From L to R, Gary was from the Caribbean and spoke very little English, but he was able to converse very well about surfing and could always point out every surfing break on TV or in pictures. Middle is Kevin who was from La Jolla in San Diego, CA. If it weren't for him, I might have been lost in the surfer lingo. He was able to relate surf breaks in La Jolla to what they were talking about on the north shore so that I wasn't totally lost. He was a funny guy, and was always on the phone with/ talking about how much he missed his girlfriend. Then the last guy is Nathaniel from Australia. He was typically quiet. I had two other room-mates not pictured-- one named Robbie from Australia (easy on the eyes) and another whose name I still cannot pronounce from Japan.
These guys woke up at 6 every morning to go surf, and when they got home they would do nothing but watch surfing videos. But hey, we were on the North Shore.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The boys that don't speak any other language than Surfer-nese
The family that plays together stays together
I was wandering around looking for breakfast on the North Shore and I heard music coming from a shop and thought "WOW those are great speakers!" So I wandered in, and it was Ron and his family recording a new album. On the far left was the bassist, then the short guy was wandering around (but I'm sure he plays something) then Ron (or Papa, as he told me to call him) was on the Keyboard and was singing. the next shorter guy was on the timpani and bongos, then on lead guitar was the next guy, then the two girls were on keyboard as well, and while they were recording his wife talked to me about what they do. It was a saturday morning and they were all so happy to be playing together. They'd look over and smile at each other, and at the end they'd talk to each other saying "oh man I really liked what you did with that riff there" and complimenting each other. I saw on their logo "A family that plays together stays together". Talking to them, and especially Vicky (Ron's wife) about what they do made me really emotional. I wish I had the time to put into words exactly how they made me feel, but I will leave it at that. I left their house feeling totally inspired and optimistic about the world.
LOST
So I made a friend that took me to the "secret" lost beach where they have all their huts located and the set is roped off. After wandering around the outside for a while, the security guards offered to let me on the set to take pictures. :D:D:D
Monday, February 11, 2008
Isabelle on our porch from the backpacker's hostel
As much as I hated sleeping on a soaked bed under a leaky roof... I loved this hostel. And I loved the people that I stayed with. Isabelle is this awesome girl from Ecuador who was a phenomenal surfer. And she's a fellow couch-surfer! My first night at backpacker's, I stayed with her, and older couple from england, and a 45 year old woman who was also a really active surfer. We spent much time on this porch complaining about the weather yet admiring the surf.
