Our first 3 weeks...

From the moment Pierce and I stepped off the plane in Honolulu on New Years Day we have felt welcomed by the island.  It started with Pierce's friend Ron picking us up from the airport and driving us to where we were staying on the North Shore (which is no short drive, over a hour).

Sunset at Keiki Beach

Once we arrived in the North it was straight to Shark's Cove Cafe for ono grinds (good food) before hitting up some of Ron's favorite beach spots.  After a short tour around our new hood, we headed up to where we were staying in Pupukea.

Waimea overlook from Pu'u O Mahuka Heiau State Monument.

Our new and dear friends Chris and Heather were nice enough to let us stay with them for the first 2 weeks of our trip.  This was super gracious, period, even more so since they were in the midst of moving out of state.

Left to right: Gui Alves, Pierce, Dennis Kavanagh and me.

The first weekend we were here Heather and Chris had a joint art show in Waikiki and we tagged along for the ride.  Pierce and I had a great time meeting up with friends on the island, meeting new people and just having an overall good time.

Heather and Chris having fun at the Greenroom show in Waikiki.

Sunset from Chris and Heather's lanai.

While at Chris and Heather's we were fortunate enough to be surrounded by delicious fruit trees.  Each morning Pierce and I would pick tangerines and make fresh juice.  In addition to the juice, we were spoiled with gigantic avocados that made massive amounts of guacamole.

Yard Tiki.

We spent a lot of our time in Pupukea listening to the rain, feeling the winds and just enjoying the indoor/outdoor lifestyle of Hawaii.  Life is calm and glorious when you look out over beautiful trees, plants and scenery.

Horseback ride through Kualoa Ranch.

The day before Chris and Heather shipped off for the mainland the four of us went on a two hour horseback riding tour of Kualoa Ranch.  Neither Pierce or I had been on a horse since we were in elementary school, so I'm glad that we ended up pulling it off without injury.  The views were incredible but our butts were super sore by the end.  That is definitely something that your body gets use to.

Pierce taking some shots of the Wolf Pack (from Oceanside) at the Pyramid Rock Bodysurfing Championship.

This past Saturday we were fortunate enough to be invited to go down to Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Base and watch the Pyramid Rock Bodysurfing Championship.  We had an incredible time cheering on the contestants, making tons of new friends and eating all kinds of new and delicious dishes.

It was hot and sunny down at Pyramid Rock, so we are super thankful for our friends over at Headhunter who supported our trip with some amazing sunscreen.

New friends :)

When the competition was over, that's when the real fun began.  Although we had been up since 5am, we were all super excited to keep the fun going and just hangout together and shoot the shit.  Pierce and I were super stoked to have the opportunity to try opihi straight from the ocean, this in addition to freshly made chicken katsu, lobster stew, grilled shrimp and much, much more.  The best part about the day was finding out that they were going to do it all again this next Saturday at Makaha and we are invited.

Ideas for next blog entry; gigantic waves and Makaha experience.  Stay tuned!!!