A few photos from the last day

This seems like the perfect time to put up a collection of various photos that didn't have a story behind them but were just fun to look at.

Just a couple of girls walkin through Hale'iwa.

Leila after eating a bunch of calamari.  This become one of her favourites here.  Who knew?

Leila looking cute, as always.

Leila enjoying a quality beer.

Helping pack and looking cool.

The last day on the beach.  By now, she would just dart towards the "pool," as she called it.

Looking mischievous in HNL.

Larry and Daniella

We did much of the typical stuff on my birthday (Thursday) - hit some beaches, had some good food, enjoyed it like any other day.  Mandy and Leila went for an afternoon nap, at which point I was going to do my football picks, post up some more moments, etc.  However, Larry was outside, and we started chatting.  This made the day extra special.

Larry and Daniella are the couple whom we are renting from.  It's kind of a side split house, with us on a raised level to ourselves.  Daniella is Italian and speaks with a very strong accent, has always been very friendly and made sure that our stay has been alright.  She teaches yoga, sells real estate, and some other stuff I'm probably forgetting.  Larry, well, neither of us really knew what he did.  He was always helpful and answered anything we needed, but it was difficult to figure out if he was happy, irritated, or indifferent. I had a chat with him earlier in the week where at one point he was talking about surfing and the waves and he exclaimed "cuz that's what I do..." but I didn't understand what "that" was.

And then it happened.  Over some small talk he babbled something about a website but I couldn't quite follow him since he was using a lot of sounds to describe what happened.  Sounds like "whoop" and "chchch" and other ornithological mating calls made the chat interesting, but incomprehensible.  I looked up Larry Haynes Hawaii and the truth was laid before me.  He was a professional surfing videographer.  If you ever seen footage of anyone surfing, there are always those crazy guys bobbing around in the water, catching that perfect moment.  Larry has been one of those guys forever and is somewhat of a legend in the North Shore.  He's been to all of the best surfing spots in the world and in some of the biggest, dangerous freight trains of water that break over coral with the depth of the shallow end at your local pool.  It also explains why, any given moment that I've mentioned a wave on O'ahu, he knows exactly how big the swell is.  And now, I've got the privilege of sitting across from him over a Longboard Lager.

If you feel like reading, here's a great article on Larry from Surfer magazine.  It also explains a bit to me why I can't understand some of the things he's saying.  I started asking him about different waves around the world and some of the surfers he's captured on video, and he becomes animated and jumping in and out of stories like the Mad Hatter.  He's been tossed around by the ocean so much his head should sound like maracas.

Mandy and I offered to make dinner for Daniella that evening.  A classic at our house, we made panko crusted marlin with a bulgur wheat salad, something that should be approximately a million times tastier here since the fish was caught the same day.  They appreciate our offer and are hesitant at first, only because they have another friend coming over that same night.  We all agree that this will only enhance the evening.

His name is Stefan (something), and his job is designing the titles for various feature films.  He's a Swiss born U.S. resident who has just bought a house (from Daniella) on the island and his family is scheduled to join him in a day or so.  Mandy and I brought half the dinner, and Daniella picked up a bunch of Thai food on the way home so that they could provide something as well.  We had a great night and chatted about all kinds of things.  I enjoy spending a chunk of time with people I've never met, because in many cases your conversations dart all over the map, like a kite in the wind.

At one point, Mandy let's them know it's my birthday.  Daniella is immediately embarrassed that she didn't know and did not have a cake for the occasion, even though she had no clue.  Larry comes through with the sneakiest bottle of Moet champagne and we toast the night away, from birthdays to anniversaries to new friendships.  Certainly an unexpected birthday present, but a gift that will last a lifetime.

Hot'n'Cotton, or helicopter?

Leila has started repeating everything we say, so be careful what you say in front of her, haha. There are a lot of helicopter tours around the island, so Leila is quick to point out anything overhead.  Once we told her they were helicopters and not airplanes, she was very quick to try this new word a shot.  Hot'n'cotton is as close as she's come.  Day care will have a heck of a time understanding when she's asking for turtles, waves, helicopters...

We spent some quality time at O'ahu's best kept secret - an outlet mall!  This gem is situated right in the middle of the island and had some great deals.  And of course, some great rides for kids.

After some solid shopping, we went to Mcdonald's for their terrific haupia pie!  Haupia is Hawaiian for coconut and it's incredibly good.  The real challenge is finishing it without falling asleep.

We ended up back at Kailua beach, and Leila was getting braver with the water by the day, and loving it.

Here she's showing us her surf posing, which she would later execute quite well.

Polynesian Cultural Center

We had heard some good things about the Polynesian Cultural Center, but had yet to visit there the previous visits.    The first time we came here, we enjoyed a luau on Maui and figured that we didn't need to hit numerous luaus.  And the second time, we came with Luch and Lina, and quite honestly I don't think we had the time, nor the desire to go to one.  Instead, we went to the harbour and jumped on a fisherman's boat, picked out a few fish and cooked them ourselves.  As the story goes, you get what you pay for, but that's a story for another time.

Overall, this place was terrific.  We spent about 8 hours there, Leila loved it and behaved as great as she possibly could.  Let's be honest; that is directly correlated to the amount of fun Mandy and I are having.

 The food was terrific, and the show (named "Ha: the breath of life") was incredible.  Along with the soothing Hawaiian music, there was some great percussion that Leila rocked out to for the entire 90 minute performance.  We highly recommend it, that's for sure.

I should also mention that we may be on TV for a pretty cool episode of the show, Coming Home.  It's on the Lifestyle channel and the show brings home someone from the military a little earlier than the family expects.  At the luau, there was a private who has 7 children and they were unaware that he was in the audience.  With massive cameras around, they simply thought it was a part of the Center as they performed a little dance on stage.  They were told that the producer was simply filming them on his Iphone and would send their dad the clip of them performing.  Once they finished, he asked them each a question like "what would be the first thing you would do with your dad if here was here today?" and other tear jerking questions.  After they each answered a question, he told them that he wouldn't be sending their dad the footage, because he was in the audience.

Overhead Rights at Sunset

Today I went for my surf lesson.  Every time we've been here, we have taken surf lessons from "Uncle Bryan," the 6th generation Hawaiian (I think?) who has trained pro surfers like Andy and Bruce Irons, and Bethany Hamilton.  Bethany Hamilton is the pro who lost her arm from a shark attack - there's a movie in theaters based on her life - Soul Surfer.  I haven't seen it, but this isn't a movie review.  This one's about me, haha.

As you can imagine, my surfing skills need a lot of work since I only do it once every year or two.  With this in mind, I don't planning on chasing any massive waves anytime soon, nor would the surf school throw me into that sort of calamity.  Typically, they take intro students to Chun's Reef, a pretty forgiving place with small waves.

But not today.  The stars have aligned and we are to Sunset.  As in Sunset Beach.  The Sunset Beach where mega tournaments are hosted, the waves get insane, boards get snapped like twigs.  Lucky for me, the waves are small today, about 2-3 feet.  The interesting thing about Hawaiians is that they are the only ones to  measure the wave from the back...so this ends up being 4-6 feet.  Some a few inches taller, so that it ends up being "overhead."  Sunset can get to double overhead, and after my experience today, I don't know if I could practice enough to surf something like that.

For pride's sake, I should note: I caught 3 sweet waves before the cameraman came out.  Both Greg, my instructor, and I laughed at the idea that as soon as the cameraman would come out, I'd get dusted every single time.  While not true, I certainly had my share of spills...like this one:

Instead of focusing on what I was doing, I looked back at the wall of water chasing me onto the beach, hearing the thunderous roar of a thousand horses running through an aluminum tunnel.  And then I ate it.  Big time.  When I flew off of my board, I got tossed around wilder than a dime in the spin cycle.  It took a lot out of me, so I came up gasping for air...just in time for the next wave to hit me even harder than the previous one.  There is something so comically intimidating about sitting still, watching this wall of water coming at you and knowing that you're gonna get banged up, but you have nowhere to run or hide.  I asked Greg what to do in this situation, trying to prepare myself if I were to arrive in this situation.  He suggest that I throw my board behind me, dive into the wave and hope for the best.  I've got a 12 foot longboard with a leash attached to my leg, so once the wave sends the board flying, I'm going with it.  Haha, and boy did I go with it.

After that wave, I tried paddling back out ever so slowly, still completely gassed from the playful wrath of Mother Nature.  Of course, I didn't paddle enough to either side of where the waves were crashing, so I ate two more waves and probably started looking like driftwood.  Here's Greg, towing me back out since my shoulders were completely worn out from paddling.  Oh yeah, and that was after the first wave I caught, so by now, I was using the board as a bed.

I started getting the hang of it as time went on, and it was pure bliss.  There was a monster wave (for me, anyway) that Greg started yelling "Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! You're gonna get barreled on this one!"  Getting barreled means that the wave forms a barrel around you, quite likely the most beautiful moment one can have with nature.  My heart started racing and I paddled as fast as my battered arms could take me.  I waited for the lift the wave would produce, and as the nose of my board picked up speed and started aiming downwards, I jumped up, took off down the face...and wiped out.  Spin cycle, rinse, and most definitely, repeat.

Sunset

Leila's favourite food has quickly become pizza...so yes, she is my daughter!  Here we've ordered an awesome pizza at Pizza Bob's and while we wait, Leila is pointing at the Koi pond right beside us.

She has decided that if it isn't moving too quickly, it's probably sleeping, so "shhhhhh" we have to be quiet.

Just another night, enjoying the sunset.  What a great way to end off each day.  Many people will pull over, many still will just slow down (on the one-lane road) to watch the sunset.  Pretty soothing.

Hollywood and Hawai'i

We were given some scoop that there is a pristine white sand beach that is child friendly named Kailua Beach, so this was our first stop for the day.  It did not disappoint, as  you can see.  Yet another reason to keep coming back here, haha.

After spending a few quality hours there, we headed to Waikiki to check out another beach that we were familiar with.  It has a break wall to take the momentum out of the waves, another child-friendly beach.  First of all, we needed to eat, so we went to Nico's at Pier 38.  This place received rave reviews from the TV show "Drive-ins, Diners and Dives" from Guy Fieri.

It was very enjoyable, that's for sure.  And reasonably priced as well.  Better places do exist, however.  It's in the middle of an industrial fishing area, which adds to the appeal, in my opinion.

Leila napped through Nico's, so when she woke up we were already in Waikiki.  We ordered her some sweet potato fries and enjoyed the area...until Mandy noticed that on every towel there were two guys, each sporting a banana hammock.

We strolled down Ala Moana, the main shopping area and beach, and they were getting ready to film some Hawai'i Five-O season two.

We ended off the day returning to our house and learning that, on the beach right in front of us is where Sean Penn has his house. Right on the beach in Velzlyland...pretty sweet.

Surf's Up!

We woke up to the perfect weather here in V-land.  Strolled down to the beach where Leila enjoyed her first few waves.  She also went from hating the sand sticking to her (constantly saying "Oh no!") to playing with it...and sometimes throwing it into our bottled water.

Here's Leila enjoying half of a fried chicken.  Silly girl, you know what's gonna happen next?

Exactly.  Time to shut 'er down for a bit.  We've got a lot more beach to hit.  The surfers are everywhere and loving every minute of each wave.  Larry, who owns the house we're staying at, yelled out to us from his truck: "Have a great day guys, the waves at Lani's are epic!"

O'ahu -"the gathering place"

Yesterday was our traveling day.  We left the rainforest and volcanoes behind on the Big Island, and island hopped to O'ahu.  It is our favourite island as as soon as we arrived, we could feel how special this island truly is to us.

This is the view from our balcony.  We're staying in a house about 100 steps from Velzyland, or V-land.  Once you get up to the North Shore, you need to know where you're at based on the beach or waves.

Here's Leila with Felix, her new best friend.

Relaxo time

Yesterday we took some time to relax around the house and head back to the black sand beach at Punalu'u.  That's also where those green sea turtles hang out.  Leila was much more comfortable with the water and the sand, although the weather wasn't too cooperative.

That should change when we head out to O'ahu in a few hours!

Kona

Over the past few days, we had heard a lot about Kona, and how it seems to be the more lively part of the island.  It's about 2 hours away and a wicked drive along the coast.  I forgot to mention yesterday that we've done a lot of driving, especially over some questionable terrain.  So often, I've said to Mandy, "I'm so glad we have this SUV."  We would have bottomed out a bunch of times, or not even bothered with some of these places had we rented the Aveo.

On our way out of Volcano Village, we see signs like "Fault Zone beware of cracks in the road," and warnings like "if you feel an earthquake, get inland as soon as possible."  Looking at the way lava dominates everything here, it's a little intimidating, but pretty cool as well.  Which reminds me - yesterday, we had 32 earthquakes here!  I don't think we felt one (although Mandy thought she had), but that's because they are so minute that they can barely be felt.  Still, that's a lot of moving and shaking.

Apparently, nobody told Google Maps that the Big Island exists, since every destination we've tried to get to has taken us somewhere completely different.  It has made for some nice scenery, though.

Eventually, we get to the Kona Brewing Company and have lunch there.  It's terrific, but we're not allowed to go on the tour since Leila is underage.  The minimum age is 5.  Of course...I should have known.

After the brewery, we went to Greenwell Coffee company for a tour of the coffee plantation.  Pretty cool, that's for sure.

Finally, we ended off the day at Sansei.  We first experienced this restaurant on our honeymoon while in Maui, and quite possibly the best food we've ever had.  This experience was no different, and since the day is just about our anniversary, we decided to make this our anniversary dinner.  Mmmmm!

3 cylinders, or an Equinox?

Originally, we had rented a 3 cylinder Aveo or something like that for our time on the Big Island.  After all, we didn't need a convertible Mustang or Jeep or any other cliches that everyone typically rents.  Why?  Haha, because we had already done that the last time around, so we knew that it's a ton of fun, but not necessary.  However, when we landed here, we realized that all of our luggage wouldn't fit in the small car, so we'd ask for an upgrade.  I got kinda suckered because it sounded like the Equinox was the only thing they had left, until I walked away from the rental agency and they sold an Altima to someone else.  Well, we would have the last laugh on these guys.

We first went into town for breakfast at Bear's Cafe - we had gone there a few days earlier and since it was open (and was pretty good), we went there a second time.  The owner served us this time, and when he gave me a glass of water, I joked that it was too bad it wasn't scotch. He said "don't ask for something you can't handle," and took me to the back of the restaurant where I enjoyed some Crown Royal Black.

From there, we took a pretty sweet drive to Akaka Falls.  I should mention that prior to the falls, we went to World ('s worst) Botanical Gardens, which was a waste of time and money.  Aside from the tree that they had with a sign "do not touch, very poisonous." I can't find a photo of the falls, so let's pretend it's here...either way, pretty cool.

After that, we drove to Punalu'u, or the black sand beach.  Pretty awesome.  The sand was coarse, but comfortable.  As a bonus, it would simply fall right off instead of sticking to you like normal sand.

As well, this beach is host to the green sea turtle.  We told Leila that the turtle was sleeping and we need to "shhh," so every time we've shown her a picture of a turtle since, she puts her finger up to her mouth and says "shhh."

This is South Point - the most southern part of the U.S.  This is where they hang people and get away with it.  Well, not really.  At least I don't think so.  It's very windy here at pretty desolate, but cool nonetheless.