Surfing the North Shore

The day had come, we were finally going to surf the north shore. The forecast was the smallest it had been since we were here. 5-6ft
After the debacle of the bus the only way to go was rent a car and go in style. So picking up a convertible mustang we headed out to find some waves that would be suitable for our level of experience.

 The drive was nice and the waves at a break in Haleiweia were looking ok. Picked up some boards and headed out into what was probably 4ft, nice left and rights on a reef bottom and not too crowded. Although every so often a big bomb set came through out of nowhere. Had to be 8ft and caught out every one except for one local who knew spotted it and headed nicely out of the way.
One very unexpected surprise was the amount of turtles in the water. There were at least 5 or 6 turtles in the break between the beach and the line up. When you caught a wave you actually had to dodge them or risk ripping off a fin. They would pop up all around you and startle you when you werent expecting. I turned to paddle for one wave and nearly grabed one next to me. It was like that both days at all the breaks I went to.

After a surf we had a look at some other breaks and were not too impressed so ditched the boards and drove the long way home around the island. The scenery was spectacular with miles of coastline undeveloped and open, with big old volcanic mountains bordering the ocean. The drive was slow but the transport was cool so we enjoyed the slow pace.

The next day I (Ads) decided I hadn't had my fill of surfing some decent waves and headed north again on my own. The forecast was 6-7ft (Normal forecast not Hawaiian for those of you in the know).

Seeing a nice break called Chuns Reef I found a great board rental place. They had great quality new boards for rent at a good price. Tentatively I headed out and picked a few off in the corner to start with. The main part of the break was regularly seeing some big waves with most above head height.

I recall taking off on a wave that was the steepest I have ever made, dropping into it and then turning along the face, as the lip peeled over it started smashing into the side of my head, not even occurring to me that it might be a makable barrel I turned out to get away from the pounding. In hindsight its probably one of the biggest waves I have surfed yet.

I finished the day surfing some less vigorous waves back at Haleweia, though the clean up sets were more frequent then the day previous and if you picked it, very surfable big waves.

I was pretty stoked with my day, at the start of the year I didn't even know how to surf until Cos introduced me and got me hooked. Now I'm surfing head highs on the north shore of Hawaiian winter. Gnarly

Cos:

So with a day of freedom I set out with a long list of things to do. First, climb the giant volcano crater overlooking Waikiki, Diamond head crater. Ads wanted to hit the north shore early so I was left with a bus ride and a 2km walk to the bottom of the crater. A couple of kms and about 800m elevation later I got the view. At the top is a fantastic view of the island and ocean including the view of the all but non existent Waikiki break. (Pictured)

Then after some housekeeping (backpacker style, i.e. hand washing clothes in the bathtub (oh so glamorous) it was out to surf the massive waves of Waikiki. Unfortunately I ran over a local with a giant hired mal and after alot of swearing and some apologising on my part, I was left feeling a bit worse for wear. Even Loney Planet advises against dropping in or offending the locals in the surf. But fortunately Aloha spirit shone through and an older Hawaiian guy came over to make conversations and after finding out it was my last day in Hawaii, gave me a few waves. :) happy days.

When the cats away the mice will play: Next stop, SHOPPING! Though I only bought one new outfit, mainly cause that's all that will fit in my bag - again, glamorous backpacking! It was my last night in Hawaii so I bought myself a Lei, a big sundae from 'baskin and robins' and watched the beautiful sunset over Waikiki beach, listening to a band with a ukulele singing traditional music and yes, there were hula girls too.

Aloha Hawaii, Mahala!

Next Stop: VANCOUVER! (Snow!)

North Shore

We spent a few days bummin around Waikiki, surfed the little baby waves, played on the SUP, laid in the sun and shopped. We figured it was time to see some of what Hawaii had to offer as far as this supposedly fantastic surf on the legendary north shore.

2 1/2 hr bus ride later we arrived. Now I don't know how to explain the north shore. There are houses about 3 rows deep from the beach in this very red volcanic soil. Most of them are run down with the occasional newer house. If you didn't know better you would say you were in Thailand. Its certainly a laid back non developed place.

We got off the bus and walked along the beach, as we headed down we saw some huge waves in a massive shore dump. Its like they come from no where, there is no huge swell and then it just starts standing up into this massive wave which breaks very heavily on the reef below.
As we walked we saw lots of heads in the water and kept going until we reached a break known as "Off The Wall".

Big north shore waves

There were 50 guys in the water a crowd on the beach as well as video cameras and photographers with big lenses.

The waves were 3 stories high in some sets with a big tube which was hard to make, only one or two would paddle for each wave with the inside guy pulling off early, so surprisingly it was very ordered. I guess you cant muck around when the potential wipe out is big. We saw one snapped board and were only there 30min.
We saw a few guys wipe out but not many. There was even this mad body surfer we caught on video.

We spent a lot of the day walking, there is nothing but ramshackle houses all the way along the shore, no shops or any sign of tourism at all. It was hard to find any where to eat or buy anything. It is very surprising that some where that is so well known for surfing has resisted the urge to over develop. Its good news for those of us who want to get out there and watch or even game enough to participate.

We plan on heading out there on Monday to find a suitable wave for us and some other Australians we met in Waikiki. Hope it goes well.

Hawaii - Sun, surf and skyrise

Finally the international part of our trip has begun, just in time too, the malaise had set in and I could have very happily stayed camped at Corinnes parents and done nothing but surf and bum around.

It was the usual pain in the ass to get into the USA, you now have to fill out your visa waiver online which we didn't know about before we arrived at the airport, luckily you can do it fairly quickly. Being the paranoid state it is, we got frisked in FIJI and full bag search, they do this for all passengers heading to the USA. There is a lot of news about people not happy with some body scanners being installed in airports which can see through your clothes.
But we finally got here and our hotel was even nice enough to check us in at 8am if we took a room with no air con.

Waikiki is like the gold coast only surprisingly not as big, a few high rises and plenty of people on the rather small beaches. Surf board hire is big business here as the waves are these little long rolling ones which suits learning.

Line up face Waikiki

On our first day we couldn't help but rent a mal and fight the crowds, and I do mean fight. The waves being rather small and the sets only having 1 or two waves and a good 20-30 people in the line up. It wasn't much fun and you rarely get a wave to your self and they weren't that good, the water temp was warm and the sun is out. There are a few different points and its a good fun and relaxed. Cos got a few great waves and had a blast on one of the other days, might be that she got a little more respect then me (might have been the bikini). (Cos: Might have been the better position in the line up)

Riding a huge one on the sup

I hired a sup (Stand up paddle) on one of the days and it was good fun, the wave size suited and something different. If the damn things weren't so heavy and hard to get around then I would consider having one.

Line up at Waikiki

The dollar conversion is fantastic, It great how cheap it is with our dollar buying almost parity. Unfortunatly pack space and budget constraints don't permit us from going wild. Clothing and surf gear is pretty good value also. The food though is always fast and fatty, you have to look hard for a decent feed, luckily many hours in the warm water paddling will help us from putting on too much.

Next up - North Shore (Just to watch) 

Quick trip back to old stomping grounds - Sell the rocket

A buyer for the van had been found, he was from Sydney, happy to pay full asking price and we offered to deliver the van to Sydney.
We knew the van was a bargain at $3500 when we bought it, and although we spent some money on it, we advertised it for $6000. Not bad work at all.
We will definitely miss having the van, I just cant believe how easy it was to have all the boards every time we went to the surf ( between us we carried 5 boards - the majority Adams), a bed and a cupboard full of food to pass the time until it came good or to have a rest between surfs.
It has been our pseudo home for the last 3 months and we're back to being homeless nomads again.

We headed towards Newcastle and met up with some friends at treachery camp (just outside seal rocks), a great place with its own the beach. The conditions were pretty good with some smallish surf coming in and a great sunny day on Saturday. We have been definitely spoiled up north the water temp is so much colder back down south, I froze until I put a steamer back on.

After a few good days at treachery we continued south to Newcastle, unfortunately a noise in the front wheel continued to get worse, the noise was terrible and we couldn't figure out where it came from. Luckily Jax tyres at Newcastle west looked after us at short notice with a new wheel bearing, again. For you guys in Newcastle they are great, service is excellent and they have always looked after us very well.

We delivered the Van to the new owner who was happy enough and headed back to Newcastle. Staying at a friends (thanks again Matt for the top class digs) we were able to surf in the morning and revisit the things that we missed about Newcastle. They included but not limited to Darby Raj, Surfing bar beach, catching up with mates, familiar shopping centres, breakfast at swell Cafe Merewether, watching some awesome surf while eating breakfast ( some guys getting great tubes ).

We planned the trip to coincide with a Wednesday so I could catch up with the sailing crew, my great bunch of friends who I have been drinking and now surfing with for about 4 years. It was great to catch up again, have a beer on the boat, sail and chat. Its great how after such a long time as a group on the boat every thing just happens, I don't know if the guys know it but they would certainly see if they sailed on other boats that our bunch are actually a well oiled machine.

Back to Woodburn to welcome home Corinne's mum, enjoy our last 10 days before we head to Hawaii.