The Maui Experience

---

January 31, 2007

-Arrive at Edmonton International airport at 5 a.m. - Goodbyes go well. I am sitting in airport with connection (internet) which requires payments. Hell no.
-Flights in Denver and San Francisco are both on time and all works well; yet I almost slept past the flight time of my San Francisco flight cause the seats had no arm rests and was quite comfortable for sleeping.

January 31st, 2007 like 11:40 p.m.

-arrive in Hawaii, Maui meet up with grandparents and get bags except longboard is not here yet but united airlines looks like they are handling everything really well. Ate a wicked meal got a beer and some POG!!

February 1st.

Early morning rain. Woke up had a great breakfast ….well pre breakfast …full guava with cottage cheese and cut up fresh juicy pinnaple..then go on to Freds for a traditional breakfast ..( hot waitress).
Go on to see some sites, get ready (signed up/ mental prep) for surf lessons, which start tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. be there 8:45. Then go on to the Scuba shop and rent boogie board, snorkel mask, flippers, because I am getting these things I get a free snorkel trip sweeet (just talked to david and am problaby going to pay extra 70 dollars and go scuba diving. Go back to hotel, go on comp for a bit then head to da beach. The winds during the past couple of days have been opposite the trade winds (kona winds) and therefore this direction of wind brings in more storms, winds, and waves!! At the beach with flippers, boogie board. Mind, Body, Soul the waves are pounding, I dive into the ocean. It is my first dive and it is nice. Despite the expected bad weather most of day is sunny and reallllly hot. I hit some serious waves and it is wicked. About an hour in I am riding a wave and one of my flippers gets takin right from my foot….AAHHH Good luck finding it….i spend about ½ hr looking with no luck yet I did explore some sweet volcanic rock. Go home eat a serious meal call to get my longboard and go out with Nana to do some site seeing. See yellow tang pool, big beach which is unreal, and (i forget the name) but the most recent volcano to hit maui. Really cool. Go get some sashimi, sushi, go home and have a feast and have a drink (forget what its called) relax, go on comp watch tv, crazy guy water ski jumping over 18 boats, now guy (longboarder) trying to go 100 miles per hr Michael fiker Sherlock (BIKER). Peace I’m out. (surf lessons tomm morn)
Ps. Mom will be happy to know I am eating much veggies, fruit, and umm their packing me full of food.

February 2nd

8:00 get up eat full papaya with cottage cheese, banana, pineapple, blueberry. Wicked. Also ate some porage not bad. Get my stuff ready for surfing and get to lessons at 8:45 for 9:00 class. Do on land lesson (only instruction I get lol). Go out and have a wicked time during class clouds empty and sun is shinin. I am surfing and I see a turtle woo woo. Surf a bit longer and miss ride home and walk….and it was great. Come in eat see nana and granddad and gonna head back out surfing and going to longboard there. Longboard back to surfing and head out. Have a lot more fun and when to tired to do any more I head in. I have brought my longboard and when I get in I start talking to the instructors and people who work at the surf shop about my longboard and surfing. End up having a servasa and relaxing in the sun. Nana picks me up and we head home for something to eat. After I eat I go out longboarding again. Am longboarding around and meet up with some kids living in Hawaii. One kid has just come her from los Angeles (Jess) and I talk with him a while hockey and then go on to Alexander’s to have fish and chips; mahi. It was great. I start longboarding back home and see that its almost time for sun set so I stop and get my camera out. I take some amazing pics and it is a real show. I longboard back home and (hockey) and chill and watch some tv and comp it.

Feb 3rd

Get up eat a great meal…egg’s benedict and bacon and tomatoes, spinach, tomatoes, pineapple, grapes …really good. Now we are going to hookipa and Mama’s Fish house so should be great. Mama’s was as usual the best and at hookipa there was a quicksilver amateur surfing competition going on which was really cool to watch. I saw some great riders and some really cool surfing. Go back to hotel and relax and go boogie boarding and longboarding.

Feb 4th

Go surfing in the morning and have a great time. The waves are smaller yet it is very good as I am learning foot placement and movement on the board. I am surfing a 11 foot as a bit bigger board makes it easer to ride the smaller waves. It is so much fun and I am starting to get the hang of it. I longboard for a bit longer and then head home to watch the super bowl. I fall asleep half way through then go to church with Nana. It isn’t to bad except there is 10+ baptisms. I come home and eat and relax.

Feb. 5th

Today I we go for breakfast and it is really good. Then I go on the snorkel/ scuba trip which I got when renting the boogie board, flippers, and snorkel. I have never done scuba diving and it is an interesting experience. It is sweet cause the lesson time is only 15 min and all done on the way to the scuba location. We get in the water do some tests and we dive down. It is pretty cool being under the water for an extended period of time and being able to breath!! I think the only way I could take scuba is if I have a nice wetsuit and an extremely comfortable mask….essential. We see a huge eel, some bright yellow tangs, a masher pufferfish, and an octopus which inks us. My ears are a little irritated yet I maybe could deal with this. We finish the tour a little early and during this time in Maui there are tons of Whales out to watch. It is great. We see a whale blow and we head over in that direction. By law one must stay at least 100 feet (or yards I forget) away from the whales in order to protect them from getting hit by the prop. So about 100 feet away from the whale we cut the motor and coast in. Seconds after a whale surfaces less than 20 feet from our boat. It is quite spectacular and this is by far the closest I have ever been to one of these beasts. It is quite a spectacular experience and there are 3 other whales that come to join this whale close to us. Along with the whales a group of about half a dozen dolphins are tagging along with the whales. They are curious of the boat and enjoy swimming around the boat and putting on quite a show. The whales seem to swim around our boat, go under and swim away a bit then head back in our direction. We stay floating for about half an hr as the whales never go far enough to start the motor. These are massive animals and they put on a great show. I get substantial photo action and then we head back to the land. I go home go longboarding for a while then come back to the hotel to chill.

Feb. 6th

Today I have decided to get up early and (6:00am) to catch some killer waves. Today is unreal and I am finally getting the hang of it and am able to catch some masher waves and ride them for all there worth. I can speed up, slow down and point in the correct angle. It was really wicked. After surfing until I cannot move my arms anymore nana and granddad pick me up and we head to get lunch at this Chinese restaurant and the food is unreal. No single dish stands out as they all complement each other. We get some deep fried shrimp wontons which are really great then some amazing fish (Granddad’s favorite, I forget what its called.) and Nana gets the duck which is great as well. I get a spicy beef dish and a sticky rice cube(the ones with meat and sticky rice like at dim sum) All are stunning and I pack myself. Afterwards I we go home and I go longboarding and swimming.

Feb. 7th

Today we get up and head to this good restaurant I get this pig kahuna dish like a Mexican dish (sort of pie like, almost looks like a cake dessert) It is wicked and Nana gets the baby back ribs which are tender and delicious. Grandad gets the crab pizza ( forget the name umm….bollie or bunani or boganini) anyhow personal pizza size which is tasty as well. Afterwards we head up to high country which is in the mountainous part of Maui. It is completely different from the beach part of Maui. There are farms, grand forests of eucalyptus trees, and then it moves in to a type of fern or evergreen tree. It all looks pretty cool and smells nice. There are many different flowers growing and Nana points them all out. There are some cool looking orange, tangerine, and grapefruit trees as well. Nana loves all this stuff and it is pretty interesting. We head back to the hotel and I go longboarding. It is beautiful out. I come back to the hotel and Eat some sashimi and crab and little sausages. Its good. I give Nana and Granddad their cards and gifts. I get Granddad some dark chocolate and Nana her favorite flower the orchid a purplish beauty. They both are delighted with their gifts and I have nailed it. Rest of the night is devoted to packing and getting everything ready. (also manage to book a hostel and whatnot for when I arrive)



Feb. 8th

Today I get up at 6:00. I am sort of tired but Nana is cooking up a great smelling breakfast so I force myself out of bed. I have a great papaya with cottage cheese and pineapple. Then I eat a bacon and egg toast sandwich with some orange juice. It is really good and we depart to the airport 10 to 7. On the way the high road is at a stand still and Granddad works his magic and gets us on the low road which is cruisin. We make it to the airport 2 min to 7:30…perfect. I get my e-tickets organized and say my goodbyes and hug them both. My time in Hawaii was unreal, relaxing and a cultural learning experience. I get to my gate and wait for the flight. It is on time and the flight is done in a flash. I get to the Honolulu airport and get ready for my flight to Oz. Wooo wooo. Everything is on time and looks good to go!! My flight to Australia went really well and we made it before schedule. Hawaiian airlines was an exceptional airline and throughout the flight provided very much food and drink. Upon arriving to Sydney all my bags made it on time which was a relief. The flight arrived at 7ish and I had missed all the shuttle busses. I was forced to take a cab. The cabs here are extremely expensive and it really took a good chunk of money to get to the hostel. When I arrived at the hostel I got my room without a problem and met some fellow travelers. I got settled in to the room and went up to see what they were doing that night. I ended up going to the Coogee Bay Hotel Bar which was much fun. Oh ya when I arrived it was the 9th.

---

Photos

Maui Sunset
great sunset

Maui Sunset
Very big

Hookipa
Quicksilver Comp. Redbull Rescue

Hookipa
Nice Carve

Hookipa
Good spray

Hookipa
slick styles

Hookipa
Another good carve

Hookipa
outlook

Hookipa
Surf Camp

Hookipa
A big wave hitting a big rock

Mama's Fish House
mmmm fish

Mama's Fish House
cool trees