Bali finally!

     So we left off before I hoped on my flight from Honolulu to Shanghai, I am going to some up our 2 days of traveling to get to Bali in this next paragraph. We arrived at the airport 2 hours before our flight, got our surfboard bags all situated and paid for, then went through security. After getting through security I made eye contact with a girl I had recognized, she was at the end getting everything together from the scanning machine, ended up being my friend Brooke that I met in a sailing class down in Dana Point harbor a few semesters ago! She had moved to Hawaii a month ago and was going home for a few days, I thought it was so funny and random to run into her but we all ended up sitting down and chatting for awhile before our flights. It was cool catching up and talking about her moving to Hawaii and what Jeremy and I are doing on our trip! And then we were off onto the plane for our 11.5 hours flight to Shanghai, the flight ended up not being as bad as we thought. We got two meals, and snacks every so often, plus snacks that we brought ourselves, I also had my laptop with two batteries so we could watch a few movies. They were playing movies but there all in Chinese, I am pretty sure out of maybe 120 people on the plane we were the only white people, everybody was a Chinese tourist visiting Hawaii. One thing we thought was funny was the whole flight it was sunny, we had basically followed the sun across the Pacific so during our travel we had seen the sun for about 18+ hours! We landed in Shanghai at 3:30pm local time and our next flight to Bali didn't depart until midnight, so we definitely had sometime to kill. We cruised around the airport and found the gate for our next flight, stretched our legs and got some food and relaxed for a few hours. We kicked it by the gate and charged our electronics and started looking up some places to stay in Bali for the next night. I called my family to let them know I landed safely in China and that I would try to contact again when we arrive in Bali. We boarded our flight and took a nice 3 hour nap that cut out half the flight, the next couple hours it was still dark outside. But about 45 minutes before landing the sun started coming up and it was one of the most beautiful flight experiences I've had, flying over island chains with the sun rising as we were passing through the clouds!
     We landed in Bali on Thursday at 6am local time, got our VISA's super fast, and board bags were ready to go at the baggage claim. We had booked at room for a night in Kuta to get our bearings and look up some places to stay on the bukit, where all the waves are. We got to the hotel via a taxi with our board bags strapped on the top, kinda sketchy, cost us about 20 bucks. We arrived to the hotel named Warung Coco, got everything in our room then went back to the front desk to rent a scooter and grab some food, since we hadn't eaten in awhile. We grabbed the scooter which we both hoped on and cruised around Kuta for a few hours, just to check out the beach and what was happening around everywhere. The streets are crazy, first off everything is the opposite, so you drive down the left side of the road, and making turns across traffic is nearly impossible. For every car there is probably 25 scooters, they get around the crowded and sometimes narrow streets so much better, and of course much cheaper on gas. The traffic reminds me of the fourth of July back home in Huntington/Newport Beach, bikes everywhere and people going every which way, but picture all the bikes being scooters and there are no rules of the road! It is complete madness, but with my experience riding dirtbikes since I was 4, it is so much fun, everywhere you go is like a technical motorcycle race. We tried all day to find a place to get international driving licenses, I needed a mosquito net, and also some wall converters for our electronics. We looked up a few places on the map and Jeremy navigated as I operated the scooter through the madness, we literally rode the scooter around some of the busiest streets in the world for about 3 hours trying to find everything. We ended up only getting the wall converters at a big mall we stumbled upon, but while we were there we went to the market to grab some stuff we wanted like shampoo, snacks, water, fruit, etc. We then made the 45 minute trek back to the hotel in crazy traffic now that it was around 4:30pm, I think Jeremy was lack of better term, shitting himself the whole time we weaved in and out of cars, scooters, construction, potholes, and jumping up onto the sidewalk once in awhile to get around a group of cars, but I was totally in control :). We got back all in one piece and relaxed at the hotel for a bit before we grabbed a few beers and literally fell asleep with computer on lap at 8pm, great first day!
     We awoke on Friday, our second day in Bali, keep in mind we are 15 hours ahead of home (California, by the way on the top right of my blog I have a clock and date of my local time), so sometimes we are a day ahead! Got a quick included breakfast at the Warung(means shop/store in Indonesian) and found a taxi van to drive us and our bags up to the Bukit (hill in indonesian). We dropped off the rented scooter and packed our bags into the taxi, and sat back for the ride, it took about an hour since the cars can't go as fast as the scooters that are zipping around everywhere. We had looked up a few places on the Bukit and I had been recommended a few also, we parked in the general area, and I jumped out to cruise around and ask some prices. There were a few super nice places for a lil more than we wanted to spend and also a few cheap places but without some amenities we wanted. I finally went to a place called Leggies that had been recommended to me from a friend that was just in Bali a few weeks ago, and I fell in love with it. It'a probably about and acre small resort/villa style looking place, with a pool, full service cafe/restaurant open 7am-10pm, laundry, scooter rental, and of course WiFi. On top of that there's so many cool people that come through here that are younger which makes it a fun atmosphere meeting somebody new everyday. The vibe and setup is all very laid back, lounge chairs by the pool, big open lounging area in the middle with pillows everywhere, and its a 2 min walk to the cliff that's over looking the surf spot, and beach called Bingin, you can also see Padang Padang down the beach. We made a deal with the nice people at Leggies, since we want to setup camp here for at least 2 weeks, we came to the agreement that were paying 240,000rp or roughly $24 a day for our big room with 2 beds, bathroom, shower and a scooter with surf racks to cruise around with. So we feel its a good price, basically $12 each a day for an awesome place and scooter rental, our other expenses include food, which comes out to $10 each a day since we have been eating a lot, also lil gas here and there which is basically $1 for 2 liters(half gallon). So we got settled in at our new home stay, met a cool chick here from Australia that we followed on the scooter over to Uluwatu to see it for the first time. It is such an awesome setup, with lil warung's and place to hang and eat all down the cliff to the bottom where you paddle through the infamous cavern. After a bite to eat we headed to the Uluwatu temple that I've always heard of and wanted to visit because of course they have monkey's! We got over there and put on a sarong and bought some monkey food for a few bucks, they are so funny and cute, there were mothers, dads, and of course lil babies. You hold some fruit out and they jump up and grab it from you or you can hold it higher and they will climb you to get it, one of them perched on my shoulder and just ate it right there! We cruise around the temple for a bit, then decided to head back, Jeremy and I really wanted to get a surf since the waves looked fun while we were eating at Uluwatu and we hadn't been in the water in almost 5 days, which sounds weird being on a surf trip. We scooted over to Uluwatu and got a quick 30 min sesh as the sun was going down which was absolutely beautiful, we headed back in the dark which was interesting to say the least. After a few wrong turns, we made it back to the hotel, we sat down for dinner at a table with a few girls that are staying here. We ended up chatting for awhile and talking about where each other is from and where we have been on our trips. I thought Hawaii had a lot of travelers but Bali has some many more and from so many different far out places!
     I awoke around 4:30am local time, my times are still very messed up, I was basically wide awake, so I messed around on the computer for an hour or so typing up some of this blog post and checking emails etc. Jeremy was up shortly after, we decided to check out in front where were staying which is Bingin beach, it is still relatively small out there since the swell hasn't wrapped all the way around the point, needs a bigger swell to get that far down the point, where were staying. We packed up the scooter and headed to Uluwatu because it gets the most swell, the waves were pumping at least to our standards. Over head, plenty of make able left drainy barrels, and some good spots to smash the lip, we were out there by 7:30am after a quick bit to eat at the warung. We surfed for about 3 hours and I caught about a dozen waves, keep in mind this is a very well known and easily accessible perfect left point, with only a half dozen take off spots, which means its pretty crowded! But none the less out of the dozen I caught I got 2 sick barrels and a few waves I got a some turns on, but one really good barrel, probably one of the better ones I have ever had. Uluwatu has a few takeoff spots and each of them shifts so you really have to be in the right spot at the right time to get that all time barrel, but it drains and becomes so hollow that if you get the right one your for sure getting a barrel, just gotta make it out! When you get out and walk up the sketchy steps up the cliff the first few shops you pass are photo booths that try to call you in to look at pictures there photographers on the cliffs get of you, and they got some really sick ones of me and my barrel, I haggled with them and got them talked down from $35 for 42 pictures down to $10 for 35 good pictures, 3 sequences. I am going to get the pix tomorrow, so they will be uploaded soon! We headed back home to eat and chill, we hoped in the pool for a bit to wash off and cleaned up and unpacked a bit in the room. But we were back at it shortly and got another hour and a half session in at Uluwatu, it was still sorta fun and a lil less crowded but wind picked up and brought it down quite a bit. We were now awful tired from being in the sun and water for close to 5 hours today we got back and lounged for awhile while chatting with some friends that we made here. For dinner we decided to try a place few miles down the road we have passed a few times, its a small Italian restaurant that had pizza, we were both stoked since we love pizza and haven't had it in awhile! It was a nice way to end the night, we ended up making friends with the owner who was a super nice guy that is from Indo and has been living in Bali for about 5 years. After a nice lil 15 minute drive back to the homestay we got a dessert banana pancake with ice cream on it and Jeremy passed out, I finished the night by typing up this blog.
     So that about sums up leaving Hawaii, flying, layovers, and the first few exciting and adventurous days in Bali! I can't wait to see what else this amazing island and country has to offer, and I want to see as much as I can since this has been my dream vacation. Since the first day of senior year at Edison high school, I was sitting in English class staring at a blank page for about a half hour after the teacher gave us our first assignment of writing a page about why we want to go to college. It was then and there that I realized I didn't want the normal straight to a 4 year university life after being in school for so long and really not knowing what I wanted to do as a career yet. Yes I am very good at many things and handy enough to fix or build just about anything, but I wanted more, and this adventure has fulfilled it everyday. There is no feeling like waking up in the morning and being able to explore and see something new that your eyes have never seen before. I strongly urge everyone and anyone if wanting to travel of course to get out there and experience something different, it will forever change your life and your perspective of living. Once again thank you to everybody that has made this life more enjoyable than ever, and continue to be in my life, I seriously can not wait to get home and be able to hang with all my family, animals, and friends again, Goodnight!

Coca Cola in Chinese

Sunrise flying into Denpasar

Monkey at the temples

A normal sight at a surf spot, pictured is at Uluwatu.

Brooke and Jeremy came to the island

     Thursday morning Brooke, Nicole, and I left early to drop Nicole off at work then Brooke and I sat down for some breakfast. Nice to catch up and hang for awhile with the sis and enjoy breakfast before we searched for some rental cars! We searched around to a few rental car places and finally found one with a good deal, we got a Chevy crossover SUV from Thursday morning to Monday morning. I really wanted to get a rental car so Brooke, Jeremy, and I could cruise around the east side and I can show them as much as I could while there here. We got the car and headed around the east side over to Kailua, then headed up the Pali hwy to Maunawili Falls. It's an awesome hike that I did last Sunday and I knew they would enjoy to get into the forest with some fresh air and jump off the falls. We hiked back down and got some burgers at Teddy's, if your in Kailua I highly recommend it! We finished up and kept heading around the east side, it was abut an hour drive from the hike back to the north shore. There is so many calm nice clear water beaches on the east side, totally different than what they saw in town. We got to the north shore around 4 and i took them all the way down to Haleiwa and back to where were staying. We met up with my cuz and we all hoped on a board and grabbed some diving masks, and paddled out to small Kami's to get some ankle slappers and dive. Brooke and Jeremy got there first Turtle experience, Brooke acted she had just won a thousand bux, they were swimming all around and under us! After we headed to where we were staying and unpacked, and enjoyed a great home made meal! Brooke and Jeremy crashed early since for them there 3 hours ahead, I watched tv for a bit longer then crashed also.
     Friday my cousin had off, so we cooked up a great lil egg sandwich and fruit breakfast then checked out the sandbar, it was perfect lil waist high waves. We all messed around for a few hours while it was perfectly sunny, super clear warm lil waves. I brought the Go Pro out and got some pictures and videos of everyone having fun and getting a few lil barrels. We finished up the sesh and stopped by Foodland to grab food, made a great huge pasta salad and we all filled up! We chilled out on the balcony and watched the waves for a few hours, some friends from town came over and had some drinks with us. We all headed down to Rockies while we surfed they hung out on the beach and swam around on the inside. After a fun hour and half session we got some food for dinner, and started cooking up some pork tacos. Jeremy, Brooke, Salah, Chris, Nicole, Caylie, and I all munched a delicious meal and joked around to end the night, great day on the North Shore.
     We got up earlier Saturday morning, made some breakfast and went to spot check again. We ended up at small Sunset, it was about head high to lil over head, fun rights coming through but a lil crowded. Jeremy was stoked to surf Sunset which is a really sick right even when it is small, I had yet to surf it this small either. We were out for a few hours, Brooke sat on the shoulder and got a few, but it was a little big for her. We got out cleaned up and headed down to Haleiwa to eat at my cousin Chris' cafe he works at, it was a great meal and I hadn't eaten there yet on my trip. We left and ended up sitting in traffic for an hour from Haleiwa to Waimea, there ended up being a crash, but since it's only a one way highway you can't go around. Once we finally got toward the house we went to check the waves but there wasn't much happening, so I took them down the road to Turtle Bay Resort. I showed them the horse stables and we got a few pics, then around the corner to the private beach. We stopped by rockies on the way home and it looked fun so we got out there asap. There was about 40 people out but the waves were getting a lil bigger form the swell filling in. We were out for about 45 minutes then we started to hear thunder, then we saw lightning hitting the water way out to sea. A lot of people in the water started freaking out and headed in so now there was Jeremy, myself and 6 other guys and the waves were still fun. It was so sick to be out with thunder and lightning cracking all around us at such a sick wave, the lightning stopped after about 15 minutes and we got our shortly after. That night Salah was having a big bbq with friends at the house, we got back cleaned up, took showers and got ready for the night. It was fun meeting new people, listen to some great music, and enjoying a great feast in an awesome environment! We all were tired from another long day and passed out around 10, but had a funny situation happen during the night. Brooke and I both wake up around 2 in the morning from something landing on us and making a loud noise. Apparently Jeremy saw the whole thing, I guess we locked the cat inside the room and it freaked out and tried to get out. It jumped up onto the bed and tried to go out the window but the screen was on, so it feel back onto my face then jumped across onto my sister and bolted for the door., pretty interesting night to say the least!
     Sunday morning we were up early checking the surf, we ended up at Kami's which looked fun with nobody out. We got out there and after about 20 minutes a squall came through and the weather turned real crappy fast, super windy and choppy. We got out and went to check V-Land, wasn't very good either and pretty crowded, me and my sister jumped in the water for about a half hour and dove around to see some reef and fish. The rest of the day was looking pretty overcast and rainy, so we packed up and said our goodbyes and started heading to town a little after noon. It rained the whole way to town, we grabbed some food upon arriving and took i to our friends to munch on, the rest of the evening we just relaxed with friends while it poured.
     Monday was my sisters last day, her flight was leaving at 2pm. We dropped off the rental car early in the morning and grabbed some breakfast with our friend Casey at a place near the house we have been staying at in town called Koa Pancakes. Awesome little pancake and breakfast place that's pretty cheap and great service. After we headed over to Walmart so Jeremy and I could get a few last medical things for our trip, and Brooke wanted to get a few souvenirs and we heard they had a big selection. We cruised around inside for about an hour getting everything we needed before I took Brooke to the airport. It had been an awesome weekend having her out her experiencing where I have been for the last month and a half, she could see how people just leave and move out here. It was also really nice to see some family before I headed out to the next part of my journey which is a pretty big adventure in itself. The rest of the day I hung out with Nicole, we got an acai bowl and did a few errands, then got some food to cook for dinner. Nicole, Jeremy, and I cooked up a nice home meal of chicken alfredo, and enjoyed it together for the last night in Hawaii.
     Well this is the last post here in Hawaii, it's now Tuesday morning and our flight leaves in exactly 3 hours. We have an 11.5 hour flight to Shanghai, a 8 hour layover in Shanghai, then we depart at midnight local time to Bali, we arrive in Bali at 6am. Were both not looking forward to the flight of course haha, but it's all part of the experience and adventure of getting to an awesome place. Thanks to everybody here in Hawaii that made my stay so fun and exciting to to visit, I will definitely be back again to hang out and catch some of the best waves of my life, Mahalo!

Relaxing on Friday on the balcony. Caylie, Jeremy, Nicole, Myself, Chris, Brooke

Brooke at the Sandbar on Friday morning, she had a blast.

Taking Jeremy and Brooke on a hike to Maunawili Falls.

Jeremy and I at the sandbar messing with the Go Pro.

More Pictures to come on the post!

Rainy weekend and Go Pro pics

     Friday was a rest day, we checked the waves in the am, but I wasn't feeling to good when i woke up. I believe it was from the vog (volcano fog), the volcano on the big island blows smoke over here during the winds and everyone says that it messes with your system once in awhile. So basically chilled inside all day, it was also overcast and rainy all weekend also.
     Saturday was another sluggish day since it was raining again. But I got some things done in the am looking up rental cars and places to stay when my sister and friend Jeremy come to town. I got an alright surf in at Rockies which is not even a mile down Kam Hwy, probably the most crowded spot usually on the North Shore. The wave is pretty consist, not to powerful when under 6 foot, just gotta watch out on the inside for the shallow rocks. Saturday night Salah had a fun lil BBQ with some great cooking, as usual!
     Sunday was also rainy but got a few sessions in still. Just trying to stay busy here even when its raining, hate being cooped up inside. Also trying to take advantage of the rain since usually keeps majority of the people out of the water, which is always nice. I went to bed earlier since I was going to hep out with a surf lesson in the morning.
     Monday morning I went with Salah to a surf lesson, over by the east side where he sets up for his lessons. It was cool to teach a young girl to surf, I haven't done a lesson in quite some time but it's not to hard and I'm a pretty good teacher and explainer. The girl I was working with picked it up really fast and was not scared at all, so it made the lesson a lot easier and fun. After the lesson I grabbed some Taco Bell nearby, I have not had Mexican food in over 3 weeks to that point, which is hard for me, I usually eat it at least 4 times a week! I helped out friend Salah move some things around and do a few errands, I watched the waves after for awhile since the winds had changed and sun finally came out. All the waves and scenery here is so awesome to just sit and look at, makes a day lil more relaxed to sit down for a bit.
     Tuesday I was supposed to go help out with another lesson but didn't work out, I wasn't to bummed since the waves and weather was supposed to be perfect. I hoped on the scooter and went straight to V-Land which looked super fun. The setup at this spot is really cool, breaks into a big bay, comes in at angle then just reels off the shallow reef. One of my more favorite waves I've surfed this trip because every wave is going to be a little different, wedgy, open face, or barrel. Had a great warm, sunny, two hour session, little crowded but got some super fun ones! Got a cheeseburger a Ted's bakery that is just down the street, chilled out for a bit then went out again. This time to Sunset right out front, wasn't to crowded and there were some solid 10-16 footers coming through. I set up the Go Pro on my new 6'6" Pang that I put a board mount on, I've never surfed with a Go Pro on my board other than on my big Stand Up Paddle. I was hoping to get some cool shots of some good size waves, below are a few of the better ones, hopefully more to come!
     Wednesday was another rainy day inside for the most part, but got a little session in at a sandbar past Rockies. Been hanging out with a cool guy that just got here a few days ago, he's on a surf trip also. His name is Gabriel and he is from Israel, he started his trip in New York, then went to Santa Cruz for a month, Mexico for two months, now he is finishing his trip in here till the beginning of May. Nice to have someone around my age that I can hang with for a bit and also go surf with. All in all it kinda sucks when it rains here sometimes can still surf if it's not to blow out, but can't go explore unless you want to get wet and lil cold.
     Thursday I got up checked the waves and they sucked so I hoped on the bus to town for my flight to Maui at 4. It ended up being a crappy day on the bus, got stuck on the bus for 4 hours getting to town. I barely made it to town in time for my buddy to give me a ride to the airport to make my flight. We ended up going to the wrong terminal twice and finally I just hoped out and started running to were the parking attendant told me the airline was. I got to the check in desk and the lady said I was more than likely not making the flight, but she helped me out and got me through! When I got to the gate it was a mess, all flights were delayed, I ended up getting onto a flight though and got to Maui around 5:30. I got to my friend Nate's that I'm staying with here on Maui, and we just chilled and cooked up some food while talking story since we saw each other last. More to come about my weekend on Maui!


OTHER TRAVEL UPDATE
Still on the calendar to come, my sister Brooke and good friend Jeremy are heading over here on in the beginning of April. My parents got my sister a ticket over here for her birthday to visit me and have a fun spring break vacation. Jeremy is coming over to hang for a bit before we start our trip over to Indo! We booked our tickets that depart from Honolulu on the 16th, couldn't be more excited to finally go to Bali and to have a good friend to travel with!

Chickens on the beach at Sunset, still always excites me that my love of animals and the ocean come together here.

Finally some okay Mexican food after 3 weeks!

Surf lesson

Go Pro sequence at Sunset

Here's a photograph from my buddy Nate I'm staying with in Maui. He is a super talented snowboard photographer from Minesota, now living on Maui and getting some great surf and water shots. Click the picture to check out his blog!

Slow week, but waves to come!

     I left the blog last Thursday, since then I surfed a few cool secret spots on Friday and fixed up the scooter a bit. Saturday was a slow day, got a quick surf and helped Salah fix up a few bikes for his bike rental business. That evening I set out on a lil hike by myself up to a bunker on the hill, below are some sweet pictures! I got tried to find a separate way down than the one i took up and got stuck on an hour long loop, when it only took me about 15 minutes to hike up. But in trying something different I found an awesome alternate hiking trail to the bunker, the trail made me wish I had my mountain bike from back home! I got back and grabbed a quick shower before buddy Casey picked me up and we went into town where he lives, had a fun night having some drinks at a friend's party.
Sunday some friends that were staying at Casey's and I went down to the beach for a bit to lay out and get an Acai bowl, which was delicious. Sunday was St. Patty's day, so that night we went out for a few drinks at the beer garden where they have $4 pitchers! After we went to a few fun bars to cap off the night, it was a rough morning for all of us on Monday after drinking.
     Monday we had a plan to head to the North Shore, we finally arrived back on the North Shore around 2pm. We stopped at Log Cabins, where i got a pretty fun lil surf while getting cheered on from my buddies on the beach. After the whole group of us headed over to Waimea to hang on the beach and do a lil body surfing to end the day!
     Tuesday morning I went back to Log Cabins to have another fun surf on some over head semi barreling rights and lefts. It's a pretty sketchy spot because the bottom can be all sand in some places or all rock/reef, and its only about 4ft deep. On one wave I got a lil snap off the top and straightened out to miss the close out, right in front of me was a rock showing through the water. I luckily kicked my board out and jumped over it, but definitely kept my eyes open the rest of the session. It so awesome to surf these sick spots that I've heard of with not to many people out. Most people have gone home or to another place in the world to get waves because the season in Hawaii is slowing down. When Chris got off work we met up with a few friend's at Turtle Bay for a surf at a cool reef right out front. Just like most spots it breaks over a reef with a few bigger rocks on the inside that boil when the waves pass, but can't complain with nobody out. After a long day in the ocean both Chris and I were starving, so we treated ourselves to a great dinner at Haleiwa Joe's down by the harbor, then ended the night early just watching some TV.
     Wednesday morning I spent on the phone and computer for about 3 hours trying to figure out my flight to Bali, which was a lot more work than I thought it would be! After I got everything situated I finally got a surf out at Kami's, little crowded but the weather was perfect and water was crystal clear. Since it was such a nice day out I got a quick snack and jumped back in the water with my Go Pro and fins to do some snorkeling and get some pics. When Chris got off work we went to a sick secret spot that when you looked back from the ocean to land you would have thought you were in Oregon with all the pine trees on shore! The wave reminded me of Trestles with some rights that I got 4 good turns off before it went to dry reef. We cruised over to Salah's and I jumped on the scooter to grab somethings for dinner at Foodland, on my way I got a call from Haleiwa Joe's. I had lost my glasses the day before and luckily someone had returned them, I was super stoked!
     Today Thursday the waves called out to be 10-15' close to 20' faces, I was stoked to get some bigger waves finally. But unfortunately I checked it this am and everywhere was a mess and not really working, other than Pipe. I scooted over there and watched some crazy waves like you see in the magazines, the wave doesn't do it justice unless you watch it in person. Since there weren't many waves to surf i took the scooter on a put all day up towards the east side and back down to Haleiwa, where I tried some Shaved Ice! Thanks for checking in, please read the UPDATE below to see what's next on the schedule!



OTHER TRAVEL UPDATE
I am headed to Maui next Thursday to Sunday, super stoked to visit the island again and since I was 13, and to hang with an old friend! My sister Brooke and good friend Jeremy are heading over here on in the beginning of April. My parents got my sister a ticket over here for her birthday to visit me and have a fun spring break vacation. Jeremy is coming over to hang for a bit before we start our trip over to Indo! We booked our tickets that depart from Honolulu on the 16th, couldn't be more excited to finally go to Bali and to have a good friend to travel with!

Inside bunker overlooking upper half of the North Shore

Looking out to Pipe on the far left and Sunset on the far right.

St. Patty's day, beach in town, so quite!

Acai bowl in town, at Lankai Juice

Shaved Ice at Aoki's.

New boards and turtles

     Hello everyone blog update on my second week on the North Shore, very exciting and fun week I just had! After visiting a friend in town on Friday night I arrived back on the North Shore saturday evening. Sunday we cruised to the east side for a surf, with far less people out surfing, at a cool slabby wave. As we walked down to the water right in front of our surf spot was a dead turtle on the beach. It had been attacked by a tiger shark, definitely pretty heavy paddling out in front of that!
     Monday the waves weren't very good so i headed into town with Salah and a few friends as they did some errands. When we got back we just kicked it and BBQ up some good home made dinner.
     Tuesday I got an awesome surf at Sunset in the a.m. on my new 6'6" PANG. I bought it from Chris' friend for $280, brand new never ridden, this board at home brand new would go for at least $500. It was a sick session for my first time on the board, got 8 waves or so in 5-7ft (12-15ft faces). After the session I chilled for quite a bit then got another quick sesh at Kami's before heading into town. I hung out with a friend at the University of Monoa,we got a bite to eat and went to the schools baseball game!
     The reason I came into town was to go out on a scuba dive boat that I found on Craigslist. I found an ad that said "volunteers on scuba boat wanted", so i went to responded. It'a a sweet gig, yes it is volunteer but there are many perks. If I go on the boat twice a week I should be able to get my scuba certification before I leave Hawaii, usually costs about $300 to take the classes. Second I can get signed off on hours being on a boat for getting my captains license, which is what I want to do as a career, when i get home. Third I can dive and use the diving gear when ever I want for free, and last I will get a percentage of the tips from the customers during the charters.
     I got down to the boat Wednesday morning and we took a few divers out to 2 dive spots, it was cool being on a boat and seeing the coastline of Waikiki. The captain and other crew were fun and welcoming, I even got to snorkel for a half hour at the second spot. Swam with a school of tiger fish and some sea turtles! After the awesome day on the boat I caught a 2.5 hour bus ride back to the North Shore.
    Today Thursday, I got a nice morning surf at Sunset with some okay 5-6ft waves. After I got all packed up to head to Haleiwa and grab lunch at the cafe my cousin works at. Unfortunately as I left the house the scooter broke, so I had to push the scooter half mile or so down the street to our friends to work on it. The throttle cable snapped, so I called up our mechanic to otder a new one. Since it was going to be awhile Chris and I got a quick sesh at Kami's then fixed his truck a bit, we finished the night with a great home cooked stew meal.

OTHER TRAVEL UPDATE
I booked a flight over to Maui in a few weeks to visit my friend Nate who's a photographer, we met on a trip to Mexico in march 2011. His blog has some awesome water and land imagery. Check him out below and his new series of Honu (sea turtle) photographs.

Sunset this evening as I was typing this blog post up.

Turtles in about 20 ft of water off the shore of Alo Moana, Shot on my Go Pro 3 with Polar Pro Filter

I have been seeing turtles surface while surfing the past few days, but there only up for a minute or so. Getting to be below the surface and cruise next to them for a bit while they effortlessly swim through the day.

The board rack, 9 boards, definitely good to have a little of everything on the North Shore

First week of paradise!

     Hello everybody sorry for the delay on the blog post but it has been an awesome, relaxed at sometimes, and also busy first week! I am doing great here in Oahu on the North Shore, I have a great place to stay with my cousin Chris, literally a minute walk to the beach. Right in front of the house are two sick waves called Kami's and Sunset Point, I've been surfing both of them a few times and also some other sweet spots. Other than surfing I have been meeting some great people and making some awesome new friends.
     The first day I arrived we got a bite to eat and went straight to surf some fun head high warm waves down the road. It was so cool to go from surfing in HB on Saturday in a 4/3 on some fun beach break waves, then 24 hours later surfing in just trunks on a fun lil reef in Hawaii.
     The first few days of the week I got some fun sessions while my cousin Chris was at work. On Tuesday we paddled out to Sunset Point which is a heavy right hander. I was riding my Chris' 7'4" Al Merrick, my first time riding a gun. There were 10-12 ft sets (Hawaiin Size) coming in, so about 20' to 25' face waves. I have never seen waves this big, meaty, big barrels, and heavy in my life. I was definitely a little scared in the water for one of the first times in my life, but i thought to myself I'm on the North Shore, one of the best places in the world for waves. I had to at least catch a few, I snagged a few of the smaller ones on the inside, still about 15' faces. I paddled out a little farther as I saw some bigger ones coming in, as soon as I got out there a wave swung wide straight to me, I thought shit if I'm going to do this, this is the one! I paddled and caught a over 20' face wave, at one of the heaviest waves on the North Shore on my 3rd day here. It was definitely a highlight of my surfing life and will never forget that first legit big ass wave!
     On Wednesday and Thursday I hung out at our friend Mikey and Salah's house and worked on a broken scooter they had lying around the yard. I thought it would be sick to have a working scooter to cruise around on, and of course for cheap transportation. So after a little work and some help from a local scooter mechanic and I got it running and looking legit.
     Today, Friday Chris and I slept in a bit and went to check a few low key spots and ended up surfing a sick outer reef break all to ourselves. It was like a spot that any surfer would dream of, head high to a little over head peaks coming in all over the place. After catching as many waves as we could, we cruised into town (Honolulu) to get some food. Since we were going to town I got dropped off in town to hang with some old high school friends that go to school at the university. Going to hang with them for the night and celebrate a friends birthday!
     Thanks everyone for checking in and reading my first blog, keep checking back and please hit me up whenever, love to hear from friends and family!

Fun lil collage from the first few days.

Getting the scooter ready to roll!

Sunset from the treehouse.

Cousin Chris and I BBQing at a friends and overlooking firing Sunset!

Friends and family bbq

The day before i left we set up a great bbq to have all the friends and family over for some shenanigans. Had a great group of people come over, people stopped by for some corn hole and beers,  then got some burgers going in the evening. Family got me a sweet cake that i got to share with all my friends after a little speech to thank everyone that they made it. But once again thank you everyone and enjoy the pictures, if you want i can send you some of them, just let

7 days until the departure....

     First off thanks everybody for checking out my blog that i will be updating as much as i can as i am traveling. I know lots of friends and family want to hear, see, and read about this awesome adventure I'm starting to take.
     The last few weeks have been awful busy with both life, working, getting ready, and still trying to have some fun in between. I have managed to get a lot of things done and ready to go in the last few days. Been trying to think of everything i might need on this trip has been crazy, definitely preparing my self for everything and anything in all of the places i want to travel to.

Thanks for checking out my first blog post!

 Here's all i got packed so far, throwing everything in the board bag and one carry on.