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

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!