Lobascher's Trip Extravaganza

MAUI!

I've been here just over a week now and lovin every minute of it!!!

So far most of the holiday has been filled with surf scoping along the north shore of Maui (the home of breaks such as Jaws, Ho'okipa)!! For those who don't know these breaks visit this website (the pic is of Jaws):

http://www.surfit.com.au/surfit/articles/performers/Billabongodyssey/images/Noah.jpg

and you'll get a nice idea of what this island is all about. Now keeping in mind if this starts breaking (in huge swell only) I am definitely not going anywhere near the water!! I'll just sit up on the nice, safe headland and watch other guys get nailed in the 50ft waves!!! Hopefully we should see a sizeable swell come through soon!!

Earlier in the week Lana's brothers were still in Maui so that part of the week was filled with checkin out as many surf spots as possible with the least amount of time wasted! The evening before would be a strategic discussion of logistics in order to cater for as many activities people wished to partake in. So you can imagine how difficult and drawn out this process could be for 9 people (Lana, me, Lana's Dad & step-mum, Uncle, 2 bro's, 2 cousins). The list would usually consist of POSSIBILITIES. So we would have two scenario's: if there was strong wind vs. if there was no wind. If there was no wind the activities would usually be requested by numerous people as follows:

-surfing
-running
-swimming (training)
-eating
-sleepy grassing (explained below)

But if the wind was strong, then the surfing would be shifted to the early morning shift, and windsurfing after 11am (they have a rule in Maui-maybe all of hawaii??? that you aren't allowed to do any windsport activities untill 11am to allow all the snorkellers and swimmers to frolick around - isn't that awesome!!)(Oh and they have designated beaches for the different windsports - so kiteboarding would only be allowed at one bay, while windsurfing is only allowed at Kanaha bay - its like having surfers only at one beach and boogers only at another)

Now to explain "sleepy grassing" (briefly) - Lana has a place in Maui that is on a 2 acre block, with a house up the ack and a fair it of grass in front. The grass is highly susceptible to a (natively Brazillian but was brought to hawaii as an ornamental plant) weed called "sleeping grass" or mimosa pudica meaning "mimic" and "bashful" in Greek or latin. Basically when you touch the little leafy grass it closes up instantly! This makes it hard to poison as the poison needs to land on the leaf. So the only way to get it out (seriously - we've done a lot of research) is to get on your hands and knees and pull out the little buggers at the root!!! So on a daily basis we all go down and "sleepy grass"! It sounds like slave labour - and it sometimes feels like it - but it is so nice to really immerse yourself in Hawaii and the earth and veg...hard to explain - just go out into your backyard and try it.

So now its a bit sad because the boys have left for Sydney as well as Lana's Uncle and cousins, so its left just Lana, me, Roger and Elizabeth - which can make sleepy grassing a much longer process! It has also meant I am now second guessing myself when going out to surf. With the boys around before it was great coz they would be super keen and I would go along with it, but now i'm a little less enthusiastic about paddling out there by myself!! Lana and I paddled out at Ho'okipa today (usually around 10ft, but it was a lot smaller today - probably 3ft) and Lana flipped out coz she saw two giant turtles catching waves and she thought they were coming towards her...so that cut it a bit short. Just as well though - it was getting a bit shallow for my liking too!

We went to Hanu Manu the other day about 2 days before the boys left and it was absolutely off the planet good!!! We have sick video footage of the boys rippin and about one or two of me carvin up head high waves over big boulders! I'll see if I can upload the vid soon!!

Well I've been running quite a bit and thats been all really nice as the air is alot nicer here and the temperature, scenery...EVERYTHING is beautiful!!!
I also went for a sailboard today - and I was absolutely stoked with myself! I must admit I'm a bit of a numptee when it comes to this sport in particular (or any wind sport for that matter) but I did well today I think. Lana is the real star though as she is water starting (almost) and jibing nicely!

Well i'm pretty sure thats all to report. We've been going to some really nice dinners at the local restaurants and eating some beautiful meals and trying new stuff (like Hawaiin fish's like Mahimahi and Ono (i think they called it that coz the fish would yell that as the fishermen would catch them "ONO!!" ha ha)

It really is great here!

Probably write another blog in a week (as it will probably be filled with the same stuff if I did it daily)

However happy to report no injuries yet (apart from Roger cutting the webbing of his right hand between the middle and pointer finger before i got here on a HUGE wave!! and Lana passing out at the hospital as it was getting stitched up - poor diddums's!!)

Love y'all!!!!

humph* (long sigh)

Starting off in Killcare (shit yeah), I had a friggin awesome time with the family around 1.5 hrs north of Sydney!!
Surfed twice everyday without fail and loved every bit of it! Had a hiccup in the middle but was all positive and good!

From here i caught a shuttle bus from up the coast straight to the airport to board a 9 hour plane ride to Honolulu, Hawaii (dirty hair and salty skin to boot!)

All went really well until I had to wait around a n hour on the plane for some dickhead who checked in, bags and all, but never rocked up to the gates!? What a loser!
We made some of the time up mid-flight (must have gone warp-speed or something?!?)
I arrived at honolulu around 7am and caught a connecting flight to Maui (another island of Hawaii).

It is really beautiful here. Maui is a bit different to Honolulu. Those other places are very tourist oriented and sparkly and friendly...here it is a bit more rough and rugged...I LOVE IT!! There are pineapple fileds and cane sugar plantations all over the place! Dirt tracks and paths make for a SICK run in the morning!

The surf has been small since I've been here (small = 10ft in hawaii...seriously its screwed up!). It should get big tomorrow (dead set its supposed to be 30ft with 45 ft sets tomorrow! GNARLY!!!!) I saw Laird Hamilton today (a bloke who was the first to surf HUGE teahupoo (a break in tahiti - heaviest wave ever ridden!). He was just cruising in around 10 ft waves with about 30 other blokes spread out over the bay.

Now I'm doing a bit of work (and clearly procrastinating), but should get out for a surf tomorrow in some of the protected breaks - should still be 6ft+ though! ARRGH!!

Thats all for me atm...should report in every couple of days I guess!

Love y'all

Chris