North Shore Days 9-12

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We felt like we'd been all day at Pearl Harbour since we'd arrived there so early, but in fact it was only a little after midday by the time we got on the road and headed to North Shore. This is the place for more amazing beaches where people come to surf some of the biggest waves in the world. There is also not much by way of accommodation up here, apart from Turtle Bay resort, which is amazing but very expensive. I'd googled some hostels in hope we could get booked into one, but I was a bit put off by the bad reviews of the closest one near Haliewa. I'd read it was dirty, staff were rude and unhelpful, and it was noisy with people coming and going all the time. I'd found another one called Sharks Cove Rentals which was a bit further on but the website didn't give prices and when I emailed I had no reply, so we decided to head there to see for ourselves.

The drive was beautiful, and we stopped at one of the beaches to watch the surfing and spotted another turtle bobbing about in the waves, which were really powerful.

Continuing the drive we found the rental place and pulled up to see if we could get a room. No one was around to ask but there was a phone number to call so we tried that and only got an answer phone.

We ummed and ahhed about what to do, and decided to call back and leave a message. Luckily someone picked up this time and great news for us, rooms were available. All we had to do was give our card details and he (John) would talk us through where to get the keys and find the room. We weren't particularly happy with this, as we had no idea who we'd be giving our card details to, plus we hadn't even seen the room yet. To cut a very long story, he eventually relented and we made our way around the back where we met a guy called Chris (more of him later) where he showed us a few rooms (by now it was a 4 way conversation as John was insistent on staying on the phone. )There were 5 rooms in the front beach house, and then a few others in the building annex around the back which was more like hostel type of rooms.

He offered us an en suite room for $120 plus tax per night or one with a balcony for $135. To be honest it was a little more than we wanted to pay, but after a further song and dance we got him down to $100 including tax for a double room with shared bathroom (we were the only ones in the house so we had the bathroom to ourselves anyway) and we paid our 2 nights cash to Chris so we didn't have to give card details as well.

We were quite happy with the place which was roomy and clean with air con, plus there was only us two in the whole front house, I couldn't understand it, the place should have been fully booked, it was in an amazing location, with the supermarket a 2 minute walk, a beach grill next door and the best beaches in the world across the road. To me it seemed like John the owner was either too greedy as there seemed to be no set price for the rooms, everything was a negotiation, and it really didn't seem managed at all i.e. no one there to meet you, show you round etc. it was all a bit cobbled together really and as I kept saying to Daryl, I think he's really missed a trick with this place as it was so nice and a great location, it really should have been fully booked, but hey, it was nice for us to have the place to ourselves. Parking didn't cost us any extra and it was secure enough behind the gates of the property so that was another good plus.

We ditched our bags and headed straight across the road to the beach. The holiday home had snorkels you could just help yourself to, so we used these and had a great couple of hours on the beach snorkelling the little cove that was packed with so many tropical fish, it was like being in a tank. It was a bit rocky to get to it and Daryl snagged his foot which is still playing him up a bit now.

We went for food at Sharks Cove Grill which was a little roadside place just by the beach house, and ordered some beef and chicken skewers with rice. They were good, and we ate here most of the time during our stay in North Shore, and the guy here was really nice, giving us a map and telling us about the area. (He reminded me a bit of Forrest Gump)

We picked up some beers, and sat on the front porch to watch the sunset, it was a lovely evening, but not long before our peace was disturbed by Chris (the guy who showed us the rooms earlier).



He plonked himself down and started chatting, and showed no signs of moving anytime soon. He also reminded me of Forrest Gump, but in the part where he's been running for years and has a big beard and really long hair. We learned Chris was from Boston and had been here doing odd jobs for a few weeks, pleasant enough but seemed like a bit of a layabout. Daryl started to hint about going inside to have food, when another couple came through the gate and started chatting to us too. They seemed really nice and with Chris parked up on the porch, I asked these two if they would like to join us too. Jane and Henry were a retired couple from Canada, who basically just spend their time travelling. Next stop for them was a cruise to Australia to see family and then maybe spend 4 months there. Jane was the first person to say she hated London, but loved Wales and was telling us all about her recent trip around the Gower and to West Wales, walking Pen Y Fan-she was mad for everything Welsh! They told us all about their families and grand children and tales of their travels, they really were just such an interesting couple, and really lovely too. They gave Chris some stick for his past Greenpeace job, and shared some healthy banter the way Canadians and Americans do, and we spent the night on the porch having beers and just enjoying the evening. We swapped email addresses and she promised to let us know when she was next visiting Wales. We told her to come to Jans Van for some proper Welsh hospitality, and as they were leaving for Australia the next day, parted with wishes of safe travels, and Cymru am byth!



The next day we went to Turtle bay beach where it started to rain as we arrived! WHAAAAAT? we figured you can't get anymore wet than to be in the sea, so dived in and waited for the clouds to pass, which thankfully they soon did. We spent a couple of hours lazing here and watching the paddle boarders, before heading to a beach with some waves.

Pipeline is the grandaddy of surfing beaches and the waves here were just out of this world. They had red flags up and no swimming signs, so we just paddled about at the shore. Daryl was wiped clean off his feet as one came crashing in, it was so powerful. The surfing looked the biz here, and apparently it's where the world surfing competitions are held in winter when the surf is at it's best. We didn't realise until later that a few people have died here on these waves, such is their power. Daryl was starting to look a bit red, despite constantly topping up the factor 30, so we decided to get out of the sun and head into Haliewa town.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banzai_Pipeline

We had a mooch around some shops and cafés and had some food, before heading back to the house for a chill out. Like clockwork, Chris parked his arse on the porch for sunset, but we planned to go to the grill for food so didn't get too involved in conversation with him tonight. By now a family had arrived to occupy the upstairs room, so we had a quick chat with them when we got back from the grill. We just chilled out in the evening of what was meant to be our last night in northshore, but we liked the place and it's convenience, so we rang John and arranged to stay on for an extra night. Also as the car had to be back on the Thursday we looked at hostels in Waikiki for the Thursday night. I was slightly concerned that most were fully booked on ten travelling websites, and also if you booked online it had to be a minimum 2-3 nights stay, when we only wanted one. Also that meant having to go into the hostels to see if they had availability when we just turned up. We didn't fancy trawling around the most populated city in the Hawaiian Islands when we had to get the hire car back to Honolulu airport for 3pm.

I got on good old Expedia and managed to find a great deal on a hotel in Waikiki-£60 a night which is probably what we'd have paid for a private room hostel, and even though it was only a 2 star, it seemed to be a good location and a steal seeing as most hotels start at £120 a night minimum (plus a $30 resort tax per day) with our accommodation sorted for the rest of our stay, we relaxed and planned our day trip tomorrow to the East Coast of Oahu which we were to find has some of the best landscape and beaches in the world.

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