Ninja tutle piplelines

dave_west — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:13:00 GMT

Feburary 9th 2008
Location: Hawaii, Northshore

It was huge, and i mean big, 10ft measured at the back of the wave. I stood with my family on the beach in awe of the pure force of the wave. I asked the evivitable question of my brother who had brought his surfboard and still hadn't got it wet.

"Going out simo?"

He turned to me and gave me an are you crazy look and shook his head. I totaly agreeded with his decision. I've never thought of surfing as an extreme sport and all those massive waves you see on TV make you go wow, but seeing it up close is something else. It was extreme.

" Theres about 60 people in that line up" Dad observed as we watched another massive set roll in. I don't know how long we stood there, it was transfixing.

Thats the great part about Hawaii's north shore in the winter, the swell and the endless amount of locals surfing the break. To get the the northshore we had hired a car, took insurance, and got a GPS. The unit was terrible and caused more stress than it relieved.

The purpose of this trip out to the other side of the island wasn't only to observe the surf. We had planned to visit Hanauma Bay - world famous location of elvis presily beach partys. You know those movies where he's a race car driver, a sailor or something random that seems manly, and they always seem to end with a party on some tropical beach that looks like a set, well, this is that beach, and it does look like a movie set.

Funnily enough its also a world class coral reef and snorkling location, and national park which requires that you watch an educational video before you get in. As the movie prattled on I turned to my brother and said

" You know we arent going to see any turtles right, they are probably extremely rare."

"Yeah - it would be nice though"

Thinking back on this now maybe it was the expectation that we were not going to see them that made it so special but as i watched a family of 3 turtles feed on and glide easelessly throught the dead looking coral reef i remember feeling like I had found my dinosaurs

Hawaii: 18 and 1

dave_west — Fri, 8 Feb 2008 08:02:00 GMT

I've come to believe that the most valuable note in the US currency is the dollar bill, you always seem to need them, and you never have enough leaving you looking like inept tourist who doesn't know how to tip.

A large Hawaiian local breaks my train of thought and begins to abuse my brother in the surf. Apparently he cut off some learner, but as far as i could tell he had done nothing wrong and the learner was dropping in on him. The same guy had just abused another person for dropping in on him. You just can't win sometimes but, we knew, as experienced surfers that is was pointless arguing and just appologised. No one owns the beach in Hawaii but its better to show them the respect, and live to surf another day.

The family holiday was in full motion and it was an odd sensation after having travelled by myself several times before. Working with your parent's schedules, trying not to upset your mother by telling her you'd rather go for a surf then shop, and at the same time, desiring to meet people your own age and use the iconic Australian accent to pick up girls in bars. My family is an odd mix. Im the middle child of a Sailor and a hippy with a new age psuedo intelletcual marketting sister from melbourne and a easy-going electrician brother, i get along much better with my brother and I figured i'd be spending more time in bars and in the surf with him.

So far our accents only served as a flags for other australians to come and ask where we were from, however this time it was me who heard the familiar twang and paddled towards it. The two girls nammed rebecca and lauren were from brisbane and also had the pleasure of accompanying their family to Hawaii for a family holiday. We deciced to meet them later that night a local night spot called Dukes, a great pub located right on Waikiki and who's house band (who's name now eludes me) is a grammy award-winning local hawaiian band. The main problem with Dukes is it didn't have a big screen, and it was the superbowl, the pinicale of American Football, and the obession of just about all American people.

Simon, our father and I went to a local pizza place that boasted 3 large flat screens, and standing room only. The game, despite me not knowing anything about it, was quite enthralling and we ganged up on a bunch of locals cheering for the New England Paitrots who's season was a perfect one 18-0, well it was, until this game. The New York Giants quater back threw a pass just before full time that stole the game from New England, leaving them with a tarnished season of 18-1. Cheers erupted from the 3 pissed Australians that would have dwarfed at least 3 Hawaiian Volcanic Explosions, and suceeded in getting us kicked from the bar. Dad left for home and Simon and I headed for Dukes

We met Rebecca and Lauren there, they were already pretty drunk. I did the manly thing and offered to buy the next round. 10 Longboard Largers and a fishbowl cocktail later (a cocktail served in a fishbowl with plastic fish all throught it) later and all 4 of us headed towards my room intent on a game of strip poker, a little odd seeing as no one really won unless a pair of siblings got nude and everyone considered this slightly weird, but did it anyways. Lauren was the eventual looser getting completely nude and wandering around our appartment. The view of Waikiki got a whole lot nicer, but her sister decided it was time for them to go, and graciously handed back all the clothes she took.

El Burro Ni El Caballero

Ninja tutle piplelines

Hawaii: 18 and 1