years, so how much of an expert could he be? Then we passed a corn field. He asked what we saw and of course Andy, being a farmer, said "corn." Darren said "what kind of corn?" Andy said "research?" Darren started on his spiel about how it's GMO corn...
Sidenote: As we had been driving the island all week, we saw tons of "NO GMO" signs all over the island. While talking with the horseback trail guide, she stated the island had gotten more educated about it in the last year and it was a newer controversy.
I completely understand why the island wants all non-GMO considering it's isolated and they want to follow nature as best as they can, but this Darren kid's reasoning was completely false. I myself am neither pro or anti-GMO. I'm all for having your own opinion as long as it's an educated one. He was talking about how he saw the chemicals they put on GMO corn and how horrible they are, but he must not realize that the purpose of GMO is to REDUCE the need for chemicals. Andy will tell you he sprays half as much on his GMO corn vs. non-GMO, making the kid's argument completely invalid. He also said he has a friend who works for Monsanto and says everyone there "knows they are bad." Well, my husband is a farmer who sells Monsanto and he would disagree. I won't even touch on the rest of his argument. Even if GMO is bad in any way, it has not been proven. If you want people to agree with your views go for it, but give them corrent information.
The entire time this kid was being an ignorant fool, Andy and I kept our mouths shut. I think for one, we were in shock and didn't have time to respond. And two, we knew it wouldn't matter. When we got in the car, Andy was completely irate. I've seen him angry, but I have never seen him so worked up. I thought he was going to turn the car around and tell on the idiot for brainwashing our whole van into being anti-GMO. You're a tour guide, fool, not an agricultural expert.
Moving on..
The rest of the day we spent by the pool. We got drinks and I wished I would've gotten the mango smoothie sooner - it was soo good.
We had dinner at Duke's Barefoot Bar at the resort. I got Korean beef tacos and Andy got a burger. We spent the evening walking the beach and packed up for our early rise and departure for the airport the next day. We were so sad to be leaving paradise...
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