Julia's Visit - Day 6

It was Thursday and we'd already done the lion's share of activities. One thing left to do was to take surfing lessons, so everyone piled in the car and headed back to Waikiki Beach where it is world-renowned for consistent, slow crumbling surf - perfect for beginners!

WARNING - NO PICTURES... :(
Now I'll warn you now - there aren't any pictures of anyone surfing because of several reasons. First, it is very difficult to surf and take pictures at the same time. Second, we only had one hour as a group, so it was hard to try to surf and take breaks to take pictures. Third, the surfing company wants to sell you pictures taken with their telephoto lens.

After a few pointers from Todd on the beach, we all grabbed out surfboards and started to paddle out about 100 yards off shore. Because we had 5 people, another surf instructor named Ray joined us to help. We all managed to successfully stand up on the board and ride several waves. I must say, I did rather well. I actually stood up and walked the board several times! I got to the point where I actually could steer the board - a good thing because I ran through groups of people several times.

The hour was up all too soon. I look back on it now and remember it was fun, but I think we were all worn out because surfing is 90% paddling and 10% riding the waves. Everyone's arms were tired and sore! Upon our return, the guys on shore really promoted the pictures. Even at $10 per picture, I was willing to get at least one shot of each person for the record, but they did not have a single picture of Julia on the surfboard. Since it was Julia's birthday present, we chose not to get any pictures.

When we got to the car, the girls all had negative things to say about Todd, the surf instructor. They all said he was rude and pushy. Having given us his card (and encouraged Vegas-style tipping), we decided to put the incident behind us - but it was fun to be able to say we'd successfully surfed!

Everyone was dressed in their wet suits and since we'd had really bad luck snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, we headed for the North Shore again to Shark's Cove. Fortunately, it was calm and clear, just as before, so everyone jumped in! The girls took to snorkeling very well, but again Julia set the lead.



They followed a sea turtle out to sea again and spent a lot of time chatting in the middle of the ocean, but they had a lot of fun! The cold water got to them too soon, so they swam back to shore to warm up on the beach. I swam around for a little while longer, but we left soon afterwards. On the way home the girls crashed. Clearly they had been busy ever since they'd been in Hawaii and a day of surfing and snorkeling wiped them out.

But once home, they girls prepped for a night tour in Honolulu and headed out for a night on the town!




DeAnna and I turned in early! We knew we'd need the energy for Friday morning...