Hunt For Big Surf

Today's mission was to drive around the island to look at the big surf on the North Shore. It was supposed to be on its way down, so today was the last day to catch it.

The day started off looking bad with tons of clouds, but by about 1 p.m. the blue skies appeared. Here we're headed toward Haleiwa. Look at that sky people! Wow, this is why we live in Hawaii.


Lots of trees along the side of the road and no retouching the blueness of the sky. Spectacular no?


Here's the view toward Waialua and Camp Erdman.


After Haleiwa, the land opened up and there were some ranches with grazing horses. There was quite a bit of traffic on the road. I guess other people had the same idea as us.


Just past Waimea, I saw this cool-looking van. Apparently Vishnu has some influence on the surf?


Somewhere along the road we pulled over to take a peek at the surf. It wasn't exactly huge but big enough that it was causing traffic.


There were high surf warnings out and even yellow tape preventing pedestrians from going onto the beach. Obviously not everyone listened to this.


The surf looked choppy and we didn't see anyone out there.


Continuing along our round-the-island journey, we approached Chocolate (Kahana) Beach. It didn't look to chocolately today so I suppose that means it hasn't rained in a while.


Here's the turn right before Crouching Lion. Despite living on Oahu my entire life, I still have yet to visit this place. It seems very peaceful since it's in the middle of nowhere.


We made it all the way to Kuuloa Ranch area. Here's the view of the mountain range towering over the ranch. Again, the sky is just as it was. No tampering with Photoshop. Simply lovely.


And here's the famous Chinaman's Hat. We saw a couple of people out in the water fishing but no kayakers today.


As we headed closer toward town, we crossed paths with Rabbit Island. By this time, it was getting a little bit later and the blueness of the sky was fading.


All in all it was a nice change of pace and a great way to spend the day off from work.

Brotherhood Never Looked Better

I always thought it was a cliche that "good girls love bad boys" but now I'm beginning to think there's something to that saying.

I just watched a surfer doc called Bra Boys. It talks about the life and times of a group of Australian surfers from Maroubra and focuses on the Abberton family. It is an Aussie version of Lords of Dogtown, but way, way better, in my opinion.

Bad ass surfers were never hotter than in this film. (I think the accent adds to the allure.) Covered in tats, street brawling and charging towering waves - these guys are complete bad asses. And nothing is sexier than that. It's as if Patrick Swayze's Bodhi has come to life . . . with an Aussie accent no less! What good girl could resist?

The doc itself is really interesting as it talks about Australia's history and the particular history and localism of Maroubra. Basically, it's an underprivileged area where the only options are death, jail or surfing. The "Locals Only" mentality runs high. In a place where families are often broken and drug use is high, these kids find comfort in each other and in the ocean. Their passion for surfing is evident in everything they do. They have definitely found and harnessed their Paradise.

I definitely recommend this documentary - for the massive waves, great surf footage and of course, the bad boy surfers.

Check out the trailer:

Over Hill, Over Dale

Upon the suggestion of my co-worker and friend, I decided to alter my walking route today. So, instead of going to Kapiolani Park I went to Kakaako Waterfront Park. I did about three laps of the place, which may have been shorter in distance but was definitely a lot hillier.

So here's the evaluation of the new route:

Plus
1. Always a nice breeze coming off the water
2. Not too crowded
3. Nice view of surfers when the waves are up
4. Close to work
5. Hills are probably giving me a better workout than the flat route at Kapiolani

Minus
1. Homeless/scary-looking people hanging about
2. Not too crowded
3. Stray cats (and their fleas no doubt) wandering around
4. Temptation to stop each time I get to the end and watch the surfers at Kewalos (at least I think that's what that surf spot is called)

I guess the pluses outweigh the minuses. For future walks, I'm considering leaving my car at work and walking there instead. It felt weird to leave all my stuff in my trunk because I had forgotten to bring a backpack. I'm not too sure how safe it is there. Still, that would mean adding an extra 15 minutes each way probably. Hmm, I'm not sure what I'll do.

One thing I noticed during one of the stops I made to watch the surfers was that I haven't been to the beach, or even near it, for a really long time. The movement of the water as the waves came in was actually really relaxing. The rocking nature of it all, the smell of the ocean and the feel of the sun beating down on me brought back happy childhood memories. Why didn't I come here (or any beach on the south shore) earlier since moving into town?

And where did all the time go? Today brought back memories of high school when my friends and I would lounge at the beach the entire summer. It also reminded me of when my dad used to take me fishing with him. (Today I saw some guys with their poles up just waiting for a bite. Not sure if they caught anything though.)

But times like today also remind me that I am different than I was. And sometimes that might not be a bad thing. Still, in honor of the past, I found this YouTube video by slgeebrr surfing Kewalos in 1964.