Kokua

So had myself another great weekend. I was really disappointed a while ago because I tried and failed to get Kokua Festival tickets (it’s a benefit concert on Oahu with Jack Johnson as the main booking and Matt Costa and Eddie Vedder as some of the supporting acts). Sometime on Thursday I was listening to the radio and I was mentally tuned out, but the overheard the DJ say something about there being about 50 tickets left for Kokua. So I drove home and checked and lo and behold – there were tickets! They must have released a limited number the week before the show.

So I called Christin at work and asked if she could make it. She was able to get work off and I booked the tickets. So we knew where we were going but not how to get there or where we were going to stay over there. The happy answers were that inter-island flights are at an all-time affordable rate (about $50 roundtrip), and we packed up the tent in case we needed it. So Sunday morning we flew over to Oahu. The doors didn’t open until 2:30 so we hung out at Waikiki beach for a while, then wandered over to the Waikiki Shell venue where the concert was.

While in line we met a couple kids who had just moved to Maui the month before, so we talked about what they’d seen there and what we’d seen. Good kids. We were there early enough that we got killer seats right at the front of the lawn. The acts started promptly at 4:00, and man, it was a loooong concert. We finally got out of there around 10:00pm. Eddie Vedder did some cool Pearl Jam songs and had the place rockin, and then Jack played for about 1½ hours and rounded the night out nicely. By the end of the night, tho, the drunks were crowding in around us, taking over the 5 inches of space between our towels and our neighbors’ blankets. Eventually they had taken over all our personal space. It was annoying, but really the whole place was packed by the end of the night. Like a can of sardines we were. So maybe next year we’ll spend an extra $10 a ticket and get individual seats.

We had packed the tent over with us just in case we found a nice spot to camp out, but after the concert I doubt that even if we had had a spot in mind we wouldn’t have made it. We were just too tuckered out to go anywhere. So we drove around Waikiki a little and found a nice neighborhood and just slept in the car. To tell the truth, it wasn’t that bad at all.

Monday we were professional beach-hoppers. We took the Likelike hwy (one of my favorite drives of all time) to the Kamehameha hwy up to the north shore. First we hung out at Sunset beach and watched the surfers a while. Then we spent some time watching the waves at Waimea Bay. The surf was too large for anyone to go into the water, but a few brave souls were out in the distance surfing. We draped our towels on the beach somewhere we thought we’d be safe from the surf, but one huge wave caught everyone off-guard and swept up the beach. All of our stuff was carried away in a few inches of water, including Christin’s new iPod. We salvaged everything eventually, but sadly the iPod is a goner (man, she’s bad luck with those).

We stopped by Matsumoto’s (of course) on our way down to Ko Olina on the Ewa side of the island. I’d never been there but it’s a beautiful place if your goal to just relax and not worry about waves at all. Here’s a picture of us in front of one of the lagoons.

So after that we hopped on the plane and came home. It’s funny how quickly this place has become home to me.

Tuesday and Wednesday were also notable. Firstly because I was in direct sunlight for another 2 straight days (making 4 total if you were counting – and yes, I’m totally fried now and just want to hang out indoors for a couple days and let my sunburns die down a bit).

But secondly because the Dalai Lama came for a visit. It’s been about 14 years since he’s been to the islands at all. So Tuesday was a free lecture. The Lama talked about compassion and its importance in everyday life. At the end of the speech he took some audience questions. But probably my favorite part was the introduction and welcome by some native Hawaiians with their ancient Hawaiian chants and hula. Wednesday the lecture was a little deeper – it served more as an introduction to Buddhism. He spoke about the different thoughts about creation, the idea of self, morality and how a Buddhist tries to live life.

So that’s been the last few days. Oh, and by the way, gas on Oahu was $3.03 for regular. Here on Maui it's now $3.45. Ouch. And here's a picture of Chris on Waikiki beach.