Thursday, my birthday, was our first full day in Hawaii. We had arrived in town (Wakiki) the afternoon prior and had spent the evening gathering provisions and getting our bearings. Thursday we awoke to the bright sunlight outside and went out on the balcony of our condo to have coffee. From there we were going to grab breakfast from the bakery down the street and walk over to Diamond Head for a hike. After polishing off our ham and cheese croissants, we were interrupted by a salesman who was trying to offer us vouchers for free meals to popular local eateries in exchange for going to hear a spcheel about "vacation packages" or something. We knew to be weary of anything he had to say and figured that that was twenty minutes of our vacation that we were never going to get back... but at least the salesman informed us that Diamond Head wasn't open on Thursdays as apparently all Hawaii State Parks are closed on the conivient days of Wednesday and Thursday (go figure). Well... at least we didn't waste an hour walking to the place. Instead, we decided that it was high time that we seek surf.
FINDING SURF
Initially, Sam had found a good surf rental deal online, but when we tried contacting the people... we got no answer and no call back. Thereby, we were considering just having to rent from the folks on the beach. We didn't really want to go that route since we figured those people had the biggest mark-ups, but we also didn't want to spend all of our valuable time walking around. I had suggested that we try to find someone off the main drag as they might have better rental prices, but once again... we were running short on time. So, en route to the beach to be gouged by surfboard rental places, we passed by a window with "surf lessons" painted on it. It wasn't really a store front per-say and to go inside you had to walk up a short set of stairs, but we figured it was worth checking out. And... we're glad we did. We asked some questions about pricing for multiple day rentals and the friendly dudes at the desk didn't really have a set answer... or.... I wasn't happy with the answer they gave us. So, I pulled out the old "well this other guy that we talked to was willing to do this and that for that price...can you do anything like that?" And the two dudes talked it over and finally gave us an offer too good to pass up. As a result, we got two nice 9ft + epoxy boards for two days of all-day surfing for $90 (not too shabby for the tourist hot-spot of Wakiki if you ask me).
We found a nice spot to set our gear out in front of the grand pink Royal Hawaiian hotel and happily paddled our boards all the way out to the "Canoes" surf break. I had a blast. Within no time at all I was catching waves and riding them in and enjoying the warm sun gleaming down upon me. "Wow"....I thought, "what a way to spend my birthday! Here in Hawaii, in my bikini, surfing with my girlfriend and actually catching legit waves"... and then I looked over at Sam, who... in my opinion, did not seem to be enjoying the experience as much as I. In fact, she was getting so frustrated trying and trying to catch wave after wave unsuccessfully, that it was almost painful to watch. Quickly I realized that her frustration took away any good chance I had to gloat about how easy it seemed and how stupidly happy I was. I tried to offer her helpful tips and words of encouragement... but I think they all washed over her shoulders like the slow white frothy waves from New Zealand that we were playing in. From here it was just my role to play supportive girlfriend and keep my mouth shut.
HELLO MISTER!!!
One highlight that I didn't mind sharing with Sam during the Thursday Surfing Ordeal (as I'd like to call it) happened as I was glancing over my shoulder watching for oncoming waves and keeping an eye on Sam. While doing this, I noticed something pop out of the water beside me and looked over to see a giant, pre-historic looking head. My jaw dropped in a stupefied manor... thinking "what the hell..." and then it dawned on me what it was. There, slightly beneath the surface of the water was a giant shell... and inside the massive shell was a friggin huge sea turtle... (probably a yard and half long) and in my mind, just floatin there on the water, like in a Disney cartoon, the turtle popped up to say hello to me. So, I sat there straddling my board with a big grin on my face and kindly waved back to the big guy, thanking him for his birthday wishes before he disappeared under the water again.
DINNER OUT
Later that afternoon there was reading on the beach, sunning oneself (or in my case.... burning.... apparently spray on SPF of 30 needs to be reapplied more often than I thought), more surfing, then more reading and sunning and drinking Corona's by the pool. For dinner, I wore my very most favorite Patagonia morning glory dress because it looks good and it packs like a breeze (sadly it didn't hide my massive sunburn though) and then it was out to see the sunset and set off for the Hula Grill. The Hula Grill was a very nice place, not too stuffy and not too campy either. We grabbed some cocktails at the bar and waited for our table on the balcony overlooking the ocean, to be ready. Sam had a big tall drink called the "backscratcher" which, yes... did come out with a backscratcher, while I resorted to my summertime favorite, the mojito. Our table was excellent, directly overlooking the ocean with nothing else aside from a pine tree and a brightly lit moon in sight, and the food was amazing as well. Both Sam and I got a fish dish and enjoyed them. The waitstaff was friendly and overall, it was an amazing dinner.
From there, Sam and I went back to our condo and drank wine and smoked cigars on the balcony while fireworks exploded in the distance. Overall, it was a good day to turn 31.
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