Hawaii time

As my worldly surfing travels continue, I fund myself back in Hawaii. The Big Island to be specific. This particualer trip has coincided with a family vacation of sorts but I hope to fit in some surfing and alot of other water activities along the way. Hopefully at the end of the trip Laird Hamilton would be proud of my Waterman like experiences :)

Our home base is a house across the street from the water in Captain Cook/Haleakela Bay, one of the best snorkeling and dive spots the Big Is. has to offer.

Other than having no windows the house is spacious and well stocked with everything one may need while here. The downside? No windows means hearing everything from the crack of dawn thru till late at night. Think racous wildlife (birds, cats etc.), street traffic, local arguments, music....Good thing I brought earplugs!

Hello little 1 :)Phots and vid for you, and for whom ever else is watching I suppose. I shot a few photos...one from inside the car after I spent the night at the rest stop. I had serious thoughts of bailing on the mission after the snow and cold night, but continued onwards. The road on the mountain pass I "shortcut" thru. I think I'll stick to the coast on the way back :) Some cows along the way, and a tree i thought looked cool. oh, and Snuggie wanted to be in one too :) the video doesn't work :(

Mother Nature, the provider

A lot of people have jumped, or are jumping on, the organic/natural bandwagon, and rightly so. Why would you want to eat food that has things in/on it that are bad for you? It also tastes a hell of a lot better when it's grown, raised or picked by you. Although my egg laying chickens are a things of the past (their little eggs were soooo bright and tasty) there are many other sources of natural healthy food still around. Ask Mother Nature (politely)....and all you have to do is look.

I of course, start in my garden. Right now it's giving me lettuce, spinach, potatoes, rhubarb and the occaisional raspberry or saskatoon berry. As the weather warms it's offerings will only get better.
"That's great, Al, but I don't have a garden" you say. I hear you :) You don't need one, Mother Nature will help you out. Read on...
The last couple weeks here on the coast have been particularly good to me. It started, and continues, with wild berry picking within a few blocks of my house. Salmon berries were first, then huckleberries. Then we expanded our search and ended up in Richmond picking tasty strawberries. Not organic, but sooo much better than the store bought!













My next mission was Crayfish. Yes, that's right Crayfish. I've been thinking about these little guys for a while now but I can't remember when I last saw one. Maybe never? Anyways with a little research and time, guess what? Mother Nature hooked me up :) thanks!



To top it all off my summer mission was to catch a salmon either from the ocean or river. They're chock full of good fats, not to mention flavor. They are, however, very expensive to buy. Off to the waterways I went. It took a few visits and some helpful tips reading books and online forums but here she is. Success!
Hooking and landing this Salmon was amazing and I am truly blessed to be able to live so close to somewhere I can do this. I almost can't believe it happened. It's been probably 15 yrs since I caught a salmon and never in a river. OMG!!
So there you go. I told you she'd provide. You just have to ask, and spend some time looking around :)

Passion part 2

Here is another cool vid from my current favourite Jeremey "passion" Mandongo. It's fun to watch 'cause the 2 of them are having such a good time and also because it sounds so good ! Enjoy :)

Al

So let’s call this a clean up entry. I’m back in Van now but there are still a few photos and bits and pieces worth sharing...so that's what I'll prolly be doing in the next few enties...mostly just posting some photos.

They have sweet bikes in HK. They are the foldable type with the tiniest wheels possible. Not much compared to my massive 26" wheeled mountain bike, but they do the trick getting you around.
They aslo have colorful downtown streets contrasted by drab surrounding buildings. Eye level is color and people everywhere. If you look up it grey and biege buildings for miles.

Post Dreamland it was back to the busy streets of Kuta to finish up some shopping around Poppies 1 and 2 (a couple of tight “streets” in Kuta that are packed with vendors).
After some good bargaining sessions we had procured all of our desired items and headed back to our hotel and off to the airport to make our way back to HK.

Mmmmm, Hong Kong :). Did I mention the duck tongue? Well, as luck would have it, Catherine’s parents arrived back in HK, from a trip to Taipei, on the same day we did, with a full supply of tongue. Attached is a photo for you all to enjoy. We should all be pleased that they do taste, marginally, better than they look.

Along with enjoying the more tasty treats that HK has to offer, I also got time to take a photo of the aforementioned stable of high performance cars that one resident of the building owns. They are all spotless and appear not to have moved, ever. But really there isn’t too much room to let them go in HK so why not keep ‘em in the garage for everyone else in the building to see? To each their own, right?

Bali pt. 3

The last few days in Bali were more or less split between Kuta and a small town on the Bukit Penisula called Bingin/Dreamland. Dreamland is a cool little area only a short drive from Kuta, but the rough road and long flight of steps down to the beach/accomodation area makes it really feel like you've gotten away from it all. Dreamland is essentially a bunch of houses that are built right into the cliffs that overlook prime surfing beaches. You pay at most 25$ a night right down to 5 or so dollars if you're happy sleeping in the open on somebodys deck area. Given that there are no places with A/C, and having spent a night in a room/sauna, the deck option is prolly best as there's a light breeze outside.

The photos are Dreamland and night, and during the day.