The North Shore

We finally get our car and leave Waikiki beach . It’s not that we didn’t like the place but we just got sick of it . I personally was sick of the queues and the reservations that was needed to eat out . I was sick of the Griswalds that were here in abundance . You know the type . The families in their cheap Hawaiian shirts , cargo pants and sandals . They were awkward, rotund , pale and sort of just got in the way . Asking if I was ‘ in a line ‘ ? Me thinking ….. “ No , I’m just coincidentally in single file , 20 person deep , outside of a coffee shop “ . Don’t worry they didn’t bother that much . In fact I found it entertaining . And good on them , for getting out and going on a real holiday……it’s just …there was a lot of them .

It took us just 45 minutes to hit the famous North Shore . Driving is done at an easy pace on Oahu . The speed limit rarely exceeded 50 miles per hour (80ks ) and in any case the traffic rarely hit 45 miles per hour . There’s no hurry when you’re on Island time . If you were in a hurry there’d be a good chance you’d get pulled over anyway , as the cops patrolled the open stretches . It’s not something you’re used to in LA .

The North shore on Oahu is a polar opposite to the southern metropolis of Honolulu and Waikiki Beach . Haleiwa is the capital and pretty much only town on the Northern beaches of Hawaii . Haleiwa sits on a main road that jaunts its way from a freeway roundabout down to the coastline . The town has a couple of restaurants, some food trucks , old weatherboard shop fronts , a string of surf shops and one grocery store . The joint is bustling with tourists, chickens ,roosters and hens as well . No really , chooks roam wild right throughout the island ., happily coexisting without anyone barely taking any notice . The main strip itself has some footpath , some areas where the road meets some overgrown grass and weeds and just a feel that this place is in no hurry to modernise just for the sake of the constant stream of punters that pass through . I think this gives Haleiwa a charm of its own .

We stayed in Laie . Unfortunately our pre booked accomodation at Turtle Bay Resort was cancelled 2 months before our holiday due to maintenance . With Turtle Bay being the only Resort in The North Shore it meant that all B&Bs and small accomodation was booked out or priced out of reach . We stayed 20 minutes away at The Marriot which was fine but shit it would’ve been nice to be on the North Shore proper .

The Waves ………After doing a bit of homework I decided to leave my surf board at home and hire one instead . It was sort of a mistake . It turned out that after checking several shops that I’d have to take what was available. In my case a 7 foot gun that definitely had its use but not on the waves I intended to surf . A couple of days later we found another shop with heaps of boards and I downgraded to something smaller , I just wish I found it earlier . If it wasn’t for Tex I would’ve hardly got out and surfed on the North Shore . One thing about Tex , he’s not scared in having a crack . It’s a place with a fearsome reputation for powerful waves , world class surfers and intense locals . I was happy to skirt the edges but Tex insisted . So where do we go ? The Mecca itself ; a strip of sand that had several breaks including the infamous pipeline . I had no intention of surfing these waves . I was actually shit scared nervous walking down to the beach . In fact I had to detour to the bathrooms before commencing . We paddle out to a wave called Ehukai which sits right next to Pipe. The sand sits quite high at the shoreline , it’s when you paddle out you think “ shit , this is probably a bit bigger than 3 feet “. Fuck it , there’s no paddling back in now , there’s pride at stake . The large board is a bit stiff and not too manoeuvrable but I catch a few waves with it . Over the next 3 days we surf a few waves along here . The surf is super powerful and larger than what it looked from the shoreline but fortunately nothing like we see in magazines . It probably got up to 6 foot with the occasional bus barging through but usually came through at a solid Californian 4 feet . I actually rode a couple of rights that would of ended up at the end of Pipe proper . Luckily for us the Rottweiler stayed in its kennel . Pipe looked nothing more than a beach break and I was happy for that , although I’d still love to see it work . The last morning we surfed Gas Chambers , which was a big fat hulking wedge . I was fortunate to jag a midsized outside wave that satisfied me just nicely . Tex and myself …… we surfed the North Shore .

Food trucks are synonymous with Hawaii and the North Shore . Shrimps , poke , coffee , Thai , burgers , fish’n’chips , the list goes on . Don’t bother coming here and expecting to go out to a restaurant and having a few drinks with your meal . Whilst it’s possible the choices are limited . Just hit the trucks , eat up the delicious fare and come back to the hotel and sink a few coldies whilst you look through the days photos

The North Shore is an interesting place .I had a mental picture of what I thought it would look like . I had it as more developed , with top end realestate buried in amongst tropical palms and resorts but it is far from it . There is a smattering of million dollar beach front bungalows and that’s all . A couple hundred meters from the beach it’s green paddocks , shacks and not much else . Most of the locals would barely live above the breadline ,but I guess they’re happy .