Makaha Fiasco and Kaena Point

Friday
We slept in and had a relaxing morning before heading out for lunch. We tried to go to a sushi place because I wanted sushi while I was in Hawaii, but it was not meant to be. We walked into the restaurant and asked them about the possibility of cross-contamination between the shellfish and the fish-fish because of my shellfish allergy. They informed me that there was probably cross-contamination and I should not stay. Well okay... Never heard that one before. So leave we did. We ended up at Subway and I had a tuna sandwich. Not quite sushi, but at least it was in the fish family.

Afterwards we headed to Makaha. There is a turtle cleaning station out past one of the buoys. It is basically a big rock that turtles swim to and fish hang around and clean them off. Once the turtle is fresh and clean, it heads out. It sounded awesome so I had to see it!!! Thus, Tiffany, Courtney and I headed out to Makaha after lunch. We only had 2 pairs of fins because Courtney had packed hers (She is moving back to the mainland in a few weeks) but David graciously allowed her to borrow his mask so we were good to go. Courtney said she was a little scared to swim out without fins and I should have offered her my fins then and there... But I didn't. For those of you that blog stalk or don't know me well, I swam competitively for 10 years and am a strong swimmer.

We headed out towards the buoy, which was about 300 or 400 yards from shore. I started out a little ways ahead of the girls and took a few pictures. About 2 minutes into the snorkeling session it became apparent that I needed to give Courtney my fins so I stopped swimming and waited for them to catch up. I looked at a few more fish and took a few more pictures and then looked up, expecting them to have caught up. But when I looked up... nothing. No one. I could see the shore and the people there. I could see the buoy and the boat beside it but no Tiffany and no Courtney.

Oh no... My heart started beating fast. I looked around frantically for them but the waves were high and it was impossible to see anything. After a few minutes I decided to head back to shore. When you lose your party, you go back in... This I know.. My lifeguard training sprung to action. I swam quickly because I was honestly a little worried that Courtney went under. I got back to the shore and look around... Still nothing. I could not see either of them in the water. The buoy was quite a ways out and it was hard to see, but I couldn't see snorkelers. I also didn't see an ambulance so I was becoming less worried that something has happened (there were lifeguards on the beach after all).

I decided to go back in and look for them from the water. I made it about half way to the buoy and the waves were still high and I still could not see anything so I decided again to go in and wait for them. "They will come in... They know that you go in when you lose someone... I will just wait for them on shore." So I swam in again... And still could not see them. I began to cry (I do not cry often but when I get really freaked out/scared and am FULL of adrenaline it makes me cry. The last time it happened I was skiing on a double blue that was way past my pay grade... Cough... Mel... Cough...).

When the waves calmed a little and I saw two snorkelers out by the buoy. I put on my mask and swam out quickly (still crying... this time irrationally because I was afraid they didn't even care that I was missing). When I got to "the snorkelers," which were them, Tiffany and Court were both extremely relieved. We all took off our masks and expressed our relief at finding each other again. I immediately asked "Why didn't you come in?!?! You go in when someone is missing!!!" They said they didn't think I would know that and assumed I was still in front of them somewhere. They had gotten onto the boat that I had seen by the buoy and were looking for me from there. Tiffany had been swimming around looking frantically for me and ran into a jellyfish. It stung both of her hands and slid across her face. Luckily she was also pumping with adrenaline and it didn't hurt as much as it otherwise would have.

We begin telling one another what had happened and were all relieved! Courtney had two Charley horses from swimming without fins and decided to go in. Tiffany and I decided to head to the turtle cleaning station when Tiffany reached for her mask and found nothing. It had fallen off in the commotion and none of us had noticed. It was in the water somewhere. I swim quickly after Courtney to get David's mask so Tiffany and I could look for her mask. Courtney informed me that she could not make it to shore without a mask on account of her Charley horse and I should follow her to shore and get the mask. I was confident that the only hope we had of finding Tiffany's mask lied in us working quickly so I swam with Courtney to shore and then sprinted back out to Tiffany with the mask (making my ninth journey through the same bit of ocean).

We looked for about thirty minutes for the mask and found nothing. The whole time Tiffany's face and hands were throbbing on account of her jellyfish sting. We both accepted that her mask had been surrendered to the sea and I (a bit selfishly) asked if we could still swim out and see the turtle cleaning station... I really didn't want our whole trip and the catastrophe that ensued to be for nothing. Tiffany graciously respected her house guest's wishes and swam out with me to the turtle cleaning station. Tiffany was a little ways behind me and then I lost her again, I thought the whole process was about to begin again when all of a sudden she emerged and screamed "Jen, look!" She was holding her snorkel. She had found it on our trek to the turtle cleaning station. We were both ecstatic!!! We celebrated for a minute and then headed out to the station. She said it was a little hard to find but I managed to spot it rather quickly! It was pretty cool to see the turtles being cleaned. I have a video but it is to cloudy for you to really see what is going on. Hopefully the pictures will do it a little bit of justice.


Tiffany and I managed to swim back rather uneventfully and we heading out to Kaena Point. Thankfully by the time we made it back to shore Tiffany's jellyfish sting had started to subside.

Kaena Point is the westernmost point of the island and there is a 2.5 mile trail out to it. We hiked out and still managed to make it to the point before sunset (a minor miracle with the day's earlier events).


We had to walk back in the dark and I was a little worried (again see earlier story) but we made it to the car without a hitch. We were all exhausted and celebrated by getting KFC on the way home. I have not been to KFC in about ten years but I have to say their KFC Famous Bowls are not so bad when you are starving!

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.

Surf Sandwich

Wednesday
I was on my own again and decided that Wednesday was a great day to conquer surfing once again... but this time without a teacher. I slept in then headed to Waikiki for lunch with Tiffany before I hit the waves. After lunch I managed to find a parking spot in Waikiki (a minor miracle in and of itself) and rent a board in record time. I was feeling pretty confident as I headed out but it only took a few minutes for me to realize my zeal and instinct a few days earlier had been a classic case of beginners luck and surfing was, in fact, harder than I had hoped. The waves were either huge or non-existent but I did manage to catch a few waves in my hour of board time. The only problem was the beach was so crowded that I had to jump off several times for fear of hitting surfers sitting on their boards down-wave. The last wave was undoubtedly the most significant because another boarder ended up surfing on top of me.... My body was the meat of a surf board sandwich. I was laying on my board ready to pop up as I caught the wave and then all of a sudden I was pinned to my board by another board.... ummmmm.... this was not mentioned in my lesson... what now.... luckily the other boarder was proficient at boarding and he managed to get off of me rather quickly and I got up and rode the rest of the wave in, but it was certainly a interesting ending to my Waikiki surfing experience.

After surfing I met up with Tiffany and David and took them to Yard House for dinner. Sadly we do not have one in Texas, because it was phenomenal. All you fish fans would be happy to know I branched out and ate some local fare. I had Ono and it was fresh and tasty. If you do find a Yard House on the main land, I recommend the (Mac & Cheese)2. Tiffany ordered it and it is quite possibly the best thing I have ever tasted (it was so good, I am not even worried about overplaying it)! David really liked his meal as well but it was shellfishy so I did not partake... But I give the restaurant two very energetic thumbs up.... Find one if you can!!!

I treated them to dinner to thank them for housing, feeding, entertaining and putting up with me for two whole weeks (thanks again by the way Tiff and David... and I know it doesn't even begin to make up for your amazing generosity and hospitality). Never before have I "picked up the tab" for multiple people. I mean I have paid here and there for a friend (normally to repay them for something they had previously purchased for me) but since I have been on a poor students budget as long as I can remember, I have yet to really treat anyone to a substantial meal for any reason. I liked it! It made me feel kinda grown up... and I didn't mind... who knew?!?!

North Shore and More

Monday
Sadly Tiffany had to work on Monday and Wednesday this week so I was left to fend for myself for a few days. I decided to rest and recuperate on Monday and spent most of the day reading. I headed down to the Lagoon for a few hours of snorkeling but didn't do much else. It was actually quite nice to sit around and be lazy. I am so rarely lazy after all. However, after one day I was refreshed and ready to conquer North Shore on Tuesday!

Tuesday
And conquer we did! We started off at the Dole Banana Plantation. They had rainbow trees out front. The bark of the trees is multicolored and lovely so of course I had to include a picture. The plantation was cool but we only spent about 45 minutes there, long enough to see how pineapples grow and to buy some pineapple soft serve. Interesting fact, pineapples take about a year to grow... Who knew?!?!

Afterwards we headed to Papailoa Beach which should be the survivors beach from LOST (if you don't know what LOST is... I am not sure we can be friends anymore...) but instead of seeing the survivors or their camp we were greeted only with construction tape and a barren beach. I would have assumed we were at the wrong beach except Tiffany has been there before and seen the gloriousness. I was horribly shocked and disappointed at the lack of LOST. I am wondering if there is some plot twist in the coming season that would no longer require them to have a "survivor's beach"... Erin, thoughts?!?!

Though my LOST dreams were crushed, I did manage to see several turtles in the water. None of them were beached but they were close. I included a picture even though you can't make out that they are turtles... they are...


After an anticlimactic LOST beach we headed to lunch in Haleiwa (a historic town on the North Shore) for lunch and Matsumoto's famous snow cones. There are chickens everywhere on the island and I really thought a rooster was going to fight me for my meal... I ended up winning out but I have never before been threatened by food for food... The snow cones were wonderful and well worth the line. I can't wait to get another one on my trip! Mine was pina colada, tangerine, and strawberry, which is in my opinion a fantastic combination!


After lunch we went snorkeling at Shark's Cove. The snorkeling was fantastic and diving would be even better. There are several caves that you could explore if you had a tank. I have decided I am going to get scuba certified when I get back home. I want to dive!


To end the day we planned on going to Sunset Beach to (of all things) watch the sunset. When we got there we saw caution tape and a lump on the sand. As we got closer we realized it was a beached monk seal. It sat and sunbathed for a couple hours. Apparently they are relatively rare so I was excited to see one. I asked Tiffany where the other seals were and she said they travel alone (hence the name...). I would not like being a monk seal... Living a solitary life does not seem like fun.


We waited around for the sun to set and as the sun began to draw close to the horizon we realized that it was going to set below the clouds... Crap. Oh well... It was pretty anyway and I have seen two beautiful sunsets since I have been here, but it was ironic.... the sunset on Sunset Beach was not so good.

Dunes

On Sunday we went to Dunes to do
some boogie boarding. I have never boogie boarded, so I was pretty excited... but the waves were INSANE! I don't know much about waves but I have never seen or been in waves so ridiculous. They were literally beating me. David and Tiffany said some of them were between 5-7 feet high... which I can tell you from experience is high! It was an absolute blast but I got tired after about 45 minutes so we moved on to body surfing. Getting out into the ocean was so much easier withouth the board but "surfing" was harder when I actually caught a wave. The ocean flipped me over multiple times every time I caught a wave because I couldn't stay on top of any of the waves. Everything I have tried out here has been so fun but my perfectionism can get the best of me sometimes... I hate that everything is so new to me and I am not amazing at anything. Oh well... I guess I will just have to start going to the beach more often to practice.


After Dunes we headed to Pinky's for lunch but it was closed... Apparently it is only open from 4-6 on Sunday... which amused me greatly. How good does a restaurant have to be to only be open for 2 hours a day... I am determined to find out. Tiffany and I are going to be on that side of the island in a few days and we are going to go back to Pinky's so I can investigate... I will let you know my findings. Since Pinky's was closed we headed to another of Tiffany and David's favorite restaurants for Calzones but sadly the restaurant was closed as well... only this one was closed indefinitely. Tiffany and David were both greatly saddened but I was not really affected because ignorance is bliss. Determined to eat lunch we settled for pizza and a churro from Costco. Not exactly local but it was open and we needed to get groceries on the way back anyway... and I love costco pizza. So yummy! Don't knock it until you try it!!!

So Much To See... So Little Time

Sadly Amber's trip came to an end at 4pm on Saturday. She was here for four glorious, gorgeous and fun-filled days. We did all that we could squeeze in and then some. Haha! She posted about all four days separately if you want more detail, but as always I hope to provide a comical and informative summary...

Wednesday
Amber arrived at 2pm and we headed to Tiffany and David's house to unload her stuff. Since they live on a resort (KoOlina), we spent the afternoon on the beach at one of the Lagoons on the property. It has calm waters and quite a few fish so I thought it would be a great location to take Amber snorkeling. We saw lots of fish and a turtle but the water was murky and the pictures didn't turn out very well.


After snorkeling we watched the sun set on the beach and then headed to the resort for dinner. It was quite good and made for a great start to her trip.


Thursday
We rode TheBoat into Honolulu and then took a bus to Wikiki for surfing lessons. I was pretty nervous about surfing but I loved every second of it and I didn't even lose a contact! I had a 12 foot surf board so getting up was not much of a problem. I even managed to get up twice on my own without the instructor! I hope to surf again before I leave. I got a rash on both of my elbows though from paddling out. Now I get why all those people were wearing long sleeved surf shirts.


Friday
Amber has a great description of our quest for lunch that I will not repeat... Check out her blog for the details, but our long story ended in Taco Bell... which is never good...


We headed to the Polynesian Culture Center and learned some pretty cool stuff about the Polynesian culture. The center is run by Brigham Young University of Hawaii and the proceeds of the Culture Center go towards the education of the student workers. It is pretty cool to think I was a small part of someone who otherwise might not have been able to go to college getting an education. We were only freaked out once when a lady asked us if we "wanted to go on the temple tour." We (hopefully) respectfully declined.... We joked about saying "we love Jesus" but I was fairly confident that would not have gone over well. After a day of cultural education we went to a luau and then saw the Horizons show, which was fantastic! It is what the PCC is known for and well worth its notoriety.


Saturday
I decided to put my extensive hiking skills to good use and to take Amber on the Judd Memorial Trail. I had hiked all of twice in my life before traveling to Hawaii, so I was fully confident we would dominate the trail... Yeah... Not so much. I talked to Tiffany and Courtney for about thirty minutes on Friday night and felt fairly confident I could get us to the trail without a problem... After that I was not so confident. Courtney warned us that the trail gets kinda confusing so we went in ready to beat the tricky trail. We failed! We hiked for about an hour and despite our three maps describing the trail... we were not where we needed to be. Once the trail we had been following ended and we decided to cut our losses and head home...


As soon as we headed back across the river to head back up to our car we saw a woman walking with her dog below us... We decided to go check out where she was coming from and saw the trail head... Crap! No wonder we were lost. We weren't on the right trail.


We decided to go on the actual (and clearly marked) trail. Sadly we made the same mistake later and also fallowed a "trail" that was not marked that headed up the mountain. We were looking for 25 switchbacks (I do actually know what those are, just couldn't find them) that headed up the mountain and instead we were greeted with a steep incline. My calves were still a little soar from my hike on Tuesday and I didn't want to climb the mountain so we headed back down and around the remainder of the trail... Where we saw this...


The entrance to the actual trail up the mountain... Crap again! I am no longer assuming the worst. Tricky does not mean "unmarked"... Got it! At least it was an adventure!

After hiking we headed back to Tiffany and David's and Amber got ready and finished packing and I took her to the airport :(. As I dropped Amber off at the airport, I picked up Kameron (a friend from law school) and her sister Walker. They had a 9 hour layover in Oahu on their way to Kauai. We went to Pearl Harbor and then ate dinner in Wikiki. It was good to see Kameron and commiserate about the brutality of the Bar Exam.