Even though the Navy promised me that they weren't going to make Joe go on a deployment for 6 months - 1 year, Joe has been sent to Guam for 5+ weeks. BOOO :( I've barely even been in Hawaii that long... This sucks, but oh well, we don't have a choice in the matter. Joe is in Guam being surface support for the SEAL Team, so it should be pretty relaxing and he might finally get some SCUBA diving and spearfishing in. NOW, I just have to find things to do to occupy myself for the next month until Crystal gets here in 3 1/2 weeks, since I still don't have a job.
So I go to check out a new beach because we're trying to find Joe's parents a cool place to stay on the island when they come over for Christmas, and instead, I have one of the best days ever! The Navy runs a large group of beach cottages a little west of Pearl Harbor, called White Plains. I got to the beach around 2pm with intent to go to their housing office and ask to see one of the cottages, but they were closed. I had all intentions on going to the beach for a few hours, so I went ahead and parked the car. Thinking that this was a small, private military beach, I was shocked to see over a hundred cars in the parking lot and a packed beach. They were having a small Quicksilver surf contest, so I thought that maybe it was just super crowded because of that. The beach is not private and must be a pretty popular place among the locals since there aren't many good beaches on this corner of the island.
OK, so I'm lying on the beach listening to my IPod for about an hour and a half until it dies. I was going to pack up and head home, but I pulled out my new book (hesitantly) and 3 pages into it, an old guy comes up to me and tells me I AM going surfing with him. I quickly laugh and tell him that I've never surfed, but it didn't take much to convince me to go get a free lesson from a local, who's obviously been surfing for awhile now and even is offering a board for me to use. SWEET! What an awesome offer. He tells me his name is Tony and he shows me where to put the leash and we head into the waves. For the next 45 minutes, I was having the coolest time ever. I haven't been much of a fan of the saltwater and insane currents since I've been on the island, but having a 9 foot board under you changes the insecurities completely. I loved it! I caught 10 waves in less than 35 minutes in the water and stood up on the first try. I think I got up on 7 or 8 of them. It was so much fun. I think I'm already addicted. After surfing he told me to grab my things and come up to their pavilion and meet everyone. Over the next 5 hours, I met almost 20 people, ate some awesome BBQ pork and steak, admired some of them playing their guitars and bongos and singing cool Hawaiian music, laughed, drank beer, talked about surfing, ate Portuguese deserts, etc. It was soooo much fun. The girls I met were so nice and all offered to continue to teach me how to surf. We partied and hung out until we got kicked out of the parking lot since it was closing. Sunday is their normal day to be at the beach, so I told them I would come again tomorrow.
I went ahead and rented a surfboard for a day with MWR on base and headed to the beach again on Sunday and found them all chilling and drinking in their pavilion. This time, there were 5 people from the Navy too. 3 girls, 2 guys and they all work nearby on Ford Island, which is right across the harbor to our house. They fed me delicious BBQ again and I was ready to attempt surfing again, on my own. The waves were pretty low today but I figured if anything, I'll get a good workout from paddling. I stayed out there for almost an hour and a half, but only caught 2 small waves. Oh well, my body was hurting so bad from yesterday still that I didn't mind to much. I have 3 years to learn and I have the board until tomorrow afternoon, so I'll probably take it down to Waikiki or something and see what kinds of waves are going in the mornings. All the guys told me that morning is the best time to surf. I didn't hang out too long today since I had a lot of stuff to do around the house, but before I left, a girl named Penny came up and talked to me for awhile. She told me that everyone here is good, safe people and she has a 9' board for me to use for however long I want to use it. She just learned a couple months ago, but prefers a little shorter board. She's going to bring the board for me next Sunday and I can have it for as long as I want it so I don't have to keep renting a board from MWR. NICE!! Also before I left, I got offered to go to a BBQ Friday night from one of the Navy girls. I'm excited, it could potentially be a not-so-boring time while Joe is gone. I got home and checked out all of my sore spots and bruises. My right knee is completely bruised, my right hip bone feels like its been smashed by a hammer, my ribs is sore, my pelvic bone is sore, and my inner biceps have little bruises all over them from paddling. Oh well, totally worth it!
I took my rented board down to Waikiki for a few hours on Monday morning to see if I could catch any waves on my own. I got down there and there are a few tiny little waves, but I just drove a half hour to get there so I laid out for an hour before hopping on my board. I paddled out pretty far, but then I started to get scared when I saw reef and giant rocks popping out of the water hundreds of feet out from the beach. I paddled around them until I got out to where some waves were hitting. It was pretty scary, but I couldn't catch anything big enough to get me up. I only stayed out for a half hour, but it was still a good time. I will not be bringing a board down here again though, the exposed reef is too dangerous, especially with a board that's not mine. I returned my board that afternoon and am not going to let my body heal until the weekend arrives.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Hiking Manoa Falls
There aren't too many "great" hikes on this island, but Manoa Falls was labeled number 1 in my book. It's a short hike with a 100 foot waterfall at the end, but 
there are a lot of trails you can hook onto the hike that make it more fulfilling and adventurous. The hike is in the Nu'uanu State Park in the Pali Mountain Range. Shortly after Joe and I start our hike, we are greeted 
with this amazing entrance that looks like a jungle. It was so breathtaking. The vines and tall trees lush with so much greenery was beautiful. The hike up to Manoa Falls was only .8 miles in at a moderate slope, but was wet and slippery. Also, there were giant roots and rocks all over the trail that made it hard to keep your footing, even in hiking boots. The trail was 
cool though. There were fields of green bamboo everywhere and spots that had so many vines that you wouldn't ever be able to get through it if something was chasing you. We took our time getting to the "waterfall" because we were so distracted by the playground that the rainforest offers. I was busy playing with centipedes and taking pictures of awesome flowers and Joe was completely amused by climbing the bamboos 
like he was in Cirque de Sole and finding the perfect bamboo walking stick to bring home. After about an hour, we made it to what was supposed to be a descent waterfall. Not really, quite disappointing. It was about 100 feet, but barely any water. We probably didn't see it in the right season or something. Instead of turning around, we connected with the Aihualama Trail to make our hike total up to 5 miles. 
This leg of the hike used switchbacks to get to the top, because it was a fast incline in a short distance. This mountain was tall! In just a few minutes we were already past the top of the waterfall. On this trail, you could see Diamond Head and the entire Manoa Valley. It was beautiful. When we got to the top of the mountain, it came out to the Pauoa Flats. We didn't want to make the 
hike much longer, so we just played around on the top of the Flats and made really sharp spears out of bamboo with his knife 
( in case we found some wild boars). Joe wants to get his hunting license for real so he can go boar hunting with some guys from work. After playing and walking around for awhile, we headed back down the mountain to the car. There were a lot less mosquitoes than we planned for and I read about, but hey, thats even better. The hike was fun and it was worth the drive up here.
there are a lot of trails you can hook onto the hike that make it more fulfilling and adventurous. The hike is in the Nu'uanu State Park in the Pali Mountain Range. Shortly after Joe and I start our hike, we are greeted 
with this amazing entrance that looks like a jungle. It was so breathtaking. The vines and tall trees lush with so much greenery was beautiful. The hike up to Manoa Falls was only .8 miles in at a moderate slope, but was wet and slippery. Also, there were giant roots and rocks all over the trail that made it hard to keep your footing, even in hiking boots. The trail was 
cool though. There were fields of green bamboo everywhere and spots that had so many vines that you wouldn't ever be able to get through it if something was chasing you. We took our time getting to the "waterfall" because we were so distracted by the playground that the rainforest offers. I was busy playing with centipedes and taking pictures of awesome flowers and Joe was completely amused by climbing the bamboos 
like he was in Cirque de Sole and finding the perfect bamboo walking stick to bring home. After about an hour, we made it to what was supposed to be a descent waterfall. Not really, quite disappointing. It was about 100 feet, but barely any water. We probably didn't see it in the right season or something. Instead of turning around, we connected with the Aihualama Trail to make our hike total up to 5 miles. 
This leg of the hike used switchbacks to get to the top, because it was a fast incline in a short distance. This mountain was tall! In just a few minutes we were already past the top of the waterfall. On this trail, you could see Diamond Head and the entire Manoa Valley. It was beautiful. When we got to the top of the mountain, it came out to the Pauoa Flats. We didn't want to make the 
hike much longer, so we just played around on the top of the Flats and made really sharp spears out of bamboo with his knife 
( in case we found some wild boars). Joe wants to get his hunting license for real so he can go boar hunting with some guys from work. After playing and walking around for awhile, we headed back down the mountain to the car. There were a lot less mosquitoes than we planned for and I read about, but hey, thats even better. The hike was fun and it was worth the drive up here.The (Cheesy, Super Touristy) Dole Plantation
Every time we drive to the North Shore, we drive by the Dole Plantation. Joe has been dying to go just once, even though I told him it is supposedly a total tourist trap. We go up there for an afternoon and WOW, was it lame. The only thing worth going there for is the garden tour and fresh pineapple ice cream that is amazing. Here are some pictures:
The flowers here are: Hibiscus, Himalayan Red Bromeliad (same family as pineapple), Bird of Paradise, Ti plant for hula skirts, and
Bougainvillea.
The flowers here are: Hibiscus, Himalayan Red Bromeliad (same family as pineapple), Bird of Paradise, Ti plant for hula skirts, and
Bougainvillea.
I thought I left these in Maine....
After another good day at Sandy Beach, I look over to the Northeast and see a small mountain to hike before 
we head home. I've seen the trail from the road before and figured it would be a quick mile up 
and down before we drive the long trek home. The Ka'Iwi trail was straight up, and shortly we stumbled upon large patches of prickly pear cacti. How weird? Neither of us would have guessed that we would see cactus in Hawaii. While hiking to the top, we read some signs about whale sightings right off this point, which immediately started getting us really excited for winter to get here. Right after reading the whale signs I look out into the ocean and see the island of Molokai! I knew that it was only about 125 miles away, but I didn't think I'd see it from here. 
Awesome... Anyways, almost to the top, we look down along the ridge and see the headlight (lighthouse) that I had read about, the Makapu'u Headlight. It was tiny and odd compared to all the ones I had seen on the NE Coast in Maine and Massachusetts, but nonetheless, a lighthouse in Hawaii. We took some pictures and went a little further to the top to see the coast of Waimanalo and Bellows Beach. On our way down, the view to the south was beautiful. We could see Koko Head and Koko Crater, which is where Hanauma Bay is nestled. We also saw a nice golf course, archery field, and Diamond Head off in the distance. It was definitely a nice 2-mile hike to finish up a day of lying on the beach.
we head home. I've seen the trail from the road before and figured it would be a quick mile up 
and down before we drive the long trek home. The Ka'Iwi trail was straight up, and shortly we stumbled upon large patches of prickly pear cacti. How weird? Neither of us would have guessed that we would see cactus in Hawaii. While hiking to the top, we read some signs about whale sightings right off this point, which immediately started getting us really excited for winter to get here. Right after reading the whale signs I look out into the ocean and see the island of Molokai! I knew that it was only about 125 miles away, but I didn't think I'd see it from here. 
Awesome... Anyways, almost to the top, we look down along the ridge and see the headlight (lighthouse) that I had read about, the Makapu'u Headlight. It was tiny and odd compared to all the ones I had seen on the NE Coast in Maine and Massachusetts, but nonetheless, a lighthouse in Hawaii. We took some pictures and went a little further to the top to see the coast of Waimanalo and Bellows Beach. On our way down, the view to the south was beautiful. We could see Koko Head and Koko Crater, which is where Hanauma Bay is nestled. We also saw a nice golf course, archery field, and Diamond Head off in the distance. It was definitely a nice 2-mile hike to finish up a day of lying on the beach.
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