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Hawai'i May 2015

21.

02.05 – 13.05.2015

Hawai'i, O'ahu

Only two weeks for one of the Hawaiian islands is way to short, since we are used to having month and month to explore a new destination. This will be a challenge.

To get to know some locals and in the hope to get some spot tips for surfing and fishing we wrotea whole lot of messages to couchsurfers. After 30 we stopped and finally we got some positive answers: first stay in Haleiwa, at Veronica's place for 2 nights, then to Hau'ula to Dollys place for 2 nights intially but we ended up staying there 5 nights,in between one night on a fishing boat of someone we contacted over facebook and the final night in Ewa Beach at Cassandra's place. 

Since renting a car was kind of expensive but besides hitch-hiking the only way to get around island with lots of luggage (the public bus won't let you in with a big backpack, at least offically not), I looked on craiglist to see if there are some local people renting their car out privately and that's how we found Ed and a great deal for 20 $ a day without further charges.

 

Day 1
Ed picked us up in the middle of the night, and only 5 minutes after we got out of the airport, what a smooth start! Half of me didn't even believe he would show up, I mean who knows? We just talked on the phone once.  

The first very short night we stayed at the cheapest hostel in Waikiki, the Polynesian Beach Hostel, which was with 32 $ for a 6-bed-room dorm still totally overpriced, hence totally dirty...

So we bought a cheap tent at Walmarts for 35 $ and in the evening we were gonna go to the noth-east cost to stay at a campsite, unluckily our car broke down in the middle of the night on a highway. Ed was working and so we ended up beeing towed to a creepy industrial area waiting there for about 3 hours all in all until Ed picked us up and drive to Haleiwa with us, luckily having anouther car there. By the time we arrived it was already way after midnight and we decided to just drove a couple of kilometers to the north-west point and sleep in the car at the end of the road, where there was a parking lot right at the beach, facing the ocean.

 

 

Day 2

To wake up with the first pinkish rays of sunlight, the first sight ater opening the eyes beeing the beach and the ocean, is simply pheanomenal. What a great sunrise, it had something magical, we were in Hawai'i after all, at the only point of the islands coastline non-inhabited by humans, far away from houses. Only rocky beaches and mountains around us and the rough sea. It looked like the currants went around the point like a river, fast and dangerous. Definately not a surfing spot.
Titony started fishing before he could actually open his eyes properly, jumping from lava rock to rock with a speed that made me wonder where he got all that energy from. While I was sitting on one of the big stones shaped like a seat watching the pacific and the colorful sunrise, thinking what a sweet life we have and how lucky to sit here at this moment doing nothing but enjoying nature.

While hiking to the point the sun burned brutally down on us reminding us, that we are not far from the equator. There were about three other fishermen out with their poles on the rocks and Titony talked to every one of them, thinking he might get some tips. But all of them were kind of grumpy and only one, the oldest was really nice and chatted with us forever. 
His name was Douglas, 76 years old and thus seen all of the threatening hurricans, earthquakes and vulcano erruptions in the last half decade. Plus he has also seen how rich in fish Hawaii used to be, how big the fish were the fishermen brought in with their boats and how little compared to the 50 s the catches are today. His last big fish he caught in october last year, so 8 month ago – even though he goes out fishing with his rod almost every day! "Today there are more fishermen than fish on this island", he said, "it is not a good place to fish anymore, not like it used to be 50 years ago!". All the rich people came and bought land and houses, the prices exploded and the people who once lived on this island couldn'T afford it anymore and had to go to the mainland, trying to find a cheaper place to ive and some work. Douglas never wanted and never will leave this beautiful island, when he went on vacation, telling other people where he lives they are struck with awe, telling him how lucky he is to be living in paradise: "You tend to forget that when you see it every day, but it is true, in O'hau you can still find places like paradise".
He showed us some unique fishing techniques that they practice on the island and even had a name for his favorite reel "Stella" which he "loves more than his wife", because when he askes her the question: "Do you want to go fishing?" she always replys "Yes, Yes, Yes!" 

 

 

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