The other day I decided to take a walk on Tantalus drive.  I was taking photos for a brochure of a road that went through a tropical rainforest.    So, I put a bottle of water in my day pack, along with a poncho and camera stuff and set out.  It was a ten mile walk, which was do-able in a day.  

So, I hopped on the bus which took me to the border of the residential part of the drive to the outskirts and started the trek.  

Here are some photos.  
I missed a couple shots of kids on longboard skateboards screaming down the road.  It looked awesome fun.     And to prove what a small island this is... when I went to the Bike Factory store on Cooke street, one of the kids working there recognized me from my walk.  He was one of the kids on the skateboards who waved as they sped by in a blur.  I was there to get some stuff for a camera I want to attach to a kite and honestly looked at their skateboard selection with wistful eyes.  

Yesterday, I went snorkeling with some dolphins and then filmed some folks from Mexican soap operas surfing in Wakiki.  I'll post some video as soon as the computer finishes doing some of its mumbo jumbo magic.     Oh, and I bought some ingredients to make some chocolate chip cookies from scratch.  

Besides baking a batch of cookies this weekend.  I'm thinking of just going to the beach and filming waves crashing against rocks.  I'm thinking it would be nifty to just put them on the flat screen in your living room and pretend it's a big window.  Heck, put curtains on either side or even open venetian blinds in front of the screen to make it more windowy.   No, windowy isn't a word.   This would give me an excuse to sit on the beach for a few hours and just enjoy the moment.

Thanks for checking in.  Hope life is wonderful in your neck of the woods.

Chet

Wiamea Beach Jump

This past Saturday I decided to go to the North Shore.   And if I had a car that would be no big deal.  Jump in, drive a few miles, find parking and viola!   But I don't.  So I did the next best thing...I took "The Bus".     Let me just say that "The Bus" restores one's faith in humanity and public transportation.   It is, without a doubt, one of the best deals on the island of Oahu.  But I digress.....

The reason for going to the North Shore was to take some photos of people jumping off a rock into the sea.   Which could be fun and exciting or really really dangerous.  And honestly, this isn't about flinging oneself into the air and crashing into the surf below...nope it's about people.  

You see, I climbed to the top of the rock, camera gear in tow, to get a shot from the top looking down as the diver dove off the rock.   This is when I noticed a young college aged kid, who had had more than a few beers ready himself to jump off.   He wasn't a local kid as evidenced by his freshly sunburned skin and shock of red hair.  The locals knew that trying to persuade him that jumping might not be the best choice, wasn't the best option.  Heck, he'd probably kill himself trying to climb off the rock.   So, instead they showed him the safest place to jump from...and more importantly many of them jumped in the water and formed a ring of safety for the guy to jump into.  So, the kid jumped and the kids in the water down below made sure he made it to the surface and then...stayed with him until he made it safe to shore.   They didn't know him.  They'd only just met him.  In an instant all the talk about everyone being related in Hawaii wasn't just a marketing slogan.  It was real.  Which is pretty cool.  So, I'd like to say thanks to those kids.   What you did was awesome.  

Cultural Shock...sort of

Aloha from Hawaii.  Well, there, I said it.  Aloha. 
Before moving here some three months ago all I knew about Hawaii was shaped by watching TV in my youth and seeing trips to Hawaii given away on TV game shows to desperate housewives and their overweight mates.   They would have a chance to win what was behind door number three and the game show gal (who had perfected what I adoringly call the "refrigerator flourish") would be dressed up in either a bikini, sarong, or hula outfit.  The soundtrack, besides the ooooohs and aaaaahs of the audience would always feature island mood slide guitar music.   So, I was somewhat amused to realize upon arriving in Hawaii that is was all true...and that Hawaii was caught in sort of a cultural timewarp (coming from California, the birthplace of trends of the week, this took me by surprise). 

So, what is this blog going to be about?   Well, who knows.  I will attempt to make it somewhat amusing (at least to myself), informative, and worth at least a passing glance.  So here goes: