Volcano!

Well I'm not sure that I would ever get so close to a lava that I
could poke a stick at it but night before last I did just that. I'll
have timelapse footage and other footage when I get back to Oahu where
I will be returning tomorrow night.

Off to the big island

Off to The island of Hawaii today which is often refered to as "the big island". Going to be doing some snorkelling and swimming and hiking and the like. I'll be out of contact for a couple days. Heres another timelapse.

Sunset At Waimea Bay

Above is a timelapse I took from Waimea bay while we climbed around a little rock outcrop. It was a very nice beach.

Today we are now back at Pender's house once again. Had a pretty late start to the day. Went to see Pearl Harbour today which was cool. They showed us a documentary about the events leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbour before taking us out to a monument that has been constructed over the USS Arizona. Once of the ships that was bombed. A torpedo hit it and managed to strike the munitions hold on the ship causing a massive chain of exposions sinking the ship in a mere 9 minutes and killing everyone of the approx. 1400 crew. Whatever bodies remained were never recovered as it was decided to leave the ship as an underwater tomb. In the 60s they constructed the memorial over top looking down at the watery grave.

Tried to go sufing this evening but couldnt find a park and ended up going elsewhere for a swim in a really nice bay just after sunset. It was calm and warm and quite floaty.

Sunburn

I'm burned. Just rubbed aloe lotion all over my back and shoulders.

We went all around the island of Oahu today, first stop was a lookout where in the right season you can see hump back whales after which we stopped at a beach with massive waves that we timidly body surfed. Got dumped a couple times by the ways and came up spluttering. Cool sitting atop a wave looking 3m down to the people below you.

Next we grabbed the snorkelling gear and went to the next bay round. Lots of pretty dead coral but quite a few fishes swimming around. Pender saw a turtle which I missed. Apparantly not a big deal as I will see more later.

We grabbed a little lunch from the supermarket and sat in the shade after that before heading around a couple more bays to most definitely the nicest beach I've seen so far. Apparantly it is just huge waves in the winter months but right now at this time of the year, no waves and crystal clear water. Had another swim in it as we walked our way around to some rocks at the far end to go bouldering. Bouldered for a while and then jumped off a high rock into the ocean. That wonderful feeling of terror as you plummet toward the water. Did that a couple times before coming home.

So there you have it, my whole day in detail. What did you do today? ;)

A Long Day

Take around 4 hours of sleep. Add a 4 hour hike up to the top of one of the hills overlooking much of Oahu. Finish it off with a swim at the beach and you have earned the right to eat whatever fatty food you so feel inclined to eat.

The beach was pretty nice, sunset over the ocean, the buildings lit up after dark. All excellent. I could get used to Hawaii.

Its going to be a very early one tonight. Might go surfing tomorrow. Or snorkling. Or diving.

The sounds of the night here remind me of Thailand. I can hear the geckos. Theres a certain humid scent in the air. I could definitely get used to this...

Hawaii

I arrived in Hawaii a few hours ago and Mr Pender picked me up from the airport. We dropped my stuff off at his house if you can call it that. Its actually the underside of a house. There are no walls, it just opens to air and there is a pretty damn nice view of city lights in the distance. There is a humid smell in the air and a stickyness to the air. After dropping my stuff off we went out for sushi, so fresh and delicious. I'm now getting a few things done on my computer before I go to sleep.

Back in calgary

After not posting for a couple days I am now back in Calgary for today and part of tomorrow before flying to Hawaii.

Im back to being surrounded by gadgets and tech, upgraded my ipod as soon as i got back and fixed my phone by replacing its screen. Now Im off to pick up my new laptop so I can start organizing my digital life into one place.

I'm going to be working from Hawaii and other places from now on from my laptop but first, errands to run.

Rest day?

Tim and I are feeling pretty tired from climbing yesterday and we may
take the day off...

Yesterday we ran into some Calgary climbers including chris weldon who
I first met when bouldering in hampi, India in 2003.

Tim is thinking of staying here after I leave so I may catch a bus
back to Calgary on Sunday or Monday night. Details yet to be figured
out.

Last night a kid in the campsite next to us slung up a hammock about
5m in the air, slung between 2 trees. Reminded me of nick hanafins
antics of a similar nature back at paynes ford,nz.

Half Day

I am uploading some new photos from last night which will be up shortly. Tim is taking a rest day today but I'm going to do a short amount of climbing after we are done emailing and such.

We are still trying to decide whether to return to Calgary on Monday or Tuesday. It may depend on the weather. So far we haven't had a single day of rain in a week and a half but it may rain on Sunday which could be a problem.

Ice cream

I'm sitting in a little gelato place on the main street of Squamish
eating a massive coffee crisp ice cream. There is little doubt that I
will feel pretty sick afterward. Its a waffle cone which I am quite
happy about and the ice cream is all through my beard which pleases me
not. Earlier today we went for a swim in a small lake which was a
pleasant temperature and then lay about in the sun drying off. After
this we went to Boston pizza for dinner. Tim is now at a film festival
watching some climbing films while I meander about town. Oh that ice
cream I mentioned earlier... Its all done... And I feel sick

Disaster strikes!!

My backup cellphone which I have with me because I managed to trash
the screen on my main cell is dead. Not sure if its the phone or the
charger but either way I'm down to just the iPod touch until I get
back to Calgary. Oh and I also saw a hummingbird today. It hovered
around me for a short while with its wings going a million miles per
hour. Cool

Bunnies

Bunnies acting like house cats are not really what you'd expect lazing
around the camp ground but there they are. (pictures tomorrow
hopefully) they kinda mooch around the camp and you can get within a
metre of them.

Anyways... I'm at the movies again after another days climbing and a
meal at whitespot. Tonight we are seeing wall-e. This is now the only
movie we haven't seen.

Vancouver and a Bear

I saw my first bear in the wild so to speak yesterday! It was eating grass on the side of the road as we were driving to Vancouver for the day. It didn't seem to care that 5 million people had stopped their cars and were watching it and taking pictures of it from 15 m away. Can't say that was a very smart thing for them to do however as I'm not sure they could have got to the safety of their cars before it charged them down had it so desired. I'm not sure how safe the safety of the car is for that matter.

Carrying on...We went into Vancouver for the day where we walked around the sea wall with cousin Roger and then met Thomas for a sit down at the beach followed by all you can eat sushi in the west end. Very good sushi. Tim and I drove back to Squamish that night.

Today it was climbing as usual. I'm tired now and we are at the local library mooching internet before we go eat and then probably go see Hell Boy 2 at the local movie theatre.

Ouch!

My fingers are still too sore from yesterday so I'm going to take 2
days off climbing to let them recover. Also we woke up to a flat tire/
tyre (depending on where you come from)

A days climbing

Pushed myself kinda hard today and now have a damaged finger tip and a
stressed finger for my trouble. I will have to take it a little easy
tomorrow.

Went to Boston pizza for dinner and ate pizza, yum

Climbing again

After yesterdays rest day we are all set to climb the next couple
days. Will take our next rest on Sunday and may head into Vancouver
for the day.

I'm starving. We have settled into a routine of getting up late,
heading to the supermarket to grab fruit and ice and then heading to
the boulders to climb till evening.

A few pictures

Rest day

Today we are having a rest day from climbing. So far I've done little
more than mill around camp. Might go explore Squamish town later but
right now I'm hungry for breakfast!

Fritos

I am currently eating fritos (BBQ) flavour. There is a huge waterfall
on my right and a wooden cabin with an eagle sculpture in front of me.
If you are interested in finding out about Squamish, the town I'm
currently in, here's a link. Http://En.wikipedia.org/wiki/squamish,_british_Columbia
There's tonnes of construction going on in these parts leading up to
the winter olympics so driving can be pretty slow.

First day climbing

So after getting into the campground pretty late last night we slept
in a bit and went to the supermarket and grabbed a few things. We got
to the boulders to climb by maybe 1:30 and climbed till about 6:30. Im
writing this from the movie theatre as the dudes in the seat behind us
keep saying "popping corn" ooo movie is starting...

Sunny first day

Sunny day today. Clear blue sky and warm. About to hit the shower then
might move camp or go get tim a new tent or try to find him some tent
pegs as he didn't bring the right one for his tent. At some point
after that we will go climbing.

Gnight world

We have just set up camp in squarmish and I'm about to hit the hay.
Climbing tomorrow yea!!

Uh oh miscommunication!

I thought we were going for 2 weeks while tim thought we were going
for 3. This arose because we left a week later than initially planned
and I assumed that meant the trip got a week shorter. Shitty.

Squamish

Any minute now Tim should be picking me up and we will be heading to
Squamish for 2 weeks bouldering. I will be posting updates from my
phone along the way and photos probably when I get back on the 21st.