A DAY AT THE NORTH SHORE

How d’ya like my coconuts?

If beaches aren’t of interest, then don’t bother. We did one thing today. We went to the north shore and sat on the beach and watched the sorta big waves.

We should be going tomorrow, and I may still go, even if John doesn’t. Tonight is a full moon, which means the waves will be really big tomorrow, and because of some other weather anomalies, they will be REALLY big. As in GIANTS. So they may hold the Big Eddie, which is a surf contest named after a much beloved surfer who died rescuing someone else.

But we went today, because we had already rented the car, and the sun was shining.

The waves were big enough at the north shore, but when we heard surfers talking about them, they thought they were lousy. Also, the water is very dirty because of recent rains which sent tons of dirt, and depending where you are on the island, stuff from a land fill and/or raw sewage. It’s quite the political scandal about the landfill, since there was a lot of medical waste in it. Anyway, the water is brown. So not as beautiful as usual.

Once again, we got up before dawn so we could pick up the car by 8 a.m. We, of course, had left our Hawaii map in Sacramento, where it would be most useful, and made a big mistake within five miles of Honolulu, which caused us to get into a big argument and which was essentially settled by stopping for breakfast, because certain people get peevish when they are peckish, and buying a better map than the car rental people gave us. Actually a better map than the one we have at home, too.

We of course stopped at the Dole plantation and had a dish of Dole Whip (which is better than the stuff they sell at the International Market) and bought a dish of pineapple to take to the beach.
We did the same thing on the way back.


The following (I hope, since I never know exactly where the pictures will end up) are just random pictures of surfers and the beach. The dejected looking guy is carrying his broken surfboard, which says something about being a winner. By the way, if you click on the pictures, they come up full size.






Also on the way back, we stopped at a place Zoe and I discovered just outside of Haleiwa. It’s yet another bus posing as a restaurant. Seating outside, with a friendly miniature collie walking around and some really good-looking chickens and chicklets wandering around as well. An especially handcome rooster. Looking across the street, you can see the ocean, and the food is really good. I had an ahi sandwich that was so succulent and had such a nice, garlicky sauce that I almost threw myself in the ocean and said goodbye to the world because it couldn’t get any better. John had a teriyaki chicken sandwich, which seemed a bit rude considering all the chickens walking around. It was good too, but not in the class with my ahi.


I haven't had enough time to actually go to a spa, but I did get a Hawaiian manicure.
Tonight I’m sitting on my balcony as I write this,looking down at the very expensive shopping on Kalakaua Avenue, feeling the soft island breezes (it’s about 72 outside) and having a glass of wine. What more could you ask of a day?

I just discovered an important piece of information. The Big Eddie takes place at DAWN if it happens at all. That settled my decision. I'm not getting up at dawn for anybody. The bus leaves from Ala Moana at 5 a.m., and I'm not even sure the buses going from Waikiki to Ala Moana even start that early. It's only a couple of miles, so it wouldn't kill me to walk, but did I mention I'd have to be there at 5 a.m.? Also on the news tonight, it's looking less promising for the big waves anyway.