Aloha,

I've got a couple things to say today...

Firstly, JAWS IS GOING OFF!! I woke up super early and went down to Pe'ahi by myself to watch the waves. They weren't that big (around 15 feet) but the swell is supposed to get better into tomorrow morning (30+ feet). This swell is all the buzz in the town because it is accompanied by "Kona Winds" which make for perfect surfing conditions over here. Last night I went to Ho'okipa to watch the waves and they were boomin'! There were at least a hundred surfers out there doing their things and ripping those waves! Super amazing to watch, and an incredible way to destress after the workday. I actually bumped into one of the photographers that works here at the Mill, Anna Kim, and she invited me over to have a glass of prosecco with her and her friends over the sunset. Pretty sweet. 

 Hookipa!

Tons of Vog out there made for the most beautiful background. Fade into black... There was so much vog I couldn't even see Haleakala!

If you want to see a really cool short vid of some surfers hitting Ho'okipa last night, click this. Totally worth it. One guy ripped it all the way down!

Anyways, getting to Pe'ahi is a story of itself! The only directions I found to get there online said that it was 'in between mile marker 13-14 off of Hana Highway and through the Sugar Cane'. Those directions obviously did not help me at all, and as everyone hitchhikes here (aside from myself because I am not a crazy person), I saw a hitchhiker and assessed that he was fine to pick up. He was a pretty attractive blonde guy and I thought that maybe he could direct me in the path of Pe'ahi at 7am so I could see Jaws! I was completely determined and after deciding I had wanted to see Jaws more than I thought this strange man could hurt me as a hitchhiker, I thought I was cool. Turns out I was but I probably won't be picking up any more hitchhikers in the future. I watch WAY too much SVU. Anyways, I wasn't really going in his direction for too long but he pointed me in the right path of Pe'ahi. I let him off and entered the sugar cane field. Turns out there is more than one entrance of sugar cane and I ended up driving my Subaru in a giant, scary circle by myself. As I exited (after not finding Jaws...aka not finding the ocean which is actually horrible considering I'm on an island), I saw my hitchhiker and he told me I needed to make a left into the other entrance of the sugar cane. Seriously, who knew? How many entrances/ dirt paths in sugar cane can there be? Anyways, after off roading by myself in the sugar cane jungle, I got down there and saw other cars and realized I was in the right place. Everytime I saw a car pass me, I threw up the shaka in excitement. I must look like a crazy local...throwing up the shaka in a total local Subaru car with a surfer DaKine thing on top. Really, I think I must blend in. So, I excitedly got out of the car and ran to the little bay to watch the waves. They were big, but not SUPER impressive...aka what I was looking for. However, there were eleven surfers out there and I saw one of them hit hit the surf. The guys out there weren't really ripping any waves because apparently they were breaking too close to shore and it would have been crazy dangerous. One interesting thing to note is that because the waves were so big, the sets took a while to come in. It was a few minutes between each set of waves but it seemed so much longer. Well, tomorrow morning the waves should be bigger so I will be down there to watch again! Baby Jaws is going off! Woo! Hopefully I can get a MEGA Jaws in before I leave as well, but if not I now have people I know in Maui and can visit...I hope.

 In between sets...

Baby Jaws! I tried. 

Since I was awake, I decided to head over to Ho'okipa Lookout to see what the waves were looking like over there. INCREDIBLE. 

 My pinky looks broken but I'm throwing out the shaka! Oh, wassssuuup.

A beauty of a morning, that's for certain.

Fun Fact: They have this thing called "Green Harvest" over here which is a little helicopter with policemen that survey the land for people growing marijuana plants. Because medical marijuana is legal over here, people tend to grow more than they are allowed. Also, they say that the conditions over here are perfect for growing marijuana. People put the number they have outside of their building/condo/house/whatever so that when the helicopter comes around they can see that those people are registered to grow marijuana. It's crazy what our tax dollars go towards...Anyways the interesting part of this is that if the cops see you growing too much marijuana, they throw a ladder out of the helicopter and climb down and run away with your plants. FOR REAL. THEY DO THIS. And the helicopters get crazy low. I haven't seen them jump out and do it yet, but I've seen the helicopter. I imagine it would be like a swat team coming to take over. Well. I'll let you all know if I see that happen but apparently there are people that grow acres of marijuana upcountry. Good luck cops. 

Anyways, tomorrow I requested off because Cindy is off! We have plans to go paddle boarding and snorkeling on the South side. Should be so much fun. I actually made a joke and said that we were going to go "bernieboarding". Clarissa, you know what we mean. LOL.


With warmest aloha,
MJ