Monday, September 8, 2008

The North Shore

























These photos (which should be viewed from the bottom to the top) are our day today on the North shore - home of big wave surfers, Shrimp trucks and all things rustic and relaxing. The first photo of red earth is taken outside the fields of the Dole Plantation. The next photo is the breathtaking view when you first glimpse the ocean on the windward side. We went into a little hamlet to the famous Matsumoto shave ice store. Shave ice is very fine and fluffy and served either with flavored syrup in a paper cup or with the addition of ice cream and azuki beans on the bottom. Kahlua Pig opted for coconut, lihingmoey and lime on top of ice cream and azuki beans. Mrs. NYC got green apple, strawberry and bubblegum. Thus refreshed we continued on highway 83 (which runs right by the water) to the gorgeous Waimae Bay. You can see the pic from the highway that takes in the whole bay. The parking lot is tiny so we had a little walk down the narrow highway to the beach. This is the beach where all the famous surfers come in December to catch the biggest waves on Oahu. In September it is like a very friendly bathtub. KP is shown resting from the exertion of a dip while in the background people frolic. After two hours of bathing and admiring tourists jumping off the big rocks in the distance, we had worked up an appetite. We proceeded down the highway to the famous Shrimp Trucks. There used to be only one original truck, Giovanni's - but now competitors have sprung up like toadstools. We went to a new truck and you can see Mrs. NYC posing holding her ticket for two plates of butter garlic shrimp with a side of local corn on the cob. I had to wear that silly blue shirt over my bathing suit as I have unusually shaped sunburn on my chest from a washed off sunscreen situation at Waikiki beach. Disregard the lumpy shirt. Focus on the gleeful smile and the delicious buttery shrimp with CHUNKS of fresh garlic. Outstanding. The rest of the afternoon was spent meandering down the highway for home. KP took some amazing photos out of the passenger side window. He may have an alternate career here. The last photo is his work - the mystical Valley of the Temples wreathed in clouds and sudden strong showers where the air is so humid you can taste the jungle leaves. All in all a very satisfactory touristy day. More to come........

3 comments:

George.I.Am said...

that shrimp dish look mighty tasty

Regina said...

Just substitute guava and other exotic fruit for apples and this poem just about sums it up, don't you think ? Incredible vacation...


HOW vainly men themselves amaze
To win the palm, the oak, or bays,
And their uncessant labours see
Crown'd from some single herb or tree,
Whose short and narrow-verged shade
Does prudently their toils upbraid;
While all the flowers and trees do close
To weave the garlands of repose!

Fair Quiet, have I found thee here,
And Innocence thy sister dear?
Mistaken long, I sought you then
In busy companies of men:
Your sacred plants, if here below,
Only among the plants will grow:
Society is all but rude
To this delicious solitude.

No white nor red was ever seen
So amorous as this lovely green.
Fond lovers, cruel as their flame,
Cut in these trees their mistress' name:
Little, alas! they know or heed
How far these beauties hers exceed!
Fair trees! wheres'e'er your barks I wound,
No name shall but your own be found.

When we have run our passions' heat,
Love hither makes his best retreat:
The gods, that mortal beauty chase,
Still in a tree did end their race;
Apollo hunted Daphne so
Only that she might laurel grow;
And Pan did after Syrinx speed
Not as a nymph, but for a reed.

What wondrous life in this I lead!
Ripe apples drop about my head;
The luscious clusters of the vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine;
The nectarine and curious peach
Into my hands themselves do reach;
Stumbling on melons, as I pass,
Ensnared with flowers, I fall on grass.

Meanwhile the mind from pleasure less
Withdraws into its happiness;
The mind, that ocean where each kind
Does straight its own resemblance find;
Yet it creates, transcending these,
Far other worlds, and other seas;
Annihilating all that 's made
To a green thought in a green shade.

Here at the fountain's sliding foot,
Or at some fruit-tree's mossy root,
Casting the body's vest aside,
My soul into the boughs does glide;
There, like a bird, it sits and sings,
Then whets and combs its silver wings,
And, till prepared for longer flight,
Waves in its plumes the various light.

Such was that happy Garden-state
While man there walk'd without a mate:
After a place so pure and sweet,
What other help could yet be meet!
But 'twas beyond a mortal's share
To wander solitary there:
Two paradises 'twere in one,
To live in Paradise alone.

How well the skilful gard'ner drew
Of flowers and herbs this dial new!
Where, from above, the milder sun
Does through a fragrant zodiac run:
And, as it works, th' industrious bee
Computes its time as well as we.
How could such sweet and wholesome hours
Be reckon'd, but with herbs and flowers!

( Thoughts in a Garden by Andrew Marvell )

Emlyn Stancill Whitin said...

Ahh auuuuuuuuuuugggg oooha - gasp, sigh. Oh the tummy jealousy!