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!

Maui for the weekend!

     Friday I awoke on Maui in a place I've never been, my friend Nate that I was staying with had work till noon so I decided to go explore a bit. I walked down to the beach about a 5 min walk from the house, and just started walking. I walked for a few hours, lil over 4 miles to the downtown food and shopping area of Kihei. I cruised around for a bit and found Maui tacos, a lil Mex place to eat at, since I haven't had nearly any Mex food on my trip since I started over a month ago I try to eat it whenever I can find it! I caught the bus back to the house and Nate was home from work, he took me to Makena Beach down the road to do some snorkeling/diving. It was an awesome spot even though it was a tad windy, there were many turtles, fish and we even came across some white tip reef sharks in a little cave, got some awesome Go Pro pictures and videos! After we stopped by a resort on the way home to hop in there spa and warm up before we hit the store to grab food to make for dinner. 
     Saturday we saw there was some swell in the water so we headed over to the north side of the island about 30 minutes away to try and grab a surf. We went to a sweet pretty well known spot called Hookipa Beach, there were quite a few guys out but there were plenty of eaves coming in everywhere. We both paddled out for an hour and half or so, when we came in a few pro surfers paddled out. Nate wanted to shoot them with his new water housing, so I went back out to surf while he got some shots for another few hours. It was pretty sick surfing with some pro guys you see in the mags all the time, it was Matt Meola, Kai Barger, and Albee Layer, all huge up and comers from Maui. After being in the water for almost 4 hours we went into town and ate at Nate's favorite spot Paia fish market, great food and awesome spot! When we got back to the house we were both so tired from being in the water all day that we just chilled watched some movies and passed out early!
     Sunday being the last day I was on Maui and Easter, Nate went to church for a bit and I grabbed food at a local cafe. After he got back we went to a spot called Big Beach, which is pretty well known on Maui because its semi near the resorts and is just a huge stretch of beach with some awesome snorkeling out in front. Saw some more turtles, sea life, and found a cool underwater through the reef to swim through.  We got back home to hang for a bit and exchange some photos and videos before I had to head to the airport. It was an awesome weekend get away to see a new island and some new spots on the trip, thanks to Nate for putting me up for a few nights and showing me around. Getting back to Honolulu I caught the bus over to Kahala to bonfire on the beach and have a few beers with some friends, great way to end a fun weekend in Hawaii! 

Please check out Nate's blog that he updates daily with spectacular photography both in and out of the water! http://www.nathanielharrington.blogspot.com/


OTHER TRAVEL UPDATE
Still on the calendar to come, my sister Brooke and good friend Jeremy are heading over here next week! Can't wait to see family and friends from back home and show them the island and where I've been playing the last month.

Diving into a cave at Big Beach, Photo: Nate Harrington

Little collage of the weekend, white tip reef sharks on the bottom!

Lil pup that kicked it with me on the beach on my Friday morning stroll.

Kihei Beach, super clear water, nobody around.

Paddling out to Hookipa, Photo: Nate Harrington

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