Nā Pali Coast and Whale Watching

Today was pretty awesome. We have had virtually all of our plans canceled on this trip due to the virus. But the one that hadn't yet canceled was a high speed raft tour of the Nā Pali Coast, which was honestly the one we most looked forward to. So I called the charter company, and they said they were done touring...after today. If we could come down this morning early, they would take us out.

So we got up at 5:30am and drove to Waimea to board a high speed raft. The raft in itself was an experience. We sat down on the side of the raft, and then it took off like a shot. In Grant's mind, it made up for the terrible hike (his words) yesterday. We toured up the Nā Pali Coast, which has been the setting for a host of movies, including the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the dinosaur island in Jurassic Park. It was gorgeous. We didn't take many pictures, because we were holding on for dear life. But there are lots of pictures on the web.

On our way back, the boat took us out to watch for whales. That, too, was amazing. Literally a whale the size of a minivan was about 15 feet from our boat, splashing around and flipping her tail up in the air. In the end, we saw probably a half dozen whales. Here's a quick video that clearly doesn't do it justice.

All tourist activities in Kauai are closed until further notice. We're moving into a condo tomorrow, where we will try to live a relatively normal existence...just with the ability to watch whales from our balcony in a 70 degree island breeze.