Ziplines fly over Kauai

We had just handed over a substantial amount of money and signed scary waivers so complete strangers could throw us off a cliff. Actually, several cliffs.
It's called a zipline tour, and it involves getting harnessed up, attaching a roller to a metal cable and sliding at treetop level through the Kauai countryside. It's eco-travel with an extra helping of adrenaline.
Already popular in New Zealand and Australia, "zipping" has spread to Hawaii. Skyline Eco Adventures offers zipline tours of Haleakala Ranch and the mountains of above Kaanapali on Maui, while four companies offer multiple tours on Kauai.
Our tour was on the private, 2,500-acre Princeville Ranch, a vast cattle pasture 15 minutes up the hill from serene Hanalei Bay. Close to where "Jurassic Park" was filmed, the ranch is framed by majestic volcanic mountains and marked by deep rainforest gorges lined with lush vegetation - perfect for tourists to fly across.
We had signed up for the most popular of Princeville Ranch Adventures' three zipline tours, the Zip N' Dip. It features eight zips (more than any other tour on the island), a paradisiacal swimming hole with inner tubes provided, a very cool suspension bridge and lunch in a 4 1/2- hour trip.
Harnessed and helmeted, we received laid-back instructions from our tour guides, Eric and Isaac, two buff surfers in their 20s, from the mainland. Their jokey banter and solid assurances about the safety of the equipment and our endeavor put us at ease.
"The biggest danger you'll face is the stairs," said Eric, pointing to the four wooden steps up to the launching platform. "Tourists sometimes run up too fast and skin their knees."
After a short practice zip 25 feet above solid ground, we were ready for the real thing: 400- to 750-foot-long zips, floating 150 feet above valley and stream.
Once on the platform, a guide hooked the carabiner on my harness to the cable above my head; when he got the go-ahead from the guide who would "catch" me on the other side, I tiptoed down a little wooden ramp until there was no more ramp - and I was airborne.
My landing involved a few quick, scrambling steps up the opposite ramp, with the guide there to make sure I didn't come in too fast. Or too slow. In some cases - particularly if you're too light - you can get stuck in the middle and the guides must come rescue you. For this reason, the tour is recommended for people 12 and over.
A blond family from Buena Park (Orange County) had a lithe 10-year-old boy, Leif, who gave the guides some concern. So Leif's parents, the guides and all of us fellow zippers let out a whoop each time he made it across. For the Utah family with two teenagers, like us, and the two middle-aged pals from Chicago, heft was not an issue. Having a need for speed, my 16-year-old son took the guides' advice and drew his legs up into a cannonball position for peak velocity.
The most surprising things about zipping are that it's not physically challenging and it's not scary. My husband and the Utah mom, who had both confessed to a fear of heights, had no trouble. We were so secure in our harnesses, all we had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride. It went by so fast - just a few exhilarating seconds - that we had to be quick to catch the view. My 13-year-old daughter was nimble enough to shoot video in mid-flight.
On wide-gap, big-horizon zips, I felt like a tropical bird soaring above the rainforest canopy. In denser openings, I felt like a flying monkey scooting through the treetops. On the one before the swimming hole, we zoomed past a giant beehive tucked into the cliff. The longest, the Big Kahuna, stretched 750 feet across.
The pristine natural pool, fed by a small waterfall, surrounded by fern-covered cliffs and red-dirt slopes, was the real version of what the fancy resort pools try so hard to look like. The water was clear and fresh and the perfect temperature. I could have stayed in there forever, if not lured out by the simple healthy lunch our guides had packed in and laid out in a small, covered picnic area: cold cuts, cheese, pita bread, fruit and cookies. We washed it down with water we'd each brought along.
The whole tour was a heart-pumping, out of the ordinary experience, a worthy splurge that's fun for the whole family - as long as your family members weigh between 80 and 280 pounds, are somewhat athletic and enjoy plunging across a ravine with nothing between them and a hundred-foot fall but a shiny metal hook.