A for Adventure

Thursday
We woke up early because we had a ton of stuff planned. We were going on a hike then kayaking to an island about a mile off shore. We packed our lunches, sunscreen, camel backs, a change of clothes, sunglasses and we were set... We headed out!

Tiffany said, "You have the keys right?" "Nope" I replied... "David drove home last night and I gave him my keys." Crap... Surely they are somewhere around the house because David was already gone for the day... We looked frantically... Nope. We called him and alas he had both sets with him at work. He had assumed he was using his own keys to drive home the night before and none of us even thought about it until the next morning three hours after David had biked to and taken the hour long boat around the island to work... Double Crap... What now?!?! We had one bike and a car that we could not get into. Tiffany thought fast and decided we could use the wonderful (foreshadowing) public transportation system to get to a beach about two miles away.

We re-packed our bags with our snorkels, fins and towels and headed out. We were about a mile from the bus stop and I noticed it looked like rain as we walked down the stairs. Rain on the island comes and goes quickly but it can be fairly strong while it lasts... We didn't care because we were getting in the ocean anyway but the rain made for an interesting half-mile walk down the hazard lane of a four lane high way. By the time we arrived at our bus stop, we were drenched and wishing we had a camera for documentation purposes (we went back later in hopes of recreating the moment but sadly the sun in the background did not do it justice). The cars were splashing us as they drove by but eventually our bus came and we made it to the beach without a hitch. We snorkeled Electric Beach which was a little rough to get into but was cool afterwards. Apparently there are pipes a little way out that pump out hot water (from the plant on the beach.... hence the name) so the water in the area is about 5 degrees warmer than other areas. We didn't go all the way to the end of the pipes because neither of us really knew where they ended, but it was fun regardless. If you are ever at electric beach, if you get in front of the pipe it will push you out to sea a little (kinda like a ride)... If you ever do it, let me know how it goes because I was too scared to be the guinea pig!

After snorkeling we washed off quickly and made it to the bus stop about 2 minutes before the bus arrived. We were excited that we made such good timing and were waiting patiently under the sign when all of a sudden we see our bus zooming by. What?!?! We were standing DIRECTLY under the sign... Why didn't he stop... I was ANGRY! There was nothing else by the bus stop so it was obvious we were waiting for him... And yet... He just kept on keeping on... Grrr.... Tiffany said he probably didn't stop because we were Haoles (white people). I felt very discriminated against! So we waited another thirty minutes for the next bus... Here I am venting my frustration...


The second bus almost didn't stop either. It took both Tiffany and I waving our arms frantically for him to move into the bus lane and pick us up. I suppose we would have just walked home if he had not stopped but we wanted a ride, dang it!

Once we made it back to Tiffany's place, her sister was off of work and graciously allowed us to borrow her car to go surfing at a nearby beach. We crammed Tiffany's surf board into the car and headed out. Tiffany's board is eight feet long instead of the 12 foot "sidewalk" I had been using... I figured what is the difference... Four feet can't do much, right?!?! Ummm yeah... It can. Her board was hard to use. Paddling out was even shaky, but I was determined not to let her board beat me so I stayed out until I could catch a wave laying on the board. I managed to do a modified push up on the board before falling off and found that to be a great accomplishment... Now I see why Tiffany has such a hard time surfing... she has a RIDICULOUSLY small board for a beginner!! At least I will know how lucky I am to have a 12 foot board next time! Oh yeah, and how nice it is to have a car! Haha.