Inside and out.

Today I went looking for fun and sun on the West side of Maui. It was an extremely low tide, so while I found the sun, the wind and squalls made for unappealing water conditions. Instead I found myself joyfully playing with my camera until I ended up unimaginatively working out at the gym.

Cute as he may be, you don't want this little fella in your foot (or anywhere else for that matter).

Hard to believe if you turned 180 degrees you'd be looking at the main road.

At the risk of sounding like an old Granny, twenty years ago (for the most part) Maui retail was a local game. As the years have passed I have bemoaned the arrival of Starbucks, Costco, Mercedes-Benz, Home Depot, Crispy Cream, Borders, K-Mart & the like with their homogenizing suffocation of local business and culture.

Yet last week with excitement and anticipation I subjected myself to the opening day madness that is Whole Foods. I'm a little bit of a foodie at heart, so just the thought of that variety can make me lightheaded, nothing of course a shockingly odorous Limburger couldn't snap me out of - to be found in the Cheese section!

There's an interesting website called 'Photosynth' which allows you to upload your own photo's and make a nifty 3D'ish effect with them. "Cool", I thought and decided to give it a go by taking all kinds of pictures of my living room. However, being the technological knucklehead that I am it didn't register until after I'd signed up (and it wouldn't work) that the Microsoft product will not communicate with my MAC.

Still, all was not lost as I now have a photo library of all kinds of small objet d'art in my home. This bronze statue from the UK (thanks Mum) is one of my faves, the vase in the background was a gift from my bro and his Mrs... the Daffies I over paid for at Whole Foods!

I couldn't not share these two chaps, though I've never quite figured out what they're up to! One year they arrived in Mum's suitcase and I pilfered the Vase a while ago. Poor lass, she'll be sitting on an orange crate by the time I'm done poaching her pad!.

Wave of panic.

When I was about 19 I did a workshop in London. In one exercise all the people in the room (about 70) were told they were on a sinking ship and only six people could be saved as their was just one lifeboat. In one minute or less we had to individually convince the group leaders why we should be saved. Guess who was first and didn't make the lifeboat cut?! "Too panicy", was the feedback and nearly thirty years later with a 5:00am phone call from a loving friend that a tsunami was on it's way, not much has changed. Others drank champagne had parties and generally frolicked in the face of the unknown. Meanwhile at 5:45am I was in line for an hour at the store for groceries, while calling our IT guy to shut down the work server and generally not being a whole lot of fun.

...and lord knows you need a bit of fun on a lifeboat.

Playful rest.

The wave is big and rolly as it comes through the mouth of Kahului Harbor. It's undulation takes a bit of getting used to, but it's longer runs, heavier water and steeper pitch provide a perfect playground for my next level of learning. I like the fact that it's eerily flat as a pancake between sets, because that way you can definitely see what's coming.

As I paddled out I chose the smallest break and validated my choice with a defensive response to an imaginary critic in my head, "Well I did grow up in the industrial North of England where we don't even go in the water" I said, feeling better for having spoken my piece to no one in particular. (With apologies for yet another Gopro self obsessed picture of myself ...I just can't help it)!

As luck would have it this 'am I received this (not so) self obsessed pic of my bro and realized that talking of water, there must have been something in it from our youth! Yorkshire folk, nowt like 'um-look at us, what a pair of bobby dazzlers!

Post playtime, I relaxed and nattered with my wonderful and lovely friend Cheyenne. Never under estimate the value of resting your paws while watching the world go by.

Talking of the world going by, as I've been living my life eagerly crossing things off my to-do list...

• Taxes delivered to accountant.
• Paint laundry room.
• Dish soap.
• Burn CD's for girls.
• Call Wendy.
• Take vac to office.

... nature has been busily doing her thing and growing creatively in my back garden, how groovy is that?!

Ahhhhhh, if you're not doing so already... rest your paws and have a moment, 'tis molto tranquillo.

A picture tells a thousand words.

Oh my goodness, I'm having so much fun with my new little GoPro.

It makes every session on the water more fun because God knows we're all vain enough to like a good picture of ourselves!

So not only do I get the thrill of having the magical experience, but I get to share it.

Woooohooooo!

1000 Peaks from Sharon on Vimeo.

This says it all.

SUP Saturday.

For my birthday I was lucky enough to receive an HD Gopro camera and this weekend I finally got to take it for a spin.

In February, with a mill pond for an ocean there's only one glorious & exciting thing to do......whale watch.

It can be a little spooky out there, woah, what da fuk was that?!

From 1000 Peaks I paddled back toward the tunnel and toward a pod of three small whales that were gently going about their business. There were a couple of kayaks already enjoying the show and (in what I hopped was stealth mode) I snuck in to join them. Plumes if spray were accompanied by a breathy 'puffffffff ' and even when they went down into the inky sea, the trio surfaced in almost the same spot, seemingly in no hurry to swim away.

Untitled from Sharon on Vimeo.

Clearly I had the camera was mounted too low as you can't see the whale's backs or tails, but I'm on a learning curve and hope to improve while these amazing creatures are still in town.

Meanwhile on the way back I caught a few ripples.

It might only be small and frothy, but it's still a hell of a lot of fun :-)

As an aside, I drive a 1993 Ranger with more than 250,000 miles on it, so I'm starting to shop for a new/used vehicle. The deciding factor.....it has to be able to easily transport 10ft of pure joy! Having test driven a Honda Element for 24 hrs last week, that top contender is officially out of the running as it's not big board friendly. Next......!

Scenes from Sunday.

Whales are everywhere this time of year, except when you're watching for them.

Post paddle, I sat under my blue umbrella, in a blue chair wearing a blue bikini and reading 'Born on a blue day', by Daniel Tammet. I kid you not.

This is Paolo, we like Paolo.

Word on the beach is that there's a new protocol in town. Not only do the valiant & trusty lifeguards save your life, they also bring in your gear!

This bloke scored big time by not losing anything but his dignity.......and a slalom sail.

My goodness me, is this cute or what?!

Plays well with self.

I've had more of my fair share of magical views this week, starting with this one.

As I walked out of my house on Tuesday evening, I had to walk right back in to grab my camera and capture the blazing sunset.

Contrast and compare to last weekend when it was so voggy the sea and the horizon blended into one flat canvas.

I have a badge in my car that reads "plays well with self"! Pretty consistently I spend my days off alone, simply doing as I jolly well please. I put this down to being a sporty dork as nearly all my friends are charging athletes, so I tootle off to spots where they would be bored stiff and have a ball. This time brings me enormous amounts of joy, is deeply satisfying and made me realize this; my time alone is more nourishing because it's in balance with the time that I spend in community. I'm not talking about friendships as they are a catagory all their own. However, as Maui is large enough to see no one and small enough to run into everyone, this terrific combination of chance encounters and scheduled solitude, makes each experience all the more juicy.

Today I turned 49 years old. You can bet I'll wring all the best bits out of this year that I can, because while I've never done this (and even if there's no one watching), who's to say I won't?

Sea-horses.

Over the weekend I SUP'ed in the harbor. It contains three buoy's and I usually hang out by the third one, furthest away from these cement pylons=weakest wave. Despite the 30ft swells further up the coast the ripples in to the harbor didn't even make it to buoy #3. So I moved up to #2 and had it all to myself, until I was joined by a woman in a one man canoe (now there's an oxymoron). We paddled out and rode in on the small stuff with clock work regularity, until the wind picked up and spoiled everything. Though all was not lost as I went home and took a big fat nap-excellent Sunday behavior.

While I was on my two wheels I ran into these beautiful four leggeds.

Now here's something you don't see that everyday.....

I spy with my little eye something beginning with S.

What's not to love about yellow bamboo with green stripes?!

And finally the last few days has seen the Island weather a bit moody. There's no doubt it's easier to handle such meteorological petulance when the default is a sunny disposition.

Hot and cold.

With all the intense snow on the mainland and in Northern Europe, I feel a bit sheepish in stating that we have had one of the mildest winters that I can remember. Notoriously the rainy season starts around Christmas, but so far we've had just a couple of precipitous days followed by one gorgeous blue sky after another. Oh Jesus, caught again in weather talk......the English part of me could go on and on, while the American part wants me to STFU!!!!

While my purchased Poinsettias are wilting and ready to be planted, the wild ones are thriving. None more so than the patch opposite Grandma's at the start of Thompson Road. In my tiny mind where plants contests live, these win first prize in the 'redest red competition'. They are so ridiculously vibrant I defy anyone not to feel better just looking at them.

I've always enjoyed being able to see the edge of land, especially if you can see the 'map' in its contours. This lovely view is from Keokea toward the West Maui Mountains.

Meanwhile the surf keeps pumping and dudes like this are in a perpetual state of stoke.

And talking of pumping.... this classic gem comes courtesy of Michelle, as an example of the British doing their best to cope with all the snow! Someone commented "Popping in for a cold one"! Stay warm people.

The weekly mishmash.

Last week in the forest I went over the handlebars on my bike and took a bar end in the boob! Fear not, all is well (yes, I was wearing a helmet) and as a friend said "luckily you have airbags for your ribs"!

The droves of Snowy Egrets at the land fill never cease to fascinate me. With it's lack if obvious predators, the Green Waste section is a veritable 'all you can eat' buffet and thanks to the recent rain there's even a watering hole.

Ginger on steroids.

I'm not a big chime fan, but if pushed to pick a 'dong of choice' I prefer the regulation and depth of a clock tower or church bell. However, Goodies in Makawao is lined with a multitude of chimes and the cacophony of tones created by even a slightest breeze... actually does work.

Macka B sing; "Everybody loves Bob Marley everywhere me go its da same old story...Bob, people of all nations de love da rastamon vibration". True......but I wonder if Bob would have loved his head on a boogie board?

Under the sea.

Yesterday I paddled out over the crystal clear water and it was as if I were looking at the ocean through translucent glass. With just a ripple of wind it can be hard to see what's under my floating playground, but yesterday it was sunny, breathless and fantastically clear. It's not exactly the Great Barrier Reef down there, more a sandy bottom (leave it!) dotted with rocky outcrops attached to which are sturdy brain corals in cream and yellow and lavender. You can see the purply black urchins and yesterday a lone Humuhumumunukunukuapua'a went flitting about below me, snacking on silt (or so it appeared). The odd turtle popped its head for air and off on the horizon were whale spouts and a few small breaches.

As it was January 1st, 2010 the water was sparsely populated and the waves were perfect 3-4ft, "Happy New Year to me"!

So today after a really fun SUP sesh I thought, "I'll take the Gopro out and see if I can snap evidence to back up yesterday's experience". Well as we all know two days are never alike and the light on shore breeze made conditions less than idyllic (hmmm two 'l's - it seems like such a one 'l' kinda word).

My escapade turned in to a classic case of "great idea, poor execution". My snorkel was letting in water so I grabbed my swimming mask and paddled out. It became quickly apparent that all the good stuff was in the washing machine of the impact zone.

Whoopsie daisy, caught by a little wave.

I'd paddle around, stick my head in the water and see nothing, paddle around stick my head in the water and see nothing. Unwilling as I was to get worked by the white water, this boys and girls was the best I could come up with, complete with my big board shadow!

No wait.....this was the best I got. Me as on old crone Rasta with just eight dreads left in her head!!

Lest I burst your fantasy bubble of Maui, it's not always a Utopian lifestyle. Here I am taking a road side shower with the trash truck driving by! Mai-Tai's for everyone after this post (except Mater & TG)!