We spent our first night in Waikiki since our flight arrived so late. We arrived at the Waikiki Beach hotel via airport shuttle and were welcomed by surfboard and Aloha print decor everywhere. The bed was awesomely comfy. The cosmetics were set out on a little plastic surfboard rack and I cracked up at the sign next to it warning hotel guests that they would be charged for taking the rack with them. I guess people really do that...
The next morning we grabbed breakfast at the poolside buffet and headed across the street to the beach to sit and eat. The hotel provides little cooler bags in which you can carry your breakfast. I've never been a huge fan of Waikiki--it is so overrun with tourists, and it isn't even a natural beach (the sand was imported from Waimea). But I have to say, our little breakfast there before the crowds came was quite pleasant.
After breakfast we went and changed into our swim stuff and headed back down to the beach. Waikiki was a good place for me to catch some waves as I didn't trust myself on the North Shore's notorious winter break. Jeremy wore his swim fins and toted a little water proof camera to take some pics.
I had a blast, and gained a new appreciation for Waikiki-- such consistent waves and long enough to carry several surfers so everyone gets their fill if they can catch them. After 2 or so hours we headed back in to shower and change. Our rental car company picked us up in a shuttle and we grabbed our car and headed inland to Mililani, where we were staying a couple days with our friends, Matt and Angela. Angela met us at their newly purchased home (which was lovely) and we chatted for a while and then took off to the beloved North Shore. We watched the final heat of the Pipeline Masters, the culminating event of the world tour and the triple crown of surfing. 3 out of the 4 final contestents were Australian and there was 1 local North Shore guy. Bede Durbidge, a cute freckly Aussie came through with a victory. It was fun to watch, although the Banzai Pipeline wasn't breaking and they just surfed a small break close to where Backdoor is usually found. I was a little disapointed since I've never seen the big winter North Shore waves.
I filmed this event so don't have still photos, but here are some shots I found from the heat we watched.
Dean Morrison
Bede Durbidge
Joel Parkinson
After watching the contest we headed up to see the heiau, which is a sacred Hawaiian spot with an beautiful view of Waimea bay. You may be familiar with this from the epic film, North Shore.
I was pleasantly reminded of the hours of entertainment provided to me back in 2000 by "tickle grass," this island weed that closes its leaves when touched.
We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around to visit some of our favorite North Shore spots: Sunset Beach, V-Land and Haliewa. Jeremy found a short board to rent in Haliewa (finally after checking 4 shops all over North Shore for the perfect one)! We topped off the afternoon with a Shave Ice from Aiki's (Matsumoto's was closed) and were very impressed by this competition to the famed spot.
Upon returning to Matt and Angela's we were greeted with a lovely meal of grilled steaks, broccoli and crab salad and more. It was so fun catching up over dinner and throughout the rest of the evening. They are such welcoming, lovely, fun people.
The next morning we were awake early because of the time difference and matt and angie arose and left early for work. We headed out to North Shore soon after and Jeremy made a Bee-line for V-Land, his favorite surf spot. He had a fun session there and I read my book on the beach and enjoyed the view. A rainbow formed, and ended right at the spot where Jeremy was. I smiled to think that he was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Cheesy, I know.
Afterwards we went to Laie, where our story began. I was saddened to see that the flower shop where I was not-so-gainfully employed had shut down (replaced by a Pizza Hut). We visited Foodland, had lunch at L&L's and drove past my old house to "the point" (spot made famous by the climactic kiss in the movie North Shore). On the way up, we considered re-enacting how we met-- my friend and I were a block from my house (up the hill) when Jeremy offered us a ride. We accepted and that was the start to a long and convuluted story, the most uneventful chapters occuring in Hawaii where we were just friends. It was quite strange to think back to that time, and that I was now married to "that guy." I felt overwhelmed by my great fortune--that things turned out so perfectly for us.
We stopped by BYU, Hawaii for some of their exquisite ice cream and then drove past Jeremy's old house to "Pounders," a gorgeous spot known for good body surfing. I used to walk down here with my paint pens, collect coconuts and sit on the beach to decorate them to mail back to friends on the mainland.
After we'd had our fill of Laie and reminiscing, we drove back up to Sunset Beach, my favorite Oahu beach, where we went for a walk and snorkled. Jeremy hit up Pupukea for some surfing after that.
As it grew later, we were a little chilly so we were tempted by our memories of sneaking into the Turtle Bay Resort hot tub. It felt awesome.
We stopped by Haliewa again for some shave ice at Matsumoto's before heading back to Mililani. We were surprised to find that we enjoyed Aiki's quite a bit more! We picked up some pizzas on the way home and had pizza and salad with delicious Ahi for dinner. Angela had picked up some Leonard's malasadas (mmm...haupia filled) for dessert. I could've kissed her. Another fun evening ensued.
The next day started out quite the same: beeline to V-Land, Jeremy had a blast while I read on the beach and watched local boys engage in some sort of odd boot camp on the beach.
We went to Waimea Bay afterwards where I was delighted to snorkle with one of my favorite creatures. I found two sea turtles at this spot, along with a ton of other awesome fish. I didn't take any photos at this spot (I was too immersed in Liz-heaven to bother), but it was gorgeous with the huge white sand beach, sunny skies and amazingly clear water.
We next went back to the site of the Banzai Pipeline, where Jeremy surfed the same wave the pros had in the Pipeline final! He had a great time. We followed that up by visiting Shark's Cove for more excellent snorkling. I swear, I could snorkle all day. I wish I could turn into a dolphin whenever I wanted.
Before driving back to town we enjoyed Turtle Bay once more:
On the way back to Haliewa we stopped by Ted's bakery to pick up a chocolate haupia pie. We then dropped Jeremy's board off, had another Aiki's shave ice and then met Matt and Angela in Honolulu after cleaning up. Both of their birthday's were coming up so we took them to a great Sushi restaurant. Afterwards we ate big servings of the pie, which was just as delicious as we remembered.
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