Advertisement
Published: September 3rd 2006
Edit Blog Post
The Great Man - Mike Stewart
Nine time World Champion bodyboarder Mike Stewart gives us a 'shaka' or 'hang loose' gesture "Hi everybody", I hope all is well. I'll pick up where i left off... Having left off in Chicago we flew back to LA for a stopover on our way to the beautiful islands of Hawaii. As we diembarked the plane we were instantly hit by the humidity. This was a welcomed change in climate having had the past 5 or so weeks in near freezing tempretures. We settled in to our room at Waikiki and popped down to supermarket for a six pack. The weather was just right for drinking. I suppose Waikiki to Hawaii is the equivalent of Surfers Paradise to Australia. Tourism is the economic mainstay. It is renowned for its (crowded) beach, longboard surfers, high rise buildings, tourist attractions, shopping malls and bright lights. We thought it would only be right to hire some longboards (Mals) and get our "toes on the nose" or as the locals call it "hang ten". Although it took a few attempts, i eventually made my way up to the front of the board. We also ventured down to the local "International Market", which was very close to our hotel. We found many bargains there and sampled many of the local cuisines.
The Big Kahuna
Duke Kahanamoku (aka The Big Kahuna) - Big Wave surfer and Olympic Swimming Champion Marinated chicken skewers and fried noodles were amongst my favourites. We also tried the local fish which was named Mahi Mahi. Michelle and Steph went on a dinner cruise the previous night and were told that Mahi Mahi was some kind of Dolphin. I almost threw up when i heard this. It is not until now that i read that it is not Dolphin, rather "Dolphin Fish", which is no relation to "Flipper". We hired kayaks and went on a snokelling adventure in the open ocean. First stop was 'Flat Island' which took around 40 minutes to kayak. There was quite a strong current and head wind which made you feel every muscle working with each paddle. After sitting down for lunch, we jumped back on the kayaks and headed to another beach where we spent the rest of the day snorkeling. The snorkelling here is world renowned, however we must have got a rough day because the water was pretty murky. The upside however is that the fish were plentiful. Paddling back was much easier and only took us 15 or so minutes to get back. We hired a car and drove around the island of Oahu. We stopped
Pipeline
Pipeline - One of the most reknowned reef breaks in the world. 'It's death on a stick out there'. at Pearl Harbour which included the USS Arizona Memorial and the Battleship Missouri. History (and art) usually bore the crap out of me but this was very educational, i suppose it is a little easier to comprehend when you are there. That day we also drove up to North Shore which is the mecca for big wave surfing. We visited Waiamea Bay, Sunset Beach and Pipeline. Fortunately enough Pipeline were holding their annual Pipeline Pro Bodyboarding Championship. We missed the surfng comp by a few weeks, nevertheless, i used to follow bodyboarding immensely as a youngster and to be able to see these guys perform in a 8-10 foot swell was far beyond the amazement of looking at pictures in a surf mag or flick. We enjoyed North Shore so much that Baz, Mel and I hired a little 4 wheel drive (similar to a suzuki swift) and spent the next three days up there. North Shore is a contrast to the south (Waikiki) as it is much more beautiful, and the way of life is much simpler than the high rise infestation to the south. This is the type of thing i wanted to see. To have the bodyboarding
North Shore Apartment
Not a bad view from our apartment up on the north shore. on was just a bonus. We couldn't find much accommodation around the North Shore area so we just pulled into, what we thought was a hotel, but turned out to be condos. The manager said that they don't usually rent them out on a nightly basis but accepted our plea to stay a few nights. The view from the balcony looked right over the ocean, and the price was cheaper than that of a hotel at Waikiki. As they were private apartments, they were fully furnished. The cupboard in my room contained some fishing gear, so i went down to the local hardware store, bought some tackle and bait and off i went. That was my afternoon taken care of! Didn't really get much but as they say "a bad day fishing is better than i good day at work" (especially when you're in Hawaii). On that note, it is almost killing me not being able to jump in the boat, and get stuck into those snapper. Hope you are getting stuck into them Shane. (PS, drop some off at mum and dad's if you have a good session). We basically went down to Pipeline everyday to watch the contest.
Waikiki
Waikiki at Sunset As it turns out a young Aussie named Damien King won the final (after a re-count of the scores). At pipeline I also got to meet and have my photo taken with Mike Stewart who is to bodyboarding the equivalent of what Eddie Aikau or Kelly Slater is to the surfing world. That was great. He is a very down to earth bloke, given his high profile. He was saying how fantastic Australia is. On the Monday, we took a trip down to Hanauma Bay which is one of the more popular tourist attractions on the Island, and when we got there we could see why. Hanauma Bay is extraordinarily beautiful and deserving of its fame. Its setting, shallow waters, calm conditions and rainbows of sea life were the result of a collapsed volcanic crater. This made for a perfect day of snorkelling. The beach is limited to the number of people able to visit each day so it doesn't become overcrowded. You actually have to view a 10 minute video before they let you down to the beach! At one stage i was swimming all alone with a sea turtle before it decided to dive into an underwater cave.
Sea Turtle
He wasn't that easy to find, but i followed him around for ages... Don't think i had the guts (or the equipment) to follow it in. The last few days were spent back in Waikiki were we continued to shop or just lazing by the hotel pool. Oh and had a few more surfs at Waikiki. I was getting quite good on the longboard. We eventually made it to London after an initial stopover in LA. Some of you might be wondering why we went from the east coast to the west back to the east and then back to the west over to London? Well its a long story and this email is long enough, but that's just the way it happened. We have checked in with Schona and Beth in their one bedroom apartment at Canary Wharf. It is a one bedroom apartment and five people is very overcrowded. Mel and Baz have the floor and i have the couch. The past week has been spent with recruitment agencies and real estate agents, trying to find a place to live and work. We have found a nice little 2 bedroom apartment on the London Docklands, just south of Canary Wharf and about 5 minutes from Schona's joint. We are just getting
reference checks etc done for that. As for employment, well i have been offered a position as a Development Control Officer at Newham Borough Council. It was the first interview i went to (the morning after Australia Day celebrations), but they offered me the position later that day. I seem to do my best work hung over... I will more than likely accept as it is not too far from home and the money is decent for the position. After a few months i may search for something more lucrative. The borough i am going to work for is heavily involved in developments for the Olympics so that should keep me busy. The only downside of the job is that everyone i have spoken to advises me that East Ham is a bit of a dodgy area and that i should hold onto my valuables. Oh well, i'll give it a go. Yes Nicole... I'll be careful! As far recruitment agencies, well as schona says, they are just "glorified salesmen" trying to make as much money for doing, well, not a lot! Did you happen to see on the news, the whale that swam up the Thames? Aparently it didn't make it back. As for future adventures, We have already planned our first trip for the Easter weekend. We are going snowboarding upto the French Alps. Return flights to Grenoble have only cost us 60 squid! Not bad. Looking forward to that. Many other adventures to be planned include Amsterdam, Belgium, Spain, Scotland and Ireland. Anyway look forward to hearing from all of you again. I have attached some photos but will set up a web page with others soon. Any specific requests, just email me... Nick
Advertisement
Tot: 0.148s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0385s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb