"Can we go to the north shore?"

It became a bit of running joke in the past week, that apparently over the past few months I've asked Eun if we could please squeeze in a trip to the north shore of Oahu.   I guess I just didn't want her to forget.  And it's partly her fault for making it such an unforgettable day of my previous visit.   Well, she did it again :) 

We headed out riding along the coastline, chatting while I my eyes bounced back and forth between the stunning inland mountain ranges ( I'm a sucker for mountains) and the incredible Pacific in all it's deep blue wave crashing glory.   I always do this on these drives and have to work not to make myself carsick.  We first stopped off at the Macadamia Nut Farm and took their amusing tour of the farm there.  I love learning all about culture and plants from their gifted Samoan guides.   This is where Lost, Gilligian's Island, Along Came Polly, and 50 First Dates was filmed.  When you see the landscape first hand it's easy to see why Hollywood comes calling. 

Next it was off to Romy's Original shrimp shack for some incredible farm raised (literally right behind the shack) garlic spicy shrimp over delectable sticky rice,   It's a messy business, shelling and eating shrimp with sticky spicy yummy garlic bits all over it but someone has to do it.   The best part was that there was NO WAIT!  We were prepared to wait 2 hours.  Hurray!  This left plenty if time for the next destination: Sharks Cove.  Apparantly this is a nickname adopted by locals to scare off the tourists.  But there are few secrets on the island these days thanks to Yelp and TripAdvisor.  This is a snorkeling and shell diving spot that can't be beat.   Once I actually got past all the craggy rocks without being smashed upon them violently by inconveniently timed 4-5 foot waves, it was great.  It was more than great, it was incredible.   Once you get off the rocky shore into the heart of the cove, you just float on your belly, breathe through your snorkel and stare through your mask at some of the most beautiful creatures on earth all going about their business about 20 feet below.   You can hear the big fish eating and tearing their food off the coral covered rocks.  Their were rock fish wonderfully camouflaged that I didn't even notice til I got brave enough to dive down part way.  Once I was there I saw either trumpet fish or cornet fish that made me think of eels and freaked me out just a little.  There was one fish at I actually followed for about 15 minutes, as I was so transfixed by its beauty.  It was pale pink with  neon yellow horizontal and vertical stripes and finally blue side fins that look liked feathers and flapped like the wings of a sparrow.   Amazing!  After we got out, Eun told me that fish was likely the Hawaii state fish. Figures. Jonathan watched from the shore for this one, which was probably a wise decision.   It was a little dicey out there.  In the summer here, theses coves are much less wavy meaning clearer viewing, easier entry and better shell diving.  

Next, we made our way to Haleiwa, a little tiny town right in the heart of the North Shore with restaurants, shopping, and most importantly Matsumoto's Shave Ice.  We explored the shops, I got a cute little beach dress at a surf shop, we admired some paintings at some unique galleries before digging into the best shave ice on the island (anywhere really) at Matsumoto's. Eun always gets the green tea special w green tea flavored shave ice, ice cream, adzuki beans, and mochi balls.   Jonathan and I shared a classic Matumoto shave ice which had coconut pineapple, and guava flavors.   Mmmmmmm...

I know this blog post is endless but I did tell you I was just a little excited about this particular excursion.  It ended with pulling over by the coast to watch the sun set, dipping slowly and submerging beneath the deep blue waters.   I could stare at the orange tinted waves and pink clouds all evening.   

The greatest gift of this day was spending it together with my sweet husband and dearest friend, sharing laughter and real conversations about life's  struggles and joys.   And in the midst, enjoying some of God's most beautiful creations here on earth.