Kauai- The Adventure Island

Well just last weekend I got back from one of the best times I have had yet here in Hawaii. Just imagine it. A bunch of college students in Hawaii living out of a Uhaul van, sleeping under park benches and in hammocks under the stars while exploring the one of the most beautiful islands in the Pacific, Kauai. Yes we really lived out of a uhaul van. We were pretty much bums........











Only 19.99 a day plus 70 cents a mile. Still it was a little crowded. hahaha.





But is was well worth it seeing all the beautiful places in Kauai.



The Adventure began with us finding cheap tickets to kauai. They were only 80 bucks round trip. Then we got our boards filled our backpacks and headed for it. Upon arriving in Kauai I could not believe how little people there were there. Its what you image Hawaii to be like. Super green, few people anywhere and a little one strip airport. Kauai has kinda of a hippy feel to it and the people there are very friendly. From the moment of arrival in the small airport I knew it was gonna be a fun trip. After Tony got the Van we all piled in and we were off. Our first Stop....Wailua Falls. It was only about 10 minutes from the airport and was a sight to see. It was like Niagra Falls or something. We walked down where you are not allowed to go.....(no adventure is complete without some rule breaking!) and even walked behind the falls. The power of the falling water was incredible!












Then we headed to a surf spot nearby and got some decent surf. After this we headed to a friends house who lived on Kauai because he was going to make us a BBQ. Sounds pretty normal huh? Well did I mention he lives in an abandoned school bus! SWEET HUH. This is a pic of the interior. It has surround sound a bathroom a kitchen, air conditioning, a flat screen tv....the works. SO cool. After the BBQ we played guitar Hero in his bus!





After our BBQ we headed up to the northern part of the Island and found a spot to camp. I found my home under a park table where I made myself a nice shelter and actually slept pretty well except for the bum who came and sat on the table while I slept. hahaha



The next morning we got up and began our trip down the Na Pali Coast. Some of the most beautiful terrain in the world.










We ended up heading up the jungle Valley in the Picture upbove to the Hanakapiai falls. Word cant describe the place, and the pics don't really do it justice either.














Anyway after this we headed back down towards civilization and found this great hippy/taco place called Shaka Tacos. It was their open mic night so me and a couple of the other guys took a stab at it. We were not great but they clapped and cheered for us. It was fun.






After this we headed to the western side of the island where we camped ad waited for the morning. We woke up and headed up into the mountains to the Waimea Canyon. Let me tell you.....That place was unreal!!!! Its like a mix of Hawaii, The Grand Canyon and Swiss Family Robinson. First stop was the over look at the canyon. It was amazing. So big and so beautiful!





After this we went to the Top of this Giant waterfall that fell into the Canyon below!






The last stop in the canyon was this beautiful x shaped waterfall.






We swam and joked and enjoyed the sunny day. It was like the scene straight out of Swiss family Robinson where the family enjoys the day a the waterfall.









After our amazing Adventure Day at the Waimea Canyon we went back to the small town and stocked up on some food supplies (mainly peanut butter and jelly/ oatmeal cookies) I also found a hammock to sleep in. We then went to sleep and prepared for our final Day. The last day was great. We just hung out on the beach and surfed, cliff jumped, and enjoyed the abundant sunlight!












oh and we found a giant chair on our way back to the airport. hahaha



Sometimes you do things you know you are going to remember forever. My Kauai trip was one of these things. I am so lucky and blest. I hope that all who read this can have adventures like this one and if I can help you do it I will. Enjoy life! Its tough but with some work and sacrifice times like these can be found. It really was the perfect trip!



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MY RIDE!

Having a car in Hawaii completely changes your experience, and to speak like Jack Sparrow from pirates of the Caribbean (he referred to ships I will refer to cars). " a car is more than wheels and windows and doors.....thats what a car needs....but what a car is........is freedom!" Anyway I have had some memorable cars while being here. I bought them cheap and sold them cheap so it has been good for me money wise as well. Here is a brief history of each.



This beauty is one of my all time favorites. Its tough to compete with this wonderful 74 Plymouth Valiant. His name was "Moby" and me and my brother got him for 250 bucks because he didnt have breaks. Still we learned to stop with the e-brake. But being the super studs we are we fixed the breaks and he ran like a dream!




The next car was my first car after coming back. His name was "Willy" and I got him for 250 bucks cause he could not go over 45 (but thats enough to get to the beach and back lol). He was kind of boring at first so we spiced him up with a strip down his sides and a winged W for his name.


After getting busted by the cops for driving Willy with no registration, safety check or insurance I decided to get a car that was legal and a little more pricy. I found this little doll named "Rosy" (for her color) at a used car place in Honolulu. I got her for 800 bucks. However they lied to me and she had overheating problems, but after some tough mechanic work I found a rag stuck in her cooling system and after that. SHE RAN LIKE A DREAM!



AND NOW FOR THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!


MY NEW CAR!!!!
After arriving and scanning craigslist for the best...I found it. My new car. I had to hitchhike about 20 miles to get to the new car. After arriving I haggled them down two hundred and got it for 800 bucks. Still the car was green and just looked a little soccer momish....so with a few friends, spray paint and creativity we fixed that as you can see. We also removed the middle seat to make it more roomy. I still don't have a name for it so I want everyone who reads this to give a suggestion (Some ideas so far have been, Rusty, Vanimal, Chester Molester, The Man Van, Bolt, and others). Anyway armed with this new super van (that is actually legal) I am unrestricted to the adventures I can have. ALOHA!

Why surfing is the greatest thing EVER!!!!!

Have you ever gone to a football game to stare at the field....of course not. However you have probably gone to the ocean to just stare at it. See the thing about surfing that separates it from anything else is simple....its the waves! Waves are unique to surfing. They are beautiful, powerful and can be so fun!





Perfection (I took this pic at rocky point just before we paddled out).

I am so lucky live on North Shore Oahu. It is probably the best seven mile coast of surf in the world. Surfers call it the seven mile miracle. The experience of getting up all excited with friends. Piling in a car with the boards and listen to Bob Marley with the sun and wind in your face is great.




Its always an adventure. Then you arrive at the beach and everyday its different. No surf session is like any other. Nothing beats a day with friends in the sun taking wave after wave in clear warm blue water. Here are a couple highlights of me and my friends (the only disadvantage to this is that I get great shots of my friends but no one ever takes pictures of me! Still most of them are better surfers than me)......



Tony gettin a big drop!



Taylor gettin in the tube!


Tony's brother Mike tucking into a gnarly one



Jordan tucking into the barrel!



Me getting a fun drop



My Brazilian Bud Gabe rippin a big turn.



See surfing is not just about riding waves. Its about the whole experience. Not only that you can surf until you are 80 years old if you want. Its so fun to be out on the waves and see a 5 year drop in alongside a 60 year old who started surfing in the 60's. Still, I cant stand the stupid crap surfing gets. First off so many people get into surfing....not because they want to surf but because they want to be labeled as a "surfer" cause that's cool. Still luckily surfing itself weeds out most tards with this attitude simply because learning it takes a while and its not that fun until you start to get the hang of it. Also snowboarders love to compare snowboarding to surfing. I HATE THIS. They always say "why do you like surfing, you only get up to ride for like 10 seconds". This just proves that they have no idea what surfing is all about and what those ten seconds are like. I will take ten seconds on a clean barreling wave at rocky point over a day of snowboarding. AND I GUARANTEE ANYONE WHO RIGHT NOW DISAGREES WITH THIS IS SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER BEEN ON A CLEAN 10 FOOT BARRELING WAVE. I ALSO GUARANTEE THAT ANYONE WHO HAS WILL AGREE WITH ME. Sorry about that little rant. hahahaha. Anyway Its so great to be back in the waves...I honestly love it and nothing can compare with a beautiful day at the beach with friends and girls riding wonderful waves and being left stoked for the rest of the day.



To try and describe the feeling of surfing is like trying to describe a color in words. You just don't know how good it is until you have done it.

Back to my Island

Well.....I am back! This was not in my original plan but sometimes adjustments to plans are good. And in this case its great. I would like to say that I took so long to write about coming back here because I was lazy.....but probably more honestly I wanted to avoid having to put pictures of me being really white.







See in the summer I posted this pic to my eternal shame... look at my back.... GROSS (I dont even think heavenly garb is that white!) Anyway, it was kinda weird coming back at first. Its weird to be here without the people I was with before. But now......Its fantastic! Basically my life is .....

-Work in the morning
-Class at midday
-Surf in the afternoon
-Homework and Socialize at night (hopefully with girls...hahaha)

It is different not being here in the summer. First, its a lot greener! It is so beautiful, but its also a little rainier and at night can cool down a little bit (to about 67 degrees, yeah I know...not bad for January) Socially, there are more people but its also a little more focused. During the week people are pretty busy, but the weekends are beaches, waterfalls and adventures for everyone! Coming back has been all I had hoped for and more! Now come the new adventures and memories that make this place so special!



LIFE IS GOOD!