Princeville Zipline

This year my girlfriend Simone and I decided that we were going to celebrate Valentines days a little bit differently then we have in the past. We decided that we were going to go up to the North Shore of Kauai and try out the zipline at the Princeville Ranch.

When we arrived at the Princeville Ranch Adventures headquarters our very friendly guides greeted us and outfitted us with our harnesses. After we were all geared up, we boarded their 6 wheeled military transport vehicle. The guides got in and started up the motor and we began our journey across the ranch to the beginning of the zip line course.

They had their operation set up so it was as safe as possible. One of the guides would clip you into the zipline at the top. After you were fully attached, you would ride down and then be unclipped by the other guide. Most of the ziplines on the course were single zips, except for the final zipline. The final line was called “King Kong”, and consisted of two zips that ran parallel to each other. This design allowed the riders to race each other on the way down.

As Simone and I made our way up the stairs to the beginning of “King Kong” I remember thinking about how I should almost give her a head start because I weigh so much more then she does. Then, when the guide was clipping me in she said:

“You’re pretty tall, that’s gonna make for a lot of wind resistance so you better tuck into a little ball.”

For some reason I totally discarded her advice. While Simone made her body into the smallest cannon ball she could, I tried to lean back and make my body as pointed as I could (like an arrow). My theory was a total failure because right as we started Simone sped off in front of me with her little cannonball and left me in the dust making my stupid arrow. I figure it was what I deserved for not listening to the professional zipliners advice.

At the end of the day we were a little more tired then I thought we would be. I think it had more to do with just being in the sun for most of the afternoon then from any sort of workout got from walking between the lines. The trip ended in the middle of the afternoon and we were left with plenty of time to be able to enjoy the sunset from Hanalei before we went to dinner.