The North Shore

So we bought the surf board, we've had the lessons, now it's time to get out there and try it for ourselves, right?  If only the waves would cooperate!  We returned to the same spot we originally learned at - Haleiwa Beach on the North Shore.  The only catch was that the awesome waves we learned on were absent.  Rather disappointing.  Whereas before there was plenty, this week there was one place where a wave would break.  And when we were there a class of 5 surfers were already out there, dominating the one place where a wave could be caught!  So later in the day we packed up and moved down shore to Sunset Beach.  Some success here, but we ran into the problem of too many surfers trying to get at the same wave.  As beginners that is a bit intimidating.  Also contributing to the struggle was that Matthew was not feeling well most of the week (he had has a pretty bad cold) and he got worn-out pretty quick.  None of this is a problem - all part of the process.  Hoping for better waves at Haleiwa next week!

Shark's Cove is also a great afternoon activity when you get worn out surfing.  It is an shallow bay on the North Shore thats great for snorkeling.  It has a natural rock barrier that moderates and protects the cove.  Small waterfalls are created every time a big wave breaks on the reef.  Great place for families to play - it's protected from the harsh North Shore surf.  

Not to be missed on a trip to the North Shore is Shaved Ice (aka Snow Cones) from the popular Matsumoto's.  Always a line for shaved ice at this general store, but I think it was worth the wait.  There was only 25cents difference in price between small and large, so we both went big!  We got the Hawaiian - Blue pineapple, pink coconut, orange banana, lemon yellow, all blended together.  Oh, and new twist for us, ice cream on the bottom rather than condensed milk on top!

And the ever popular Shrimp Trucks!  These well-tended food trucks are the perfect place to stop for a quick lunch. Most popular item is sauteed shrimp.  Between this collection of shrimp trucks at Haleiwa a variety of shrimp to choose from - fried, thai sweet and sour, lemon and garlic... it's always such a tough decision!  My personal favorite is the garlic butter shrimp from Giovanni's.  But I really enjoyed chatting with the Thai women at Hono's:)

What we're reading:

Because let's face it, what you read while you're relaxing on the beach is not a small matter.  I'm reading James Michener's 'Hawaii', a 900+ page saga that tells the tragic story of the evolution of Hawaii from a primative community of island natives to prospering tourist attraction (with missionaries, sugar plantations, and a revolution and statehood in between).  I've really been enjoying it and it's definitely added dimension and complexity to my understanding of the island.  Matthew, at the other extreme, is studying his latest Emergency Medicine text, and as strange as it may seem, he swears he is enjoying it too.

We stumbled upon this nice little beach spot - it's just south of Shark's Cove.  It's called Three Tables Beach due to the 3 large exposed rock outcroppings right off the shore that catch some really harsh waves.  As a result they mostly protect the shore from the tough waves.  There is also a really high ridge of sand and it's a nice place to people watch and wave watch and catch the ocean breeze.

Sunset at Three Tables Beach

Sandy Beach

We spent a couple of days hanging out at Sandy Beach.  Sandy Beach is on the Leeward side of the island, just north of Hanauma Bay.  The ridge in the backdrop is Koko Crater, the formative dormant volcano.  This beach has really amazing waves - very strong, rough, dramatic, almost always a barrel.  Not a popular surf spot because the waves break really close to the shore.  It is popular for body boarding, skim boarding, and boogie boarding.  Because the surf is so dangerous there are very few children on the beach... it's just too dangerous.

It's really hard to describe how alive this water is - how dynamic the surf - how crushing these waves are.  Try to imagine as you flip through the photos.  I didn't do too much swimming - neither did Matthew.  It was like getting beat up constantly!  But a great atmosphere and the surf is mesmerizing. Also, note the rain off in the distance - it was a constant threat during the week.

This is a view of the shore looking south.  Do you see the vertical spray of water?  That is the 'blowhole' that we didn't see in full force on our initial driving tour of the island.  This week the conditions were perfect and a tremendous burst of water shot through the rock every 5 minutes.

The walk down the beach is really nice a varied, with a diversity of plant life, coral, and volcanic rock outcoppings.  Most of these photos were taken right before sunset on our visits to the beach.

There were some spots appropriate for surfing - the waves breaking far off shore.  You just can't ride them in too far because their are rocks at the coast.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Unfortunately, we've had quite a few days of rain.  It is the rainy season.  I hate to complain, but after the blog is updated and all the clothes are washed a folded I was kind of at a loss on what to do.  It's really crumby to be stuck in an apartment when you're in paradise :).  So, here is my ongoing rainy day project.  A quilt!  I've never quilted, but it seems pretty straight forward, and quilting is all done by hand - no sewing machine required.  Quilting is a craft that was introduced to Hawaii by the missionaries who settled on the island.  The Hawaiians really adopted the craft as their own and created a whole series of patterns inspired by the island.  I bought this pattern at the Bishop Museum - 'Angle's Trumpet'.  So I bought some fabric and have been working on this small blanket when I'm stuck indoors.  When Matthew was around and we still faced rain we went to the movies, went out to eat, anything to get out of the humid apartment.  And we took care of business: exchanged our rental car, went grocery shopping, and bought a used surf board for the apartment!

Art in Honolulu

Art on the Fence, Honolulu Zoo

Local artists hang their work on the fence of the Honolulu Zoo every Saturday morning.  Paintings of various mediums (oil, arcrylic, watercolor) and photography of the island were showcased.  Mainly their work caters to tourists of Hawaii... there were a few whose work I was really intrigued by, but mostly I thought it was a little generic.  I'm such a snob, I know.  It was nice to peruse and chat with the artists.

Honolulu Academy of Arts

This museum was outstanding and really a pleasant surprise.  The museum is a low-rise structure that features a series of galleries connected by covered walkways and enclosed courtyards.  It is a great facility, perfect for the Hawaiian climate.  In contrast to a typical museum set up it excels - between each exhibit you get a breath of fresh air and sunlight, see the flowers and foliage which inspired the art.  I guess as both a landscape architect and artist this made complete sense.

Really nice sculptures were featured in the courtyard spaces as well.  

(Henri Moore bronze casting on the bottom right). 

I managed to get a couple of photos of the interior exhibits before I was reprimanded for my photography.  (I was not using the flash... not sure how I was hurting anything).  These photos show a few of the really nice examples of Southeast Asian and Polynesian art and artifacts.

I was impressed by the range of art - almost every time, place, and culture was represented in some way. It was a very complete museum.  Among the big named artists featured: Monet, Cezanne, VanGogh, Degas, Copely, Church, O'Keeffe, Diego Rivera, Isamu Noguchi, Cassett... I know I'm missing some, but really, that's a pretty complete list in itself, isn't it?  And in general, really fine examples of work from each of the artists.  A really nice surprise was the work of Georgia O'Keeffe.  She spent some time in Hawaii - she was hired by Dole plantation to paint a pineapple and they sponsored her trip to the island.  She spent 3 months in Hawaii, never painting the prescribed pineapple, instead focusing on the island's real beauty - the sculptural landscape. :) I really admired this painting and used it in one of my color theory projects last semester, not realizing it was a Hawaiian landscape.  This piece and a few other pieces she produced on her visit now hang in the museum.  Always nice to view a piece you are already so familiar with - nice surprise.

 It may sound weird, but I felt like I really started making important connections at this museum.  Through my study at USC, especially my first art history class, and all the travel I did done as an undergraduate, I was just able to put everything into perspective between the various exhibits.  I felt in general I was able to make connections between place and culture and the art that was associated with that place and time.  And then was able to see the influences and evolution between cultures.  I really saw it and appreciated it in a new way.  Maybe this is hard to explain... I guess for the first time I wasn't overwhelmed and lost - I was genuinely interested in each exhibit.  I like to think that this new educational pursuit is paying off.

And while we're being inspired by the natural world, I have to mention the amazing Banya Trees in Hawaii.  Banya Trees are a type of fig tree, in the states we like to grow this tree indoors - a nice house plant.  When allowed to run wild outdoors the have this incredible growth pattern - they are called 'prop roots'.  These trees begin by growing on another host tree or structure (like a bridge or building) and then they often consume the host by continually expanding and sending out these prop roots.  I first was introduced to the plant on my trip to Asia, most memorably at Ankor What in Cambodia.  This outstanding example was in the park across from the museum.

Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay is a protected marine life conservation area and is known in Oahu as a prime snorkeling location.  The geography of the area is so unique - it is a sunken and highly eroded volcano cone.  The bay is a completely protected semi-circle, or cove, on O'ahu's south eastern point.  The bay is warm and shallow and shelters a vital coral reef.

We woke early to enter the park.  Once the parking lot is filled, which usually happens mid-morning, they close off the park to new visitors.  We were there by 9:00, and after the line and the mandatory video screening and the hike down we were on the beach by 10.

The snorkeling was great!  A beautiful diversity of fish and other sea creatures (marine life isn't exactly my specialty, but I appreciated the array of color on the fish).  We spent the day snorkeling and when we tired we rested and read on the beach.  A great day, full of 75 SPF sunscreen :).

The view from our spot on the beach.  The mountainous peak beyond the ridge of the cove is Koko Crater, a cinder cone, the remnant of a dormant volcano.  Check out the really nice photo of the two cones I found on Wikipedia.

Aiea Loop Trail

Matthew and I completed this 5 mile hike before he headed off to work for the night.  The trail is in  Keawia Heiau State Park which is located inland, and northeast, of Pearl Harbor.  Supposedly along the trail the remains of a WWII era plane can be found on one of the slopes.  We didn't see it, and passed a few veterans of the trail who said they never found it either.  It is easy to imagine that this dense rainforest has consumed it and hidden it.  This was a really nice trail, full of dramatic canyons and sweeping views.  It was mostly a gradual incline, walking just below the ridge.  It was really a great way to get some exercise and experience the rainforest!

 

The forest was full of Swamp Mahogony.  I really liked the character of its canopy - no too dense - high, clear, and open.  

This is the newest freeway on the island, the H3, another connection between Honolulu and windward O'ahu.

Kailua Beach and Na Mokulua

Kailua Beach.  The most distant mountain range is Kualoa Ranch.

We started our day at Kailua Beach and took our time warming and waking up on the shore.  We had a nice lunch at Buzz's Steakhouse where we had the much famed fish sandwich (per the black book).  

(Fun Fact: President Obama will be spending Christmas at Kailua Beach!)

In the afternoon we rented kayaks and headed toward the islands, Na Mokulua,  that lay a little over a mile off shore from Kailua Beach.  Both are preserved as bird sanctuaries but visitors are allowed to walk the perimeter.  Kayaking to the islands is common - we saw so many in the water.  It is about a 40 minute paddle out.

We are experienced paddlers, both on rivers and at sea, and didn't think twice about this trip.  Apparently the guy who rented us the kayak thought us well prepared too.  It would have been nice for him to mention the breakers - the really shallow sections of reef - that lay between us and the island.  We maneuvered around that easy enough.  But arriving at the island was tricky.  Waves strike the island from two different angles, neither of which are parallel to the small bit of sand where we were to land.  So, a huge wave caught us from behind and we flipped the kayak on the outside of those rocks.

I'm not sure how all the photos I took of this coast make the waves look puny.  Believe me, entering and exiting this strip of beach is no easy task.  After our clumsy landing we watched other paddlers get back into the water with the two conflicting currents.  No one that we observed set off without one of the paddlers falling out of the boat in the process.  

Matthew in the water.  It was great to get such a grand view of the windward coast.

We spent a little time exploring the coast of the island.  A view back toward the narrow beach and the smaller island.  The waves in the inlet between the two peaks were very strong.

The western coast of Moku Nui, the larger island.  Crazy basalt/lava formations - very rugged coastline.

Studying the waves, preparing for our departure.  It wasn't graceful, but we didn't flip and neither of us fell out of the kayak, so we'll call it a success.

A few photos off the coast of Lanikai, a neighboring beach to Kailua.  This time we kept closer to the coast, well away from the breakers.

View east toward Na Mokulua from Flat Island

Our last stop was at Flat Island which is right off the coast of Kailua Beach.  It is also a preserved bird sanctuary.  It is not a lava formation, it is limestone.  It appeared to me to be a remnant of some ancient reef was somehow preserved or upthrust???  Its overwhelming feature is that it is flat, filled with wholes, and covered in succulents.

Looking toward Kailua from Flat Rock.

Great day!  What an adventure!  We were so exhausted!  

The end.