Saturday on the North shore is a pretty slow day, especially when the mighty Pacific is becoming tamer with each passing hour. It’s a day of family, of mom and pop and the kids on the beach, of grandparents and dogs and ukulele’s down in the shade of a coconut tree, of beers and barbeques in the soft light of evening.
We were pretty slow today too. Dave the mad scientist and I were out damn late last night, and we slipped fully into the island vibe as we sat on Sunset beach with Antonio and Corey, eating our breakfast rolls from Ted’s Bakery. There we met Kai’loa, one of the most beautiful 3 year old girls ever, who walked up the beach to us and asked if she could “hang with the boys.”
She joined us on our bench and, while her dad watched from a picnic blanket in the shade, Kai’loa held my hand and offered us some fruit, and told us all about her orange bicycle.
Her dad came over to join us soon enough, arriving with a big smile and a warm “Aloha.” He works at The Hilton and it was his day off, and although he’d never met South Africans before, he welcomed us to the
We had a whole day to surf and a whole day to find surf, so we went way East - past V-Land - where we found an awesome blowhole that was spouting salty mist 20 feet into the air every time a wave hit the cliff below. We threw stones into it and watched them fly through the air in the vapour blasts, and then The Mad Scientist stood over it and nearly had his pants blown off his skinny legs (in case you’re wondering, he said it felt kind of sexy and terrifying at the same time).
We sat on the cliffs of Waimea and spoke story. We sat on the beach at Pipe. We climbed a palm tree. We cruised and felt the glow of winter sun on our backs. I think we even said Aloha once or twice.
It was in every moment of peace and in every word of welcome today, but most of all, it was in the freshly picked flower given to me by Kai’loa, who has dimples that shine on her honey-coloured face every time she smiles.