彭蒙惠英语：Kauai Adventure（在线收听）

Kauai Adventure

By Yvette Cardozo

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We were standing on a Swiss Family Robinson-style platform 50 feet up in a tree, and were expected to jump. Taking a leap of faith—quite literally—and holding our breaths, we dropped towards the river below, then slid outward . . . on a zipline.

Yes, even the paradise-like Hawaiian island of Kauai has a zipline, but extreme adventure here is much more than sliding across a river in a harness.

Safe thrills

Kauai has been the setting of Hollywood adventure films, like Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Lord of the Flies and others, for decades. Now, it’s also a destination for real-life adventure: safe, supervised, guided adventure with one of the world’s most jaw-dropping backdrops. Activities range from “heart-attack” rope-swing drops into swimming holes to downhill bicycling adventures; from boat rides behind waterfalls on the Napali coast to our personal favorite, the inner tube ride down irrigation canals of an old sugar plantation; and, of course, those ziplines.

What to do

The most comprehensive of all the tourist trips is the Kipu Falls Zipline Safari, offering a day for folks with short attention spans who can’t decide what to do. Our group met, incongruously, in a Lihue industrial district on Kauai’s southeast side, got outfitted with kayak paddles and dry bags for our cameras, then took off on a 2.5-mile paddle up the Hule’ia River. We passed catamarans, skiffs and something that looked like a spaceship, but was actually a racing trimaran.

Upstream we took a short hike through the tropical jungle. Our guide Elvis pointed out all sorts of local edible plants. Hau flowers for coughs, wild coffee cherries, wild ginger, taro, mango, kukui nut, bananas . . . the list went on and on. In fact, someone later told us 93% of all plants in Hawaii are edible.

Vocabulary Focus

harness (n) [5hB:nis] piece of equipment, with straps and fastenings, used to control or hold a person, animal or object in place

jaw-dropping (adj) [5dVC:5drCpiN] amazing; extremely surprising

incongruously (adv) [in5kCN^ruEsli] in a way that is unusual or different from the surroundings or from what is generally happening

outfit (v) [5autfit] to provide someone or something with equipment or clothes

Specialized Terms

zipline (n) 滑索 a wire strung between two objects on which a person in a harness rides from a higher point to a lower point

inner tube (n phr) 内胎 an air-filled rubber or plastic ring that normally goes inside tires

irrigation (n) 灌溉 the process of supplying land with water so that crops and plants will grow

trimaran (n) 三体帆船 a small, fast sailing boat with a central hull, or floating part, joined to two other smaller hulls, one at each side

hau (n) 哈乌树 a large shrub or tree that is common in the tropics and subtropics

kukui (n) 夏威夷州树 a tree with grayish leaves and clusters of white flowers; the state tree of Hawaii

可爱岛探险之旅

吴四明 译

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我们站在50尺高，类似电影《海角一乐园》里的一个树顶平台上，准备往下跳。充慢信心地一跃——真的是仅凭信念与勇气；我们摒住气息，落向身下的河流，然后坐着高空滑索往外滑。

是的，即使是像天堂般的夏威夷可爱岛上，也有高空滑索，但是这里的终极探险活动并不只是身上紧套绳索从河上滑过而已。

安全的刺激

数十年以来，可爱岛一直是好莱坞探险影片的场景之一，例如。《夺宝奇兵》、《侏罗纪公园》、《苍蝇王》等等。现在它也成了现实生活中进行探险活动的地点。这些安全、受到良好指导及管理的探险活动，拥有一个全世界最不可思议的背景设计。活动包括从可引发“心脏病”的绳索荡秋千落入天然游泳池洞，到下坡单车之旅；从拿帕里海岸瀑布后方划船，到我们每个人最爱的在旧甘蔗园的灌溉沟渠中坐内胎顺流而下；此外，当然还有那些高空滑索。

玩什么

对注意力短暂而不知如何决定要玩什么的人来说，各种内容都有的观光行程就是一天的“奇普瀑布高空滑索之旅”。我们这一团，很好笑地，是在可爱岛东南边的利忽野工业区会合，拿着滑桨及装照相机的干燥袋，穿戴好划独木舟的装备后，便展开长约2里半的忽雷野河溯流之旅。途中，我们经过了一些木筏、小艇、及一艘看起来像是宇宙飞船但实际上是三体赛船的东西。

在热带森林中，我们逆流而上健行了一小段路。我们的导游艾维斯指出所有当地可食用的植物。可以治咳嗽的哈乌花、野咖啡樱桃、野姜、芋头、芒果、库库依果、香蕉，还有更多。事实上，后来有人告诉我们，夏威夷所有的植物里，有93%都是可以吃的。