Day 3 - The Eddie

The Eddie was a GO. 

What does this mean? It means that the surf in Waimea Bay are 30-40 ft and that the competition (in honour of Eddie Aikau, a famous surfer from Hawaii) held between Dec and Feb is going to happen. The competition draws the best surfers from around the world and when the conditions are right (between Dec and Feb) and the surf is 30-40 ft, the call is made and these surfers have 12 hrs to register for the event. 

The event has only occurred 9 times since its inception 31 years ago. And according to local reports, the event today was historic with some massive waves. See for yourself. 

The contest started at 8 am and was only 30 mins from the house. Naturally, we left at 8:15 and traffic was light until about 3 miles from Waimea Bay where cars were parking on the side of the road. As we got closer, people started to crowd around guard rails and in the hillside to watch the competition.

It was as if the whole island shut down just for today. A few days ago at zip lining, one of the guides was saying that the event had been "green" (meaning predictions for the swells were promising) two weeks in a row but never turned to GO. 

As we approached the Bay, parking prices in parking lots or yards started to sky rocket. The most expensive we saw was $60 to park in someone's yard. 

We elected to keep driving to find a spot on the road. And we did, about 2 miles from the Bay. So we walked, and walked, and walked some more. Eventually we made it, but not before seeing some street cleaning and stopping so Manitoba Mell (or MB for short) could use a porta potty. 

Once at the competition, we had to find a spot to sit, so we made our way down to the beach with the locals. 

After watching one round of surfers, we made our way back to the car so we could then drive back through all this traffic to go back to the house and relieve DD. 

While one the way, we saw some enterprenuering pizza delivery men selling pizzas for $12 for two slices or $20 per pie. 

After a 50 mins walk to the car and a 1 hr 10 mins drive back to the house, we arrived to the twinkies and DD enjoying the great outdoors. 

We made some lunch and ate outside. Everyone was hungry. 

The afternoon was spent around the house, just relaxing. 

Happy birthday Grandma!

Once the toddlers were down for their nap, the ladies made a quick trip to the store to replenish some supplies. AA then figured out how to light the charcoal grill and bbq'd some steak for supper.

Lola made some devilled eggs, not sure if it was for the babes or for herself but they were delicious as you can see from the faces:

After supper, we watched a documentary on Eddie Aikau on Netflix which the babies almost lasted through the whole thing. 

Now, we are closing up the day by feeding the babies and planning our adventures for tomorrow. 

Aloha!