Fri,

24 Mar 1995 12:33:14 -0800
Stanford University


Newsgroups:
2*alt.surfing-2*

I'm going back to Maui this summer. I loved it last summer and caught the 
second hurricane swell (I forget the name) by myself at Maalaea and south of 
Makena. I know the south swell spots on the 
west coast pretty well but what I'm hoping somebody could help me with is 
providing some knowledge about supermarkets, places to camp, surf shops, and 
friendly locals in the southwest (Kihei-Makena) area or possibly some 
information on consistent spots in the Hana area. I'll be getting around 
by bicycle so if you know any places to rent that would help too. If 
anybody would like info on Northern California spots in return or a place to 
stay I'd be happy to reciprocate. 


Thanks,

Ian Rhodes


Yeah brah, the memory's coming back... time to talk story.

summer of '91

There was no more swell so I ditched my board under my buddy's house 
and peddled my trusty steed southward out of Lahaina.  I cruised on 
past Maalaea, flat as usual, and kept going down through Kihei.  The 
kiawe thorns murdered three innertubes before I even left the paved 
road.  I got some plastic tire liner at a bike shop in Makena that 
seemed to work OK, I only killed two more tubes for the rest of the 
trip.  The road turned into a jeep trail through the lava fields with 
Haleakala raising into the heavens on my left and the sun setting 
over the ocean on my right.  The lava road hit the beach and 
continued through the sand and clumps of trees along the shoreline.  
I kept going until it got dark and pitched a tent under a tree.  Woke 
up in the morning and jumped in the water.  Was cruising around 
trying to tag a fish when a glint off the bottom caught my eye.  Dove 
down and found a silver cross that had to weigh at least a pound with 
a leather strap still attached.  I wondered what the story was behind 
it, I just didn't think they made stuff like that anymore.  I biked a 
little further on the lava path but it was rough going and I decided 
I might as well stay put for a while.  Later that afternoon a local 
family set up camp a stones throw from my tent.  I said hello and the 
father asked if I wanted to hunt for octopus with him later.  We 
didn't catch anything but they invited me to share their dinner with 
them.  I got the best meal I'd had for weeks and their daughter, Anu, 
drew a picture for me of two dolphins playing together.  The next 
morning I was getting antsy for surf so I decided to break camp and 
peddle back to Lahaina.  Before I left I gave Anu the necklace I had 
found in appreciation for the hospitality they had shown me.  She 
nearly fell down running around with excitement and the mom and dad 
were shocked.  They fed me some awesome banana pancakes and waved as 
I hit the road back to Lahaina and straight into a tropical storm, 
but that's another story...

You might think that this story has nothing to do with surfing, but 
if you travel you know that stories like these have everything to do 
with surfing.

summer's coming.

Shaka,
Garrett