Well, currently I sit at gate 75 in San Francisco airport at 4 in the morning. I am waiting for my flight which leaves in a couple of hours to Vancouver, Canada. The trip to Canada was very last minute and un expected but I was invited by Rayne and felt that it would be rude to say no, so here I am. I haven't visited Canada since 2009 so I am super excited to go back and check all the stuff I missed last time and re visit all the awesome shit too!

My last week in Hawaii was maybe one of the best. Ethan and I spent a few days discovering the uses of old coconuts. The whole time I had been there we had been looking for the young ones as they have the water and the soft meat in them. When Ethans friend KJ started talking about making oil it prompted the three of us to delve in a bit deeper. Turns out we discovered a side of the coconut that we never knew. We found some really cool abandoned properties around the place and the search for old nuts lead us to places we would never have gone ordinarily. 

As well as this, the weather during the last week was prime. Maybe the best weather since I had arrived. Every day we swam, either in water falls or beaches. The skate park at Hawaii Kai was visited many a time and eating at all the old spots was done.

There isn't much I can say really that will vary from any other post. Hawaii felt like a place that could be called home, which I have really struggled to find up until this point. I am sad to leave but excited for new things and for a return trip to Maui in May. I will miss Ethan and Nellie a lot, but not as much as their room mates cat Gretchen. I feel that I made good friends on the Islands, people who I am eager to see again and I learn't a lot about a lot during my stay.

Mahalos to everyone who made my stay great, look after yourselves and I will catch you soon!

Well, my time in Hawaii is coming to a rapid end. I would stay if I could but seeing as my Visa expires on the second of February, the US Government isn't so keen on me staying... Bastards! At the moment I am just trying to enjoy my last days. O'ahu is getting cold again but it hasn't stopped us from skating or swimming in waterfalls. The other day Ethan, Nellie myself and Ethan's house mate Keiran headed out to some un known destination for a hike and a swim. We trekked along a dirt path for half an hour or so before reaching the bottom of a massive waterfall. It must have scaled 50 meters at least up the cliff wall. It left a deep swim able pond at the bottom which was packed to the brim with tourists and my all time favourite... Screaming, snotty nosed little children! Love em. Slightly disappointed with the end result Ethan ushered us all into the jungle off the side of the walking track. He lead us up steep muddy banks and eventually to the bottom of a banyan tree which scaled it's way up the cliff side. We climbed and climbed until we reached the top of the tree, stepped back off of it onto the cliff edge and then began climbing the next banyan. Eventually we reached the top of the cliff and were perched on the edge of the very top of the waterfall. At the top there was another pool (this one was obviously empty since life and limb was risked to reach it) and then the waterfall continued up another cliff, this one about 25 meters tall. The view was incredible, it showed the whole valley all the way to the ocean. We swam and then had to scram as it began to rain and climbing down 50 meters of wet, slippery tree did not sound like the ideal situation. If you don't know a banyan tree, google it. They are incredible.

We haven't really been doing much in the downhill skating department. We have been riding our regular backyard pool fairly often and I am happy to focus on that for the moment as each session could be my last. I have plans to come back here in May but the problem with pools is they have a tendency to be demolished or filled in. Gotta make it count while it's there. We have been to a couple of skateparks too. 

It's funny, the definition of lazy changes so much depending on where you are. In Finland, if it was snowing like mad or pouring with rain and freezing cold, lazy would mean leaving the house once to get a coffee from down the road and doing nothing but watching movies all day. I feel like I have been lazy over here for the last couple of weeks but thinking about it now, we have been swimming everyday, skating something everyday, hiking almost everyday. I suppose I'm not that slack after all.

Each day, Nellie heads out for a run up Koko head. I wasn't really sure what a Koko head was so I decided to tag along one morning. Turns out, it's a massive mountain which has old train tracks running straight up the side of it. I don't know if they used to mine something from the top but there are concrete bunkers at the peak which I assume are military (they are ruins now) so perhaps the tracks were used to get supplies up. Either way, it's a hell of a climb! Nellie told me about a friend she took up there who literally crapped her pants half way up!! With that image in my mind, we began the climb up. It' hard walking because you can't just walk normally. The train tracks are surrounded by bush on each side so you have to walk on the wooden beams that support the metal tracks. It is almost vertical in some places. Not only that but it was Martin Luther King day which meant every man and his dog (plus wife, mum, 4 kids and the kitchen sink) were trekking up. Taking children up there is dumb. Nothing short of dumb. In one section the tracks turn into a bridge which has a very substantial drop below it. When I say bridge, I mean they built the tracks over a valley so you still have to walk across while balancing on the wooden beams. It was epic. Really cool though and I am happy that I did it. I made it to the top without pooping my pants which was a plus side for sure! If you are ever in Hawaii and you don't have the kids and kitchen sink with you, climb Koko head! 

Whoah, we had a race too. I forgot about it! Race number 5 I think in the Winter Outlaw Series. Death Slalom! Mackenzie Yoshida who is the man behind all these race (there are 6 races every winter) went all out for this one. It was some form of boardercross. Downhill racing, with slalom cones, kicker ramps and obstacles to ollie. I was still sick so I skated a little but didn't enter the race. I got some filming done and snapped some photos though. The hike up to the road took us past a coconut farm which I hadn't seen before. Suffice to say, within seconds Ethan was up a tree followed by two other locals. The race went smoothly, there was loads of time so mess around on the kicker ramps and get used to them. Ethan's mate Poseidon (yes, he is the God of the sea!) was pulling out 360's, finger flips and I suppose you would call it a finger shove it? He was rad anyway. Not much else I can say about the event, it was awesome, Mackenzie did an amazing job, good times were had, people crashed and people did rad stuff. It was a good day!

That's all that I remember for now. Will probably get one more of these in before I leave. It's looking like my plans have changed and I won't be heading back to Europe just yet. Gonna try and extend this skate trip and make 2013 a year of constant adventure. More on that later, we will see if it happens.  

My time in Hawaii is coming to an end. I have roughly 2 weeks left so I am busy trying to capture all of the footage I should have got 2 months ago. We have been skating and the weather has been pretty good. A few showers here and there but usually followed by sun which dries everything out pretty fast. Last week I headed to the local University/college campus and sold almost everything I have in terms of skate gear. I arrived on campus with Kenny at about 8:30am and left around 3pm with $300 in my pocket. Students love wheels! Doesn't help me when I get back to Europe but at least I can eat for the rest of my time here!

Over the last week we have skated pools, parks, hills and driveways. Jumped off of cliffs into amazing water and collected fruit from people's yards and the jungle. Just a normal week on the Island. We had an epic run on the local mountain over the weekend which left me frothing for 2 days. We had a big group of skaters and a large amount of slow moving tourist vehicles. Wheels were shedded, shoes were burnt and cars were passed. Passing a car on a skateboard has got to be one of the most adrenaline filled things you can do in this world. A lump of wood, no engine and small, urethane wheels smoking a machine that was designed for easy speed. Without a doubt the best downhill run I have had since I have been here and all with rad people who I trust in hectic and tight situations. The way the locals ride and know their roads is next level, good enough to skate them in the pitch black with no lights.

At the risk of losing readers, it has been 3 days since I have pooped. Stomach is sore and my body feels like it weighs a ton. It has been holding me back a little but I am convinced that today will be the day! Yesterday we headed out to China walls which is an amazing swimming spot. You stand above the ocean on a rocky cliff and the only way to get down is to jump. The jump isn't so big and the water is insanely deep so there is no risk but it is getting out which is the tricky part. There are wave sets which travel along the side of the cliff you jump off to get in which means you have to be aware of what's happening as you climb up. The rocks are high enough up that you have to use the waves to lift you up to climbing level but, if the wave is to big you risk being swept off the rocks and potentially smashed right into them. A couple of tourist chicks turned up yesterday and didn't hesitate to jump straight in. The first one managed to climb out fine but the second one who, let's say wasn't as ''fit'' as the other one had a lot of trouble. She would be half way up the rocky shelf and be totally engulfed by a wave, she would disappear from view and re appear some 5 to 10 meters down the rock wall spitting out all the salt water she had just taken in. She made it out eventually though. The first time we took Matt, Dane, Amanda and Ollie there (remember they came for a while and then followed us to Maui for the race) Ollie made the mistake of putting his toe in one of the crevices in the rock which are full of sea urchins. He sliced the side of his toe up good so even the photographer didn't leave without injury! Good times!

  

What can I say, the weather has not been on our side as of late. We have been skating most days, parks and pools which, don't get me wrong is soooo much fun. The mountain hasn't been given a chance to dry out though, there is a constant blanket of black cloud covering it's peaks so riding on the long planks has been postponed. The pool is awesome though, I'm getting beyond stoked on pool skating and may have found another one on the googley maps last night! Hawaii is feeling more and more like home everyday and I am trying to figure ways to move here longer term. If any of you folk make fake Green Cards, hook a brother up!

I am officially broke now. Down to my last $20. It happens every trip so I'm kinda used to it. This time around though I'm determined not to borrow any money. This morning I traded a set of wheels for a new pair of VANS so I am now set for shoes, hopefully they last for my final 3 weeks. Heading back to Finland on the 1st of February and looking for work so keep me in mind Finns! Looking for a couch to rest my head on when I first get back too so hit me up if you have one!

That's it, I'm out of news. Pool skating on the mind, I hit coping in the deep end with my wheel yesterday over the light. Next time I will grind that fucker! Skating transition in the park feels strange after riding pools. It's to easy to pick lines and go fast, the transition is perfect along with the surface... Almost to perfect! 

I will come back and write more when I can think of more things...  

Here we go, check out this sketchy run down the mountain. Sometimes you want some grippy wheels!

The title says it all, it's pissing down here! Has been for the last 3 days, non stop. It's depressing. I'm trapped in the the basement under Ethan's house (that's where I sleep) afraid to go outside. I don't like rain... Especially when I am on holiday in Hawaii!!!!

Trying to think what has happened before it started raining. Nellie, Ethan, myself and a mate named Seth headed out to the West side to surf at a beach. Ethan told me ''if I dropped you on the side of the road out there, you would probably disappear...'' That was his way of telling me that it is ghetto out there and that me being a white tourist (howlie) I was likely to be punched in the face if I looked at anyone. I decided not to surf when we arrived as the place was packed out and I'm not the best surfer in the world. Nellie nicked off straight away to go collect shells, Seth and Ethan headed out to the waves and I went in and started ducking under waves. It was shallow with loads of rocks which were sharp. I was having the time of my life frolicking in the waves on my own when I turned around and realised I was miles away fro the shore. I tried to body surf a few waves in but it was so shallow and rocky all I accomplished was smashing my knee on a rock. I tried swimming againt the current and across it but just kept being pulled further and further out. Eventually I was almost out where all the surfers were cued up to catch the waves. Luckily, I spotted Ethan and gave him a wave. He paddled over with a look on his face which asked ''what the hell are you doing all the way out here?'' I told him I couldn't get back in and he laughed. Bastard. He tried towing me in with me holding his ankle as he paddled but that was not going to work. Eventually I took the board and caught waves in while he body surfed back to shore with rocks right below. I survived! I have never been in a rip or current that I haven't been able to get out of and I hope it doesn't happen again.

After that I was drying off at the car when Nellie came over and told me I had to follow her, she had a surprise for me. I asked if I could eat it, she said maybe so I was in! We walked down the beach for ages, away from all the people until we reached a rocky area at the end. Eventually I spotted it, Nellie had found a Hawaiian Monk seal hauled out and soaking up the sun. For those that don't know, I spent almost 5 years working with seals back in Australia before I moved out to Europe and I am still a big seal fan. The last time I checked, the Hawaiian Monk seal was the second most endangered seal in the world (next to Finlands Saimannorppaa) and seeing one was very high on my to do list. Nellie carried on collecting shells as I sat 5 meters away from this monk seal for about 45 minutes. I know nothing about this type of seal so I am unsure if it was male or female. It had a really amazing green tint to it's body though as if moss were growing on it's fur. Very excited to see one and I hope to get the chance again.

We now have a new house guest named Claudia who comes from Germany and is over here for the same reason I am. She arrived the day the rain began I think so I would think she is a little bummed out at the moment. The rain will pass one day though... It has too.

Yesterday evening we headed out with Ethan's mate Miles who took us to some stair sets at a school with sheltered, out door corridors. I started to think of when I last skated stairs and realised it was when I was 17 years old. I then realised that it has been 8 years since I was 17. It doesn't feel like 8 years ago and I can't get the thought out of my head. I have memories from those days that are as clear as if it were yesterday... The stairs were fun, took a while to get into the swing of things. They weren't huge, I think a 5 stair set was the biggest done that night but not by me. I was happy on the three's although I was getting mega wheel bite on some of my landings. Got a boo boo on my elbow!

Today Ethan and I trekked out to skate a backyard pool. It was dry in the area so we were stoked. When we arrived the pool had loads of water in it from the last 3 days rain so we got to work bailing her out. After 80 buckets we still had atleast another 20 to go and it started pissing with rain again. Super bummed not to be able to skate, at least it lessened the work load for next time!

Think that's it, just sitting out the rain and waiting to be able to skate again.

I had an article posted on All Around Skate today. Check it out, comes with videos and all sorts. Click....H....HER...HE...HERE... Ahh ya got it, well done!   

So we have just arrived back to O'ahu after spending 8 days on the Island of Maui. Maui was like a dream and defiantly somewhere I could see myself living. It was so much like home in so many ways, everywhere we drove it was Australian bush. Huge Eucalypt's and wattles, miles of dry long grass. The only difference between Maui and South Australia was the epic mountains that tower over each end of the Island.

90% of Maui's roads are skateable. They range from rough, narrow and scary runs that you have to be constantly sideways on your board for to long winding runs down mountain sides with fast corners that can just be gripped. The biggest mountain on the island which has just been deemed and active volcano (the crater) has a run from the top, all the way to the beach which is just under an hour of non stop downhill.

The thing I love about Hawaii so much is that bombing hills is standard. There are no divisions within skateboarding on the islands. If you ride park or pools you bomb hill, it's natural. If you bomb hills you ride street or transition. Skateboarding is one big entity over here, free of bullshit, scenes, groups or ego. There are some killer parks on maui, most of them filled with transition. We also stumbled upon the house of big wave surfer  David Langer who has an insanely huge and awesome bowl in his backyard. He encourages everyone to come over and skate it and was a rad bloke.

The excuse we had to head to Maui was the second race of the winter series that takes place over different Hawaiian islands. The road that was originally selected for the race hill was in an un developed housing estate. The land was huge, the grass was incredibly green and the road (which was the only thing that had been built) was butter smooth black top with a top speed of around 65KM/h. The other benefit is that the road was a dead end at the bottom meaning that we could be 100% sure that there would be no cars coming up. We got in 2 or 3 practice runs which were awesome before some ladies who were watching told us to look out for the guy who owns the property because he is a bit of an ass. No more than 2 minutes after they warned us, an extremely angry man in a tractor arrived and attempted to fight about 30 bewildered skaters. We politely said goodbye and told him we were happy to leave but he decided it would be more fun to jump into his truck and chase cars up the hill in reverse. Eventually he lost everything from the back of his truck and hit a tree. Amusing, but a little intimidating to say the least.

The race was moved to another road which we had skated the day before. It's a super long, winding road which will turn your legs into jelly at the finish line. Stopping on a skateboard is extremely hard when you can't control your legs so we saw a couple of amusing crashes at the finish line. My first heat was super tight but I squeezed into second place and advanced to the next round. In the second heat I screwed up the push at the start line, lost the pack and without the draft of other riders to pull you along tucking the whole road was just to difficult. It was an awesome day though, we got extra runs in afterwards and then headed to the beach.

Maui waves are stompers! Easily the biggest waves I have ever seen and always with some crazy mofos surfing them. Even standing on the shore line you will get picked up and thrown back onto land with no mercy. As well as awesome beaches there are stunning waterfalls with huge overhangs to jump off of. One of my favourite places was called 7 pools. It was a hell of a drive and turned into a pretty scary mission eventually but it was totally worth it. It is a massive pool of fresh water but it's close enough to the ocean that when there is big swell the salt water will push it's way into the fresh water pool. It is surrounded by rock walls were really fun to climb and if you fell, you just landed in 15 foot of water. Fresh muscles that could be eaten straight off the rocks, caves in the water and a little island that we could swim across to and explore. Writing all this down, I realise I can do it no justice with words. Maui should be on your list of places to go!

I dunno what else to write now, I have posted a short clip in the ''Rad Shit'' section of the eventual race hill.

If I remember more I will write it.

Aloha.

O, if you wanna see more photos. Check em here

So a few days ago Matt K from Sector 9 and Paris, Amanda Mary from Riviera, Dane Webber from Orangatang and Loaded and a photographer named Olly turned up at Ethans door. They are here for the up coming race in Maui and to snap some photos along the way. The last few days have been spent eating and picking scenic areas to try to get photos at. Sessioning downhill spots is strange, it's not like finding a curb to grind in the city and shooting it. It requires a lot of driving around, up and down roads to find that right angle. Ethan only has a 2 seated truck so we have been travelling with 4 people in the back, 6 peoples skate gear plus all the photography equipment. I'm talking about thousands of dollars worth of camera gear, flashes, lenses, tripods, remote flash stands and shades. It is cosy for sure. Yesterday we also ended up with 20 or so coconuts too, just to add to the experience. I quickly called shotgun and jumped in the front! Today Matt, Olly, Amanda and Dane hired scooters to blast around on though so that has freed up some space. I didn't hire one, firstly because I'm cheap and secondly because I don't trust myself riding one. I had a go on a mates scooter once riding up Corkscrew road in Adelaide. I almost hit a cyclist on the first turn due to my in ability to steer. I'm better off in the truck I think. 

The weather has been strange since the others arrived, a lot of rain and some really strong winds has meant it's been hard to find skateable roads. Today is looking good though and hopefully we will get some runs on the mountain tonight. Last week we headed up there for a few runs at about 11 at night. The wind had been blowing hard all day and the roads surface was patchy. The wind left the road covered in sticks, leaves, flowers, moss and some really big branches. Skating in a group, at night with only head lamps made it super sketchy but we had some awesome runs down. It was a good night. 

Nothing much else to report, yesterday we ended up back at the waterfall jump because the weather was so average. The walk is easy enough when it's dry but being in bare feet trying to scramble up and down wet, muddy slopes made it a lot more of a challenge. We all ended up pretty muddy but it was worth it. Good times.

Hopefully more to report next time, praying that the weather holds out!

Shiiiiiit... Today was a day of eating it and nothing was really accomplished from it. When I woke up this morning I went for a roll to the store down the street for a bottle of juice. I was to lazy to put normal shoes on so I threw a pair of slip ons onto my feet and I to lazy to change my park board to soft wheels so I grabbed one of Ethans double kicks and headed out. Having being on a soft wheel street deck for a while I have been spoilt with the smooth roll over cracks and bumps. I came to a part of the road where the foot path ends and you have to go on the road for a few houses. Heading down the road there was a car coming in my lane so I went to throw a little stand up slide and pop back onto thee foot path. I found out almost instantly that my slip ons had no grip on the sole whatsoever... My back foot slid off the tail and I hit the road hip and elbow first taking a rather deep scratch to the elbow and as Landyachtz Phil once said, ''leaving my pride all over the road''. I stood up, grabbed the baord, bowed to the folks who were clapping me from their balcony across the road and went on to get my juice. 

Later that day Ethan and I set out to do 3 things. 1, send a memory card to Gabe in Australia which has some important footage on it. 2, head to Western Union to pick up some money I had leant a mate and he had just transferred back to me. 3, buy some glue to stick a foot brake sole on the bottom of my shoe. Long story short, we went surfing instead...

I haven't set foot on a surf board in about 10 years and even then I rarely got a foot on the board. Ethan took us to a spot that had a long paddle out through a channel, around a big rocky reef with jetty poles jutting out of the water and into the (sorry for lack of surfing lingo knowledge) ''the wavey part''. Now we were out there, facing the shore with the big rocky reef between us and it's safe, dry sand. I paddled around for a bit, wondering how I was supposed to stop before I reached the rocks and then began trying to catch small waves. Eventually, as it does, my confidence grew a little and I tried to catch a bigger wave. I got it OK, didn't try to stand or anything, just happy to ride a wave on a board. I caught it until just before the reef and then somehow stopped (don't remember how I did that bit). Trying to get back out was harder than I thought and before long I was floating above some very shallow and sharp rocks. I floundered about a bit, not really sure what to do and eventually cut my toe on one of the rocks. Not bad, but still shitty. I made it in eventually with sore arms and a sore toe but I survived! It was rad though!

After that, we decided to catch a bus up the top or Sierra mountain and skate down. We hung around at the bus stop for 2 years and then bailed, sick of waiting! it aint Finnish public transport here! On the skate back to where we had parked the car I attempted a manual over a metal drain covering on the foot path. As soon as I got onto 2 wheels and hit the metal grate, I felt the corner of it sink straight into my wheel and stop me dead. I flew off forwards and landed on the same elbow, same hip plus the shoulder this time. There was a kid sitting out the front of a shop and I landed with my head pretty much on his feet. He asked if I was OK, I said yes, gathered what remained of my pride (not much after today) and carried on. Today was not a safe day to leave the house and I am happy to say that it rained tonight so we couldn't ride the mountain in the dark. Maybe it was for the best.

A quick video edit from yesterdays pool session. Far from a good edit or music match but I was stoked on the day and wanted to share any kind of footage. Enjoy it. 

It has been a while. We have been skating every day and all sorts of terrain. Recently it has been dry as a bone which has brought the local out to the local mountain more night missions. In case you weren't aware, it is very dark at night. Especially on a mountain road surrounded by jungle. The local guys know the roads so well, it is really impressive to watch them fly through hairpin corners, avoid gnarly holes, wet patches all just by following the gaps in the tree's above and their knowledge of the road. Myself, I use a head light on my helmet and try my hardest to remember what corner is coming up next, how fast you come into it and what the surface is like. Recently the Hawaiian powers that be have put ''sand bars'' on some of the roads corners to try and deter people drifting through corners in their cars. It is a horrible smelling adhesive they put down, sprinkled with a loose and very sharp gravel. Remembering these corners is crucial, falling on that stuff would suck... Big time! Starting to get the hang of things though and remembering the road better each run. It's an interesting way to learn a road and will certainly make it easier during the day, if not a little boring...

I have also been riding the streets surrounding Ethans house a lot each day. All the roads go down and have the most perfect driveways for slashing and surfing. The momentum carries you for miles with no need to push and it's very easy to forget that eventually you will have to skate back up hill to the house. I love it, the dogs hate it. Dogs in hawaii are not friendly in the slightest. Almost everywhere I have lived in the world I have always found a local dog I could pat over the fence and have a chat with. In Hawaii though, dogs are scary, especially if you ride a skateboard. Even today while riding back home from the shops I was verbally abused by a Golden Retriever which I have always though were born happy as Larry. This one was mean though, he hurt my feelings and left me not wanting to skate past that house ever again.

Yesterday, Nelly, Ethan and I went for a hike through the Jungle looking for nothing in particular. We ended up in that same area with the waterfall I wrote about a few weeks ago. This time though, Ethan took us on a very interesting path that saw us balancing along a plastic pipe miles off of the ground. Heights is a big fear of mine and this was high! After the pipe and a bit more bush bashing we ended up above the waterfall. If you read the last write up about the waterfall you will remember that we jumped from about 8 meters. Ethan had now lead me to a jump on the opposite side of the fall that was another 8 meters higher than the first jump we did. Did I mention I'm scared of heights, I can't remember. Anyway, assessing the situation, the only way down was to either jump or try to climb down the 16 meter, muddy cliff. Either way would probably result in me falling so I chose to jump. It was sweet! Scary as hell, but sweet!

Some ninja Avocado and Jabong hunting has also taken place as well as the feasting of Avocados and Jabong. Being beaten by the waves at Sandy's beach has also become some what regular. The other day Sandy's was pretty flat but every now and then a set would come in of maybe 5 foot waves. Even I can tell a tourist in hawaii, if they are whiter than me they certainly aren't local! So, this father and son come swanning into the water. Dad is maybe 40's and the son is 17 or 18. Both looking stoked, if not slightly nervous and both wearing black framed seeing glasses. The son makes it out fairly easily while dad gets battered by the waves, rolls about like a hauled out seal without flippers and eventually, has the glasses ripped from his face by the waves. Blinded, dizzy and stunned he flops about the water for a while with his son looking for the glasses. No chance. Eventually he heads back to the beach, stands with his wife trying his hardest to watch his son who is still busy looking for his old man's specs. The son makes a terrible mistake. He turns his back on the waves and sure enough a stomper comes in, smashes him to the ocean floor, rolls him all the way to the beach covered and full of sand at his parents feet... Without his glasses. 2 sets of prescription glasses in less than 40 minutes, they left myself and some other guy from Texas in stiches from laughing and trying our hardest not to get dumped by the waves ourselves. 

Until next time...  

 

The last week or so here has been a blast. The usual fruit picking and downhill riding of course but, more so because out of the last week, I have spent 3 days riding 2 different backyard pools which I have dreamt of doing for the longest time and was one of my biggest goals here in Hawaii. I have to be careful about how much info I put down for obvious reasons. All I will say is that pool riding is so gnarly, so rad, so difficult and by far the most impressive type of skating I have ever watched. I have no issues pumping bowls and touching coping but these are something else entirely. Here's a quick clip from today of Ethan doing his thing and killing it. Rare that he should wear shoes, don't get used to it!  

This morning Ethan and I caught a lift up a local mountain to skate down. Before heading down we trekked through the forest a little to have a look. We ended up with some star fruit and Lilly Coi passion fruit and then made our way down the road. The roads here have some pretty perfect driveways to slash as well as a fair amount of lawn surfing which is my favourite thing to do on a skateboard. After that we headed to the pool in the video above, spent about 20 minutes there (that's the maximum amount of time for this spot). From there we went and checked out a house that Ethan does the landscaping for. An epic house which apparently costs 10,000 a month to rent. I would think that is mainly for the beach (although the house is awesome too). The house sits right on the beach which today was pretty flat but apparently get's good waves for most of the time. So, we swam on their beach for a little while and then headed back to the house. All in all a rad day was had and I am feeling sore and unfit. Good night!