BI

What do we do on the Big Island?

 

Eat fruit. (Lilikoi/passionfruit)

 

Go to the beach.

Stand up paddleboard. (No surf.)
 

Chase fish.

We also got to hang out with my good friend Kurt. His website FreeDivePhoto.com is under construction, but it is still worth checking out. He nevers uses any scuba gear. He dove to 70 meters the day that we saw him. And he wins speafishing tournaments.

Heaps of pics.

Heading to the North Shore, we passed this van. The 11 year old that we were with recognized this van from LOST. We had to go on a LOST mission.

We saw them building the set. They wouldn't let us take pictures of everything, but we saw some Dharma barrels and couldn't resist.

And then we saw the houses where "the others" live.

We hit the beach and found some turtles.

 

Then we watched another great sunset in Waikiki.

We got a swim lesson from Marion.

Now we are in Kona. It looks something like this.

 A big Mahalo goes out to the Sampson family for putting us up (and putting up with us) while we were on O'ahu! Thanks guys.

Today.

Jumped off waterfalls.

 

Went to the beach.

 

Saw cool views.

Hiked with friends.

What did you do today?

Made it.

The flights were uneventful. For my 10 hour Sydney - Honolulu flight, my seat was double booked and there were jokes that the guy and I would have to sit on each other's laps. When that mess got figured out I ended up with a whole row to myself. As soon as that seat belt sign was off, I laid myself across the seats and tried to sleep. I arrived in Honolulu and my friend Nguyen picked me up and we surfed.

I grabbed the rental car (sweet talked myself into an upgrade) and bought myself a new pair of slippers.

 Hawai'i in a Jeep, how touristy.

The forecast doesn't look amazing while we are here, but 90% of the time, they are wrong 50% of the time!

Then of course, we hit the beach.

That is the plan for the next few days, beach, beach, beach! On something completely unrelated, there is no high fructose corn syrup in New Zealand. So now we are making a conscious decision to not buy anything with HFCS in it. Hydrogenated oils are out as well.
Now we are staying with out friends Joel and Gina. Here is a picture of them with one of their kids.

Off to the beach!

Almost over.

I leave for Hawai'i in two days. I can't believe it. I can't believe that I have been in New Zealand for 3 1/2 months. I can't believe that I have done so much here.

Another amazing day.

I can't believe that I got a job. Everyting in the news is about how bad the economy is. Everyone is being laid off. People can't keep their homes. Obama is having trouble getting his economic stimulus package passed. I am having a great time. I have had an endless summer since... February 2008 when I was in South America. Looks like that will continue until November 2009.

 I no longer have to beg for rides with strangers.

I have learned lots of Kiwi slang. I have tested my outdoor gear in all kinds of conditions. I can survive with the gear on my back for about a week. I want very little and need even less. That being said, I love coffee shops that offer free wireless internet. I enjoy Starbucks, but not as much as Rachel. I found a new passion, fly fishing. I have amazing friends all over the world. I enjoy reading other people's blogs. The more I think that I know, the more I realize that I know nothing.

 I had a lot of fun learning about NZ wines.

My life is great when I eat a lot. Traveling has made me appreciate good food. If you can't laugh at yourself, life will be miserable.

 

Good food and good friends.

I have been traveling for over a year, but I don't feel like it is coming to an end. I have learned that I love the beach and the ocean. It is difficult to swim with seals, but easy to outrun them on land. Going home to Kona will be my first vacation in a while. I watched "Into the Wild" and "Slumdog Millionaire" recently. I liked them both. SM imressed me more, but one thing that I remember from ITW:

HAPPINESS IS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.

Float day.

We floated down a river with Fishy Steve and had an amazing day yesterday.

 

We had some gear with us.

Steve was a great captain.

 

He is also a great fisherman!
 

Here is some proof.

He showed me where this one was feeding.

 

Then he got this one.

What a great day!

Hare or hare?

Encompassing all aspects of fly fishing, Fishy Steve taught me how to tie a very simple fly. It took a while to get it. I felt like I was doing everything left handed (I am right handed).

We are correcting my mistakes.

Eventually he told me that these would be good ones. And Mojdeh said that this is what she caught her first fish by herself with. The Hare and Copper. Named so because it is made with hare's fur and copper wire.

Hare and Copper number one.

 

All mine.

We sat down for an hour. I made 4 flies and Steve must have made 12. It was a good learning experience and I never have to buy $2 hare and coppers again.

 

All in one night.

Typical USA

This is from FatAmerian.tv

The “Smart Car” isn’t smart; it gets the same fuel efficiency as other economy cars but only seats 2 passengers. When compared to bicycles, all cars tend to look down right idiotic. Where's the logic in working tons of hours to pay for a car to get to work to pay for a car? What’s the sense in driving to the gym to pay a membership to get some exercise?

Move within biking distance to work, sell your car, cancel your gym membership and start living smarter. Increase your quality of life while not contributing to the political, environmental, social calamity created by the world’s dependency on oil.

I agree.

Oops.

Last time I said that we need a guide for the fish to bite. It looks like Fishy Steve taught us a thing or two! This afternoon, we headed out to our favorite river (I am not allowed to disclose its location) for a fish without Steve. In the first ten minutes, Mojdeh hooked and landed the first fish that either of us have ever caught on our own.

Next, it was my turn. A big rainbow smashed my dry fly and I had never seen that before. It was very impressive. I fought him for a while and made every amateur mistake today. I still nearly had him and at the last minute, the line broke and he slowly swam away.

The one that got away.

Don't worry, there is a big fishing adventure planned for tomorrow as well!

It's been a while.

We have been busy. Leaving Picton, we took a ferry to Wellington. It was a nice city, but a city none the less. We spent one night there and took a bus to our favorite north island spot, Lake Taupo. (Pronounced "toe-paw" in Maori). We like to hitchhike, but it is impossible in the cities here. There is not much going on between Wellington and Taupo and we didn't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere. We arrived at a familiar bus station and we walked to a free campground. Last time that we were here, we made friends with the few other campers.
 This time it was packed. It is peak season for foreign travelers and they are here by the boatload. Fishy Steve wouldn't let us camp (there were some shady looking characters) so now we are back at their house.
Arriving in Taupo, we immediately headed out to do the Tongariro Crossing. It is a 17 km walk with heaps of elevation gain.

Here is the profile.

That afternoon (it ended up being an 18 hour day) Steve picked us up and took us fishing. After two months on our own and not getting one bite. We were hooked into fish nearly immediately. Knowing that we are almost as fanatical as he is, we stayed out until it was dark (we had one headlamp between three of us) and fished by feel instead of sight.

After that crazy day, we got up and fished on our own. No luck. It seems like we need a guide for the fish to bite. There is so much to the art of fly fishing that we are constantly learning. So all we do is fish.

Tomorrow is no different. I love my life.