Hawaii Cruise Day 7 - Kauai

We booked an all day excursion today to see Waimea Canyon,  Fern Grotto, and a short boat ride on the Wailua river.  Most of it worked out....

Our day started early since we had to meet for our excursion just 20 minutes after we were schedule to dock. And we were glad we arrived at the port on schedule since we did not leave Oahu last night until 1:30 am, well after our 11:00 pm scheduled departure time. About 9:30 pm last evening a barge docked and an oil spill prevention line was deployed around the ship.  So we're not sure what was wrong, but obviously some repairs were needed.  The good news is that the captain made up the time and we did arrive on schedule.  We even saw some whales in the distance as we pulled into the port!

Our excursion left on time and we had a 2 hour ride to the canyon, up a very narrow and twisty road. Once there, it was spectacular! I took a video of it, but it's a bit large to upload onto the blog. You can see Opaekaa Falls in the distance.  It is amazing how deep this canyon is.

After seeing the canyon we had a Hawaiian buffet lunch at a restaurant called Keoki's Paradise.  They served crusted mahi-mahi, barbecue chicken pieces, and shredded pork with cabbage, over rice.  It was a very elegant place with very good food and excellent decor. 

After lunch we headed to a short photo stop called Spouting Horn where waves come through tubes under the rock and shoot into the air. We enjoyed seeing these, and trying to get good pictures.   Here's a video of one.  After re-boarding our bus, our driver discovered he could not put it into reverse.  He tried several things and was even assisted by a former bus driver who was on the tour.  Eventually he called for a replacement bus, but it took 45 minutes for it to arrive, so there was no time for the boat ride, and we headed back to the ship instead. 

This evening we went to a performance by a group called These Guys, and it was great!  They sang a lot of oldies including songs from The Temptations and Jersey Boys and even did one barbershop quartet number.  Give hem a listen sometime.  

On to Maui tomorrow and riding the Road to Hana.