Hawaii

Aloha – I’m back! Did you miss me? Of course you did.

I’ve been in Hawai’i (I’m going to be anal and punctuate this entire post in Hawai’ian English) for the last 4 days on holiday. It’s taken me 3 days to write this post. But before I plunge right in and tell you everything, allow me to take you back a few years…

A Boy and his dream

The year was 2005. I was a bored 1st year student living in the suburban ghetto of Jordanstown university, so I joined an online DVD club. You make a list, they send them. Easy. Unfortunately the stupid company I was with sent me the wrong DVD the first time around. Instead of some Angelina Jolie flick, I was mailed a documentary about surfing. I grumbled, but watched it anyway. That DVD was Riding Giants. It was awesome, and it started my dream to not only learn to surf, but to see the Waimea Bay on the north shore of O’ahu, Hawai’i. University was so boring in first year that I needed a break and it’s been my dream since then to see people who spend their days surfing in the paradise of Hawai’i. Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach at Honolulu

It’s a tourist trap, yes, but it’s beautiful. I got off the plane ready and wearing my shorts (Oakland airport was baltic at 5 in the morning flying out) and took the bus to Waikiki to meet Valerie. Desperately need suncream because the powers-that-be at the airport suspect my just-purchased $10 bottle of suncream to be a threat to national security, along with my hair gel. Goodbye style. I do, however, have the option of checking my suncream at the desk – meaning that the only checked luggage I have will be one bottle of suncream and one bottle of hair gel. Two hours waiting in line to check them, then looking like a complete dork as my two bottles come round on the baggage claim in Hawai’i? Airports – officially my most hated place.I meet Valerie at her hotel after riding the bus on a minors ticket (I cut my hair so I pass for 17). She looks great we so meet Gaelle and go to the beach. Spend the whole day on Waikiki beach swimming and playing volleyball with the locals. Beautiful place, and the weather is hot without being unbearable. I also get some suncream (factor 50 with a big picture of a baby on it…) . Dinner and relaxing in the evening and bed at a reasonable hour as we were all very tired. Gaelle and Valerie

Gaelle and Valerie – the two wonderful girls I spent my holiday with.

Day Two I spend sightseeing. I should point out that in spite of working for a tour company, I absolutely hate the tourism industry. I hate feeling like a tourist, and I hate going sightseeing. But I was told that Pearl Harbour was a must-see so I booked a tour to go see it. It’s not bad, and it’s certainly very poignant in it’s message but it’s definitely the one part of my trip that I enjoyed least. The tour itself isn’t bad, you watch a 20 minute movie first (you’ll find out that anything touristy in Haiwai’i requires you to watch a movie first) which details the attack by the Japanese and builds up to the sinking of the USS Arizona, which was crippled by the air attack and took 1,177 crew members under the sea with it. Those crew members are permanently interred there and a memorial was built over the top of the ship which still lies at the bottom of the harbour. You get a little boat out to the memorial, so it’s cool and interesting historically speaking, but it’s very overcrowded and I just wanted to leave the whole time.My next stop on the tour was on Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbour which is an active military base. Here we visited the Pacific Aviation Museum which again deals with the American Involvement in World War II, and particularly the aeroplanes used and importance of Hawai’i during the war. Again, interesting but the tour guide was too long.Finally we stopped at the USS Missouri which is a former battleship turned into tourist attraction. Not bad, but a little tiresome. All in all, not a bad day but probably would have preferred to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center or something. But I’m glad I saw it.

Day Three was awesome. We began the day, all three of us, snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. It’s simply beautiful. It’s a wonderful little beach in a large bay that has lots of coral and tropical fish. As is now almost expected, they make you watch a very cheesy video at the start to educate you on how to respect the fish complete with a Disney-esque song “please don’t feed me” to the tune of Under the Sea.

Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay – great place to snorkel and see cool fish.

It was wonderful though, I saw many cool fish and was even lucky enough to swim beside a green sea turtle. Two turtles side by side – shame I didn’t have my camera! We didn’t stay long unfortunately though, the weather was quite overcast and it was getting cold just sitting about so I let Valerie bury me in the sand and sculpt me into a mermaid, then we headed back to Waikiki for lunch. Shortly after, we got picked up for an afternoon of surfing.

Surfing

Well folks, I have realised my dream. I surfed. And I was great. My first wave, check me out: Sufing

Surfing – mastered on my first try

Forget the terrible shorts, and the fact that I’m incapable of getting a tan or looking un-Irish, but focus on the sheer skill, mastery and elation as I command the board. This my friends is joy, riding a wave until the end and giving a ‘hang loose’ salute for the camera.Ok, so here’s the scene 3 seconds later: Surfing

Surfing – ok, so maybe ‘mastered’ is a little generous…

I’ll admit it, I have a problem with balance. But the whole day was simply amazing. I have the scars on my knees to prove it, the coral is razor sharp and the water is very shallow. My surfing instructor told me I was his best customer all day. He’s a native Hawai’ian, actually from O’ahu. He pretty much spends all his days surfing. Respect.

My surfing teacher – what a legend

It’s exhausting paddling out to catch the waves but it’s a lot of fun when you get going. I’m quite sure that I want to continue to surf (along with snowboarding!) so I’m checking Craigslist for a cheap surfboard and maybe I’ll move out somewhere closer to Ocean Beach so I can get more time at it. Speaking of surfing, the huge world-famous Mavericks surfing contest at Half Moon Bay was on at the weekend. I’d been looking forward to seeing it for months, but it’s only announced days before it occurs so I had no idea. I missed it! But I watched the webcast, and congratulations to Greg Long for winning.So, all in all a great holiday. Along with my weekend in Tahoe it’s definitely my best memory of America so far. I think it’s hard to find somewhere more beautiful on earth than Hawai’i. My only regret is that I didn’t see the north shore, Waimea and Pipeline where all the world-famous surfing happens. But not to worry, I still surfed. I just have to visit the other 6 islands now! I love this place – the people, the landscape, the lifestyle, the weather, the language – everything about Hawai’i is wonderf
ul. It definitely lived up to my expectations, and then some! sunset

Sun sets over Waikiki. I love this place!

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6 comments so far

- Harrison
- 15th Jan, 2008
Mate, total and utter respect – looks incredible.

There is a slight tinge of jealousy as I look out the window to a cold, damp and overcast Edinburgh!
- Connor
- 15th Jan, 2008
looks amazing!! Good job on the surfboard, for first time and everything, Im looking forward to trying my hand a surfing later this year… but I’m pretty sure I’ll be shockingly bad, lol
- Stephen
- 15th Jan, 2008
That was some impressive stomach sucking! I shall be on your flickr next when im back from work. Well off I go to Spar to serve the entertaining folks of Kells
- Dave
- 19th Jan, 2008
Great trip by all accounts…..nice shorts by the way…I’m sure they are the Bayern Munich ones from 1982??
- Baptisttp
- 19th Mar, 2008
nice work, bro